When the Dallas Cowboys host the Philadelphia Eagles this Thanksgiving afternoon with the NFC East on the line, defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli will be worried about the fast break.
"You remember Loyola-Marymount with coach (Paul) Westhead, that pace?" Marinelli said, per ESPN.com. "They just run the pace and run their system, run the pace and run the system with speed. That's something we've kind of believed in on defense. We've got to align, get set, get ready to get our feet in the ground and we have to play fast. So we've got to match that. The challenge is there."
The Eagles rank first in plays per game, with 72.9 per contest. With a bevy of playmakers in LeSean McCoy, Darren Sproles, Jeremy Maclin, Jordan Matthews, Brent Celek and Zach Ertz, among others, the Cowboys' overachieving defense knows it must keep up.
"Philly gets up there and snaps it," cornerback Orlando Scandrick said. "The tempo is before the ball is snapped. We need to be lined up and ready to play when they come to the line of scrimmage."
The latest Around The NFL Podcast previews the Week 13 games and reacts to the news of RGIII's benching in D.C. Find more Around The NFL content on NFL NOW.
