Philadelphia Eagles: Containing Vita Vea is key on Wildcard weekend

It’s almost here; after a week of speculation, anticipation, and growing excitement, the Philadelphia Eagles are less than 24 hours away from their biggest game of the season.

Win, and they get it. Lose, and, well, better luck next year.

But what can the Birds in kelly midnight green do to ensure they ruin Tom Brady‘s postseason for the second time in five years? Well, they have to do what they do best: Run the darn football.

Sure, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had three of their cornerbacks on the injury report over the course of the week – including Sean Murphy-Bunting, who is listed as questionable for Sunday – and just placed midseason signee Richard Sherman on IR, but the best way to control the clock, command the time of possession, and hopefully keep the contest close is to dominate on the ground like the offense has been doing since Week 8.

But for that to happen, the Philadelphia Eagles are going to have to gameplan for one specific member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as this particular defender could prove to be a problem.

The Philadelphia Eagles need to slow down Vita Vea and not vise versa.

Taco Bell mild sauce take incoming: Jason Kelce is the best center in the NFL.

But what about Packers-turned-Rams center Corey Linsley? Close, but no cigar. Or Kansas City Chiefs rookie Creed Humphrey, the third-place votes getter in the AP poll? He’s a fine albeit left-handed center, but let’s see if he can stack up five All-Pro appearances before we get too crazy.

But one aspect of Kelce’s game that has always been just a bit of a problem has been his size, especially when facing off against super-sized nose tackles.

From Snacks Harrison with the New York Jets to Ndamukong Suh, who just so happens to be with the Bucs after storied runs in Detroit and Miami, Kelce had a tendency to get bullied upfront by bull rushers from the zero tech, even once he became a fixture of both the Pro Bowl and All-Pro lists.

In Week 19 – Super Wildcard Weekend, if you will – Kelce will be tasked with facing off against one of the biggest changes of his decade-spanning career – literally – in Vita Vea, the Buccaneers’ 6-foot-4, 347-pound mountain of a man who mans the middle of Todd Bowles’ defense.

In Week 6, Vea was responsible for .5 of the Bucs’ two sacks and kept the Eagles consistently on edge with his pocket-collapsing abilities. While the Eagles weren’t quite the finely-tuned rushing machine they are now back in mid-October, as Jalen Hurts led the team in rushing attempts, considering Miles Sanders only averaged 6.2 yards per attempt versus Tampa Bay’s front, it’s not like Philly was moving the ball with ease.

But now? Now, Jeff Stoutland has free reign to unleash his genius on a Tampa Bay team that may overlook an opponent they bested handily three months earlier.

Sidebar: Remember when the Eagles moved the ball efficiently and then just stopped running the ball for no rhyme or reason? Bad times that I wish would never come back again.

So what does Stoutland have at his disposal? Well, because the Eagles run a zone-blocking scheme, the run game coordinator will surely have a ton of different iterations of his meat and potatoes runs dialed up and well rehearsed. Via may receive a double team on one play from Landon Dickerson, Nate Herbig on the next, and then neither after that, as all three of the team’s interior linemen can pull into space as lead blockers.

One-on-one, it’s hard enough to move a man with the same body type as Rikishi, but that’s the beauty of having the best offensive line coach in the NFL; that doesn’t need to happen all that often. If the Eagles can vary up their tempo, run “exotic” iterations of inside zone runs, and stay true to their guns early on, they might just keep this a game down to the wire.

In Week 6, Vita Vea was a difference-maker versus the Philadelphia Eagles. He picked up a quick sack alongside Jason Pierre-Paul, routinely required two defenders to slow him down, and forced Philly’s hand in terms of their play-calling. While Via will certainly still be a problem in the playoffs, as they just don’t make players like him very often, the Eagles have the personnel, smarts, and ability to run on the Buccaneers’ third-ranked run defense if they so choose; they just need to be brave enough to stick to the strategy that has worked instead of trying to reiterate Week 6 three months later.