Eagles D on Steelers 1st String Offense...

I just read a peice concerning the Eagles defensive performance against our 1st string offense last week.  There are the normal sort of cliches like "we beat ourselves", but some of the quotes are a little interesting.

Jim Johnson, Eagles D coordinator, makes the strange statement that he was suprised the the Steelers came out running and ran so much.  Implication being that this tactic confused the Eagles.  Now, I'm not a strategic genius, but considering that the Steelers are known for running, had questions about their number one back (who led NFL in rushing for so long last year) and have drafted another back as their number one pick - there might be ball-hauling going on.

Quintin Mikell, Eagles safety, made the comment that their defense stiffened up  after the first series (and Ben was off the field!).  He also thought that the Eagles were caught off guard because they didn't have any up to date film to study  - and it seemed like the Steelers had really game-planned for the game.   Why would he not expect the 1st team offense to try to run a planned series when they were only there for a series.  Even though Tomlin has said that they aren't scheming teams in preseason like the regular, they are going to have a plan of sorts...

Also of note - a possibly misrepresented comment from Reid about how the blocking scheme looked completely different from last year (I hope so!) - This I've also seen quoted as saying that the Eagles don't normally practice against that style of blocking.  

Now...some of the peice just sounds like good old sour grapes from the D, but I do wonder what sort of games (if any)  the Steelers might have been playing in terms of changing things up to not show their hand or possibly  lead the Eagles on for the next game.... At any rate it's interesting to see what the Eagles thought about loosing to the AFC North Champs!