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News | Washington Commanders - Commanders.com

On Defense, Slowing Vick Is Redskins' Focus

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High profile free agent acquisitions have earned the Philadelphia Eagles a "Dream Team" nickname, but so far their season has been a nightmare.

At the center of their nightmare are turnovers.

Quarterback Michael Vick has thrown for seven interceptions so far this season, including four in the Eagles' 31-24 loss to the Buffalo Bills last week.

If the Redskins are able to get a win on Sunday, one of the keys will be containing Vick and forcing him to commit turnovers.

Rookie linebacker Ryan Kerrigan has never faced Vick but he feels he has a good idea how difficult it will be to keep him in check.

"You have to have good rush lane integrity," Kerrigan said. "You can't get too far upfield or else he is going to duck it underneath, and you can't go underneath too much or else he is going to go outside.

"You have to make him uncomfortable and throw it before he is ready to throw it, and you have to put pressure on him."

In addition to the seven interceptions, Vick has fumbled three times. As a team, the Eagles have fumbled six times.

Pass rushers know that they must swat at the football whenever Vick is running outside of the picket.

"What we're going to try to do is take advantage of the turnovers, try to get our hands on the ball," Orakpo said. "Hopefully we can get to [Vick] and try to create some forced fumbles."

While the Eagles have had turnover issues through the first four games of the season, they are still capable of making big plays. The offense has produced 28 plays of 20 yards or more this season.

Defensive Coordinator Jim Haslett is well aware of the big play ability of the Eagles offense.

"We need pressure whether it's four, five, or six [man front]," Haslett said. "We need to stay in front of [Vick] and make sure we don't let him out of the pocket. Our challenge is to try to slow them down and not give up big plays. We have our work cut out for us."

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