Patterson Kudos

Trent Cole we know has 9 sacks. We also know Darren Howard has been a big disappointment, and Jevon Kearse continues to struggle back from last year's devastating knee injury. But those are the ends, what about the middle of the line - Brodrick Bunkley and Mike Patterson? We haven't heard much about them. The run defense appears vastly improved - notwithstanding last week's game. And while the interior d-line is not accumulating a lot of sacks they do appear to be generating sufficient (not great, but not bad either) "push" in the middle of the pocket. So it was good to see the following in today's Inquirer. Good to see that Patterson is earning his big contract extension and good to see that Bunkley is having the impact everyone thought he would in drawing attention and making those around him better.

"Defensive end Trent Cole, who has nine sacks, has been the Eagles' best defensive player. But the second-best, from the way coaches and teammates talk, might surprise some fans. That would be defensive tackle Mike Patterson, who leads the line with 207 tackles, by the Eagles' count, an extraordinary total for an interior lineman. Often, d-tackles have done their jobs if they stand their ground and jam up blockers, leaving the glory for others.

But Patterson, who has benefited from the dramatic improvement of Brodrick Bunkley next to him, jams up the blockers and makes the tackles. If he had a few more sacks (he has 1 1/2) or if the Eagles were doing better as a team, Patterson would be a very strong Pro Bowl candidate.

Defensive coordinator Jim Johnson said one of his unit's few bright spots against Dallas was the play of Patterson against Cowboys guard Leonard Davis.

"He's a steady run player, and he's having a good year, no question about it," Johnson said.

"[Run stopping] is just one of those things that we came in in the offseason and worked real hard on," said Patterson, who included Bunkley in his response. "To make sure we got stronger and we were getting the right looks, and we were playing the blocks right."