Crossing Broad
The sky is falling in Philadelphia once again, as the Eagles have dropped three straight games and now sit at 8-5 on the season. A team once known for finding ways to win games at any cost is suddenly showing this knack in the opposite direction.
There have been vocal concerns that this current Eagles squad is representative of the 2023 team, which has become increasingly difficult to push back against. In both situations, the Eagles were on the back of a Super Bowl run, and even when the victories were piling up the results did not feel as comforting and conclusive as they should. The Eagles started the year 10-1 before losing five of their final six games and being blown out 32-9 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the opening round of the playoffs. After getting off to an 8-2 start to this season, the Eagles have have some real soul-searching to do to get back on track.
But the one key difference between these two iterations of Eagles teams is the man pulling the defensive strings. Vic Fangio has provided stability at the defensive coordinator position that is proving to be the reason for belief. Even amid the stale and underwhelming offense, the Eagles’ defense has looked increasingly elite and will continue to provide a pathway to wins on a weekly basis.
During the Monday Night Football loss to the Chargers, Philadelphia limited Los Angeles to 275 total yards of offense despite losing the time of possession battle 38:05 to 29:26. They forced two turnovers, limited Justin Herbert to 139 yards passing, and sacked him seven times.
Looking on the broader scale of the season, Philadelphia ranks 22nd in the league in yards allowed, but just ninth in points conceded. They’ve given up the third-fewest passing touchdowns, rank fourth in opponents’ red-zone scoring percentage, and are tied for 14th in takeaways with 1.2 per game. The run defense still needs to improve, and they are not a perfect overall roster, but there is enough talent on this side of the ball to have legitimate belief in the defensive unit. Vic Fangio has built an identity of a bend-but-don’t break defense and has continually worked to bring in the personnel this requires. With Jalen Carter expected to make his return this season, there is still another level this collective unit could make.
To contrast this with the 2023 season, there was no flicker of hope for the collective defensive unit. The Eagles finished that season ranked 30th in points allowed and 26th in yards given up. They were shredded for the second-most passing touchdowns, ranked 23rd in turnovers forced, and 17th in sacks per game. They only held opponents below 20 points in three games all season, while allowing 30+ points in four of the final seven.
These defensive concerns became so significant that the Eagles elected to replace defensive coordinator Sean Desai with Matt Patricia in a desperate late effort. There was plenty of careful wording in...
