The defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles currently rank 27th in Defensive DVOA after finishing third last season, which isn’t good enough for anybody in the building. So, the team made the decision in mid-December to replace first-year defensive coordinator Sean Desai as a play-caller with senior assistant Matt Patricia, whose experience with the New England Patriots under Bill Belichick from 2004 through 2017 held some weight.
Or, the Eagles were just throwing stuff against the wall to see what would stick. At this point, either explanation is equally plausible.
Not that things have gone any better with Patricia at the helm. The Eagles were profoundly embarrassed last Sunday by the Arizona Cardinals in a 35-31 loss that saw their defense allow 221 rushing yards, 5.5 yards per attempt, 130 yards after contact, 14 first downs, and a league-worst (for Week 17) 0.18 EPA per attempt on 40 carries. That this all happened to a team that counts former Philly defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon as its head coach put some extra sting on it.
“I do believe,” head coach Nick Sirianni said post-game after the run defense debacle. “I still believe in the guys in that locker room, the players. I still believe in the coaches. I think we’ve got the guys in this place to get turned in the right direction. We don’t have much time, obviously, right. We’ve got one more game before playoffs starts, and we’ve got to do everything we can do to get back on track this upcoming week.
“I think there’s been spurts, obviously, the last couple games where we played good ball on defense. Tonight wasn’t one of those times.”
As Sirianni said, there isn’t much time before the postseason begins, and if this is the state of the Eagles’ defense, they’ll be lucky if they aren’t pushed around from start to finish — and it could be a very early finish.
In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys got into the reasons for these issues from a formerly great defense.
"If you're struggling in the run game, it's because #eagles D-line is not controlling the point of attack and they're getting moved."@gregcosell and @NFL_DougFarrar discuss it here on "Xs and Os"
🎧 Listen NOW on https://t.co/w8aJ3oEtSC
🎧 Listen NOW on https://t.co/m0YatIypc5 pic.twitter.com/lgLnaU9EpZ— For The Win (@ForTheWin) January 5, 2024
You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os” right here:
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You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…
…and on Apple Podcasts.
Now, let’s investigate why Philly’s defense has fallen apart this season.