Bleeding Green Nation
Defensive analysis from Philadelphia’s NFC Championship Game win over Washington.
This was a good, not great, defensive performance. The Eagles had a few issues but they played well overall and forced some crucial turnovers in key situations against the Washington Commanders.
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I’ve had such a blast watching Jalen Carter play football this year. Add this play to the highlight reel. I know it doesn’t do anything, but just a reminder that Carter weighed in at 323lbs at the combine. How many guys 300+ can jump over a running back like this? He’s an insane athlete. I thought Oren Burks had another strong performance. He was good at avoiding blockers in the second level and got downhill in the run game quickly. Nakobe Dean was having a great season, but Oren Burks has stepped up after that unfortunate injury. It’s good to see the ‘next man up’ mentality working.
The Eagles’ defense had a weird start in this game. Washington went on a very long first drive and converted a few big 3rd and 4th downs. If not for a cowardly punt by Dan Quinn on 4th and short, I think they could have scored, too. In the game preview, I pointed out that Washington often targeted the flats when these two teams played earlier in the season. I said this after the Week 11 matchup.
I do expect other teams to target the Eagles in the flat ... we saw the Eagles have some issues with motion and covering the flat in this one.
Unfortunately, the Eagles had the same issue in this one. There were too many occasions when the defensive back or linebacker responsible for the flat played too far inside. This led to some easy completions on 3rd and 4th down. Here are a couple of examples from Washington’s first drive. I saw this far too often. I know that Andy Reid will have seen this, too. Expect the Chiefs to target the flats early on in the Super Bowl. The first example looks like a clear miscommunication, too.
I got a bit of criticism (rightly so) for a comment online when I called the Eagles’ turnovers a little bit lucky. That was unfair of me. I still think that no matter how much you coach something, turnovers will always be a little bit lucky. However, the Eagles clearly prioritize punching the ball out, and it’s awesome to see. It is clearly something they prioritize a lot. My point online was that I don’t think the Eagles’ defense played that well in the first three-quarters of this game, and I believe the fumbles made the performance...
