ClutchPoints
Even though the Philadelphia Eagles seem to feel disrespected, their defense still looks like the real deal. And though the offense is shaky, Vic Fangio’s defense is good enough to push for a Super Bowl repeat.
It seems like the Eagles have somehow managed to fly under the radar. They stand at 11-5, became the first NFC East repeat champion in over two decades, and are still the defending Super Bowl champions. And yet, people look at the offense and hold their nose.
The Eagles rank No. 13 in the NFL in terms of yards allowed. They are a top-10 unit against the pass. But the ugly game against the Bears helped push them to No. 21 versus the run.
So what is the bottom line? How about giving up only 18.8 points per game? That ranks No. 3 in the NFL. And that’s how even a shaky offense can still be good enough to win games.
Fangio said he sees similarities to last year, according to philadelphiaeagles.com.
“In that this time last year, you know, we had a lot of turnover in personnel from the previous year,” Fangio said. “You had (Zack) Baun, nobody knew what he was at this point last year … Nakobe (Dean), who hadn’t played any meaningful NFL football in his first two years. (Linebacker) Oren Burks, who we had just signed. You had Isaiah Rodgers, who we had just signed …(Moro) Ojomo, who didn’t play hardly at all in his rookie year. You had Nolan (Smith), who didn’t play hardly at all in his rookie year. We got Chauncey (C.J. Gardner-Johnson) back. We drafted Q (Quinyon Mitchell), Cooper (DeJean), Jalyx (Hunt). We had a lot of question marks at that time.
“This year, those names are replaced. And I don’t know how that’s going to turn out. But I look at it like it’s basically the same one year to the next. The names have changed. Hopefully, we’ll get the same results from these new guys like we got from a lot of the new guys last year.”
Fangio said this year’s unit has improved as the season has progressed. The Buffalo Bills can attest to that. They got shut out in the first half. And they managed a season-low 12 points. It looked ugly for the Bills’ offense. Josh Allen looked human. And the Eagles had everything to do with that.
Defensive tackle Jordan David said it has been a work in progress.
“It took us some time to get things together, build our chemistry, and just, you know, work with each other the way we wanted,” Davis said. “For me, I came into the season as the veteran in the (defensive tackle) room. And I wondered how that would go. And so I learned a lot early on. It’s been a positive, having us all grow together. We have a lot of young guys here. And we have taken steps to success together.”...
