Les Bowen: Eagles might run a more grounded plan against Lions

Chances are, the offense you saw in the second half against Green Bay last Sunday won't be much like what you see this week at Detroit.

Michael Vick took over for Kevin Kolb with the Eagles trailing, on the verge of getting routed. Vick kick-started the attack, at first by scrambling for long gains on what had been designed as pass plays. After Vick's mobility backed the Packers' pressure off, he was able to run a more normal passing attack. The second-half offense featured only four runs by someone other than Vick, all of them by LeSean McCoy, for 25 yards. The deficit and the loss of fullback Leonard Weaver to an ACL tear might have helped scrap the running game.

"It was a little different last week because we were trying to race back," offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said yesterday, as he and the Eagles looked ahead to Vick starting this week, something that is unofficially official. Kolb (and fellow concussion victim Stewart Bradley) gained clearance to attend meetings yesterday but not to practice. Bradley was glimpsed exercising with a trainer before practice; Kolb was not.

Mornhinweg said Vick actually is an asset in the running game, in that he might fake the handoff and bootleg. "Taking care of the backside, the safeties might be just a touch later, expecting Michael to end up with the football. I think that could end up being positive for LeSean McCoy and Mike Bell and the rest of our backs," Mornhinweg said.

Of course, neither Mornhinweg nor Vick was about to give any hint of how exactly this week's offense might look. DeSean Jackson spoke Wednesday of a simpler, streamlined gameplan. Vick still has an amazing arm, capable of breathtaking precision when his feet are set and he's throwing in rhythm. But, obviously, a simpler gameplan would seem to entail a role for the running game, and not just the part of it that involves quarterback draws.

"We have a lot of running plays in this gameplan," McCoy said yesterday, revealing precious details that no doubt will lead straight to disaster for the Birds on Sunday. "I won't say it's different" for the running backs, with Vick under center instead of Kolb. "They definitely have two different styles, but it kind of feels the same, with Kevin or Mike in there . . . I'm anxious to see how it plays out, a whole week of gameplanning for Mike; a [defense] always has to have a gameplan for Vick . . . Guys gameplanning for Mike might open up some lanes for us, even in the passing game; I'm sure [a defense] has to take guys out of their normal positions" to contain him.

"Our objective is to go out and attack," Vick said after yesterday's practice. He is the NFL's fourth-leading rusher right now, after gaining 103 yards on 11 carries. "That's what we're going to go out and do. I feel good, feel comfortable with the gameplan, excited about the opportunity, and just want to go out and try to get that first win."

The Eagles struggled with blitz protection in Week 1. Losing center Jamaal Jackson (triceps) and Weaver for the season probably won't help that problem. McCoy noted that for the Birds, Weaver really was "a fullback-slash-running back that does everything," and "one of the leaders of the offense."

Mornhinweg indicated ex-Seahawks fullback Owen Schmitt, signed this week, "is our fullback." He also indicated we might expect a limited package of plays for Schmitt in the short term.

McCoy and Schmitt were college rivals, at Pitt and West Virginia, respectively. "It's kind of weird, running behind a guy from West Virginia," McCoy said.

They definitely might need Schmitt to know the pass-blocking basics by Sunday; the Lions' front four looks pretty formidable, anchored by 6-4, 307-pound rookie defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, the second overall pick in the April draft.

"Their inside guys are pretty big guys," Eagles left guard Todd Herremans said. "Powerful. All of 'em get off the ball pretty well. [Defensive end Kyle] VandenBosch is real, real active - he's out there making tackles 30 yards downfield."

As McCoy mentioned, unlike the Packers, the Lions will be able to gameplan for Vick. Mornhinweg was asked what he expects to see.

"Well, there's several different ways and schemes that people will quite possibly use on Michael - spies, mush rush, contain, five-man rush . . . those types of things," Mornhinweg said. "All those are possibilities . . . and, certainly, there are counters to that."

If Schmitt can't handle the whole package, Mike Bell, who made only a brief appearance in the opener, believes he can.

Bell (6-0, 225) has been mentioned as a fill-in fullback; certainly he comes closer than Schmitt to approximating Weaver's short-yardage running acumen.

"I definitely can, and I would enjoy doing it," Bell said when asked if he could help out there. "I would make the most of that opportunity."

Bell said in the Eagles' offense, if you know the running back plays, you pretty much know what to do at fullback, with a few nuances he feels he could master pretty easily.

"It just takes a little bit of extra studying," he said.

"I hope so," Bell said, when asked if he expects to be more involved against Detroit. "It's a long season, so I know eventually I will be. Can't really complain; there's a lot of people ain't got no jobs. That's how I have to look at it."

I'm taking the Eagles, pretty much on faith here. That, and I like the possibility of Ernie Sims breaking his 29-game personal loss streak against the team he played for in 28 of those games.

Don't really know what a full game of Michael Vick will look like. Don't really know if the defense can stop even Lions backup QB Shaun Hill, without middle linebacker Stewart Bradley. Don't know how much better the Lions are from the 2-14 team of last season or the 0-16 team the year before.

The Eagles will tell you the Lions are much improved. But no team goes into a game downplaying the opposition. Certainly, they are a team that lost its opener on a technicality, which is more than the Eagles can say. The big danger here is that Detroit's formidable defensive line might dominate the Eagles' ever-changing, struggling offensive line. But I don't think this Lions defense is great on the back end, and Calvin Johnson notwithstanding, I sure don't think they are the equal of the Packers offensively.

Eagles 23, Lions 16.