Cards know Johnson, Eagles will bring blitzes

They’re coming. It’s any player from anywhere on the field on any down. One runs into the line of scrimmage, another runs back into coverage. They’ll line up next to each other. One blitzes, the other doesn’t. Next time, they’ll both rush, or not.

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If the possibilities and combinations sound exhausting, well, that’s the point.

It’s what Philadelphia defensive coordinator Jim Johnson has cooked up for the past decade, and the Cardinals are expecting a big helping of pressure in Sunday’s NFC championship game at University of Phoenix Stadium.

A former Cardinals assistant from 1986-93 who was interviewed before Dennis Green ultimately won the job in 2004, Johnson has been in charge of the Eagles defense since 1999. His players have thrived — 25 total Pro Bowl selections in 10 years — and often left, but the chaotic scheme remains.

Cornerback Roderick Hood was one of them. The former dime and nickelback developed under Johnson and alongside All-Pro defensive backs Troy Vincent, Lito Sheppard and Bobby Taylor in his first four years in the NFL before he came to the Cardinals to earn a starting spot.

“He has one of the best schemes in football,” Hood said of Johnson. “He understand the ebb and flow of the game, and when momentum is high, they’re going to blitz. And when it’s not on their side, they’re going to blitz.”

Philadelphia has allowed 12 points per game the past two months and hasn’t allowed a touchdown pass in five weeks.

The Eagles didn’t sack Kurt Warner in the 48-20 blowout on Thanksgiving, but they got to him, which led to three turnovers, 260 yards of total offense and only 12 first downs.

This time, the Cardinals have a full week — and a game film’s worth of bad memories — to study.

Problem is, the Eagles change their schemes and assignments, so some of what the Cardinals offensive line, running backs and even Warner see will likely be different than the first time around.

Warner, whose only success against Philadelphia came in the 2001 NFC title game with the St. Louis Rams, called Johnson’s blitz packages the type that “kind of lulls you to sleep.”

His theory is that the Eagles will bring so many people that it’ll be hard to anticipate a team bringing that much pressure at once, or a cornerback and safety will blitz from so far behind the line of scrimmage that it’s unexpected.

“They make you think everyone is picked up, and the one guy comes from real deep (cornerback or safety) and he gets to you, and they’re good enough to cover receivers man-to-man,”

Cardinals center Lyle Sendlein said. “That’s what (Warner’s) talking about lulling to sleep. They bring it from depth to make you think everything is picked up, and then somebody else is coming.”

Warner’s quick counter-actions will make a difference:

“Whether it’s picking up the right guy in protection, whether it’s me getting the ball out quick when I need to, whether it’s one of our playmakers — in a situation where we do get the ball out — to make a guy miss and make a big play.”

Hood looks back fondly on his tenure in Philadelphia, but the style of play he enjoyed under Johnson is the same thing causing consternation for a second time this season among his current teammates.

“One thing I’ll say about Jim is he’s not going to back down,” Hood said. “He’s going to bring the house, but he’s smart. He’ll make educated guesses, he knows tendencies and he follows the flow of the game, knows when to blitz and when not to, and that’s what makes him a great coordinator.”