Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Eagles center: Dolphins one of more underrated 'D's

By Nick St. Denis

Quarterback Michael Vick will be back, but things won't get any easier for the Philadelphia Eagles' offense Sunday.

The Eagles (4-8) will travel to Miami to face a Dolphins team that has won four of its last five games. Much of Miami's success has had to do with its defense's ability to force opposing offenses to lean on the pass, which has resulted in turnovers and punts, putting the Dolphins' offense in favorable starting positions.

"They’re one of the more underrated defenses in the NFL," Eagles center Jason Kelce told the media Wednesday. "I think that they do a really good job of mixing things up, they do a good job of moving around and trying to confuse you on offense and they have very good players."

Miami (4-8) has the fifth-best scoring defense in the league, giving up just over 18 points a game.

"They’re flying high right now," Eagles receiver Jason Avant said Wednesday. "The last five games, I think they’re averaging like 10 points or something like that and their corners are (playing) well; (CB) Vontae Davis is playing – you can’t play any better than he’s playing in the secondary in this league."

The Eagles haven't scored more than 20 points the last four games, in part because they've missed Vick for most of that time.

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