PHILADELPHIA -- Jets head coach Rex Ryan and Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan are widely considered two of the NFL's top defensive minds.
But the fraternal twin sons of former Eagles iconic coach Buddy Ryan, architect of the great Chicago Bears defenses of the 1980s and of the Eagles' fearsome 4-6 wrecking crew of the '90s, have twice this season been outclassed by Andy Reid's offense.
Despite Rob's brash trash talk leading up to the first Eagles-Cowboys game Oct. 3, the Eagles spanked Dallas 34-7, which stood as their most productive offensive game of the season until Sunday's 45-19 beatdown of Rex's Jets.
Not surprisingly, Rob's and Rex's defenses are similar in both alignment -- a 3-4 scheme -- and in attack. So it's safe to assume Rob will be going back to the drawing board this week in preparation for Saturday's playoff-type matchup against the Eagles in Arlington, Texas.
The Eagles are expecting some changes.
"They'll definitely probably have something different this game," center Jason Kelce said Tuesday. "I doubt they're going to do the exact same things as last game; it didn't work out very well. This is a brand-new situation."
Something about the Ryan brothers seems to bring out the best in Reid and his sidekick, offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg.
The Eagles had lost four of their first five games and scored just 20 points in a victory against the Redskins on Oct. 16.
But they came out of the bye week and jumped all over Rob's defense.
Michael Vick completed 21 of 28 passes for 279 yards and threw two touchdowns, LeSean McCoy ran for a career-best 185 yards, and the Eagles racked up 495 total offensive yards, the most yards allowed by Dallas in more than 12 years.
Three days ago, the Eagles erupted for 28 unanswered points against the Jets and went over 400 offensive yards for just the second time in seven weeks.
It helped that the Eagles had just played Miami, another 3-4 defensive team, the week before.
"We learned a lot from the Dolphins game," left guard Evan Mathis said. "The corrections we needed to make were very applicable to the game we were about to play."
But the fraternal twin sons of former Eagles iconic coach Buddy Ryan, architect of the great Chicago Bears defenses of the 1980s and of the Eagles' fearsome 4-6 wrecking crew of the '90s, have twice this season been outclassed by Andy Reid's offense.
Despite Rob's brash trash talk leading up to the first Eagles-Cowboys game Oct. 3, the Eagles spanked Dallas 34-7, which stood as their most productive offensive game of the season until Sunday's 45-19 beatdown of Rex's Jets.
Not surprisingly, Rob's and Rex's defenses are similar in both alignment -- a 3-4 scheme -- and in attack. So it's safe to assume Rob will be going back to the drawing board this week in preparation for Saturday's playoff-type matchup against the Eagles in Arlington, Texas.
The Eagles are expecting some changes.
"They'll definitely probably have something different this game," center Jason Kelce said Tuesday. "I doubt they're going to do the exact same things as last game; it didn't work out very well. This is a brand-new situation."
Something about the Ryan brothers seems to bring out the best in Reid and his sidekick, offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg.
The Eagles had lost four of their first five games and scored just 20 points in a victory against the Redskins on Oct. 16.
But they came out of the bye week and jumped all over Rob's defense.
Michael Vick completed 21 of 28 passes for 279 yards and threw two touchdowns, LeSean McCoy ran for a career-best 185 yards, and the Eagles racked up 495 total offensive yards, the most yards allowed by Dallas in more than 12 years.
Three days ago, the Eagles erupted for 28 unanswered points against the Jets and went over 400 offensive yards for just the second time in seven weeks.
It helped that the Eagles had just played Miami, another 3-4 defensive team, the week before.
"We learned a lot from the Dolphins game," left guard Evan Mathis said. "The corrections we needed to make were very applicable to the game we were about to play."