You can make a long list of outstanding and/or greatly improved performances by Eagles players in Sunday’s win over the Lions, but in my opinion, you should start up front on both sides of the ball.

The offensive and defensive lines elevated their play tremendously. The O line was a force and owned the line of scrimmage all day. Donovan had great pass protection and it assisted him in one of his most impressive games ever. Brian Westbrook found open spaces in the interior of the Lions D all day. Did you notice how the Eagles often ran left behind William Thomas and Todd Herremans. Correll Buckhalter had a nice long run, in relief of Westbrook late in the game, over the left side. The Eagles finished with 173 yards rushing, earning 5.1 per attempt.

On D, the line is developing into a powerful unit. They have defended the run with authority during the 0-2 start, but were less than needed against the pass. Against the Lions, the pass rush got untracked with 9 sacks. Trent Cole gets to QBs with a fast low pass rush that Fox Sports color guy, and former Bird, Brian Baldinger described as being very difficult for offensive lineman to defend against. Baldy stated that offensive tackles are unable to crouch and remain balanced against the extremely low angle of Cole’s attack. He had 3.5 sacks yesterday and Baldinger predicted that he could get 10+ sacks this season on that dive move alone. On the other side, it is time for Juqua Thomas to move into the starting lineup. He had 2 more sacks to go with 2 tackles, while Jevon Kearse was shut out again. Both he and Cole each caused a fumble as well. In the middle of that attack is the emerging Broderick Bunkley. He opened the game with the first of his 2 sacks of Kitna, on the game’s first play.  The rout was on from there. He and Mike Patterson (1/2 sack) are defending the run well and providing push in the pocket. The skill guys had career days, but the advantages gained in the belly to belly battles made it all possible.