Great Defense?

Watching Carson Wentz, Nick Foles and the explosive offense last year was a lot of fun. The Eagles moved the ball up and down the field. They were great in the Red Zone and scored a lot of points. They went for it on 4th down and kept us entertained with some fun plays.

It was also great to see the Eagles play outstanding defense. They finished 4th in yards and points allowed. They limited the Falcons and Vikings to 17 combined points in the playoffs.

Then came the Super Bowl.

Tom Brady threw for about 5,000 yards and the Pats scored 33 points (and missed a FG). That was a scary performance.

If you look back at the 2017 season, you can see some issues. In the first seven games, the Eagles gave up 17, 27, 24, 24, 7, 23 and 24 points. They faced talented/veteran QBs in that stretch. Kirk Cousins, Alex Smith, Eli Manning, Philip Rivers, Carson Palmer, Cam Newton and Cousins again. There was also the issue of health.

Fletcher Cox missed 2.5 games in there. Rodney McLeod missed a start and part of another game. Ronald Darby only played part of the opener.

The Eagles got healthy and the schedule got easier. That’s when the defense came alive and started really putting the clamps on people. Playing young QBs doesn’t guarantee success. Remember Jameis Winston throwing for 5 TDs as a rookie in 2015? That was a torturous loss. Remember some guy named John Skelton throwing for 3 TDs and beating the Eagles in 2011? Go back to 2006 and Bruce Gradkowski led the Bucs to a shocking win over the Eagles.

The 2017 defense dominated rookies and other young QBs, like you’re supposed to do.

The defense then struggled against the Seahawks, Rams and Giants. That was followed by allowing 33 points over a 4-week period to close out the year and go through the NFC playoffs.

Overall, the defense had an outstanding season. Even when they did give up points and yards, the defense made key plays to help the Eagles win. They were clutch.

I wrote a piece for PE.com talking about how the defense can be even better this year.

One of the big keys is that the secondary will be deeper, more talented and more experienced this season. That matters. The back end of the defense requires that players know the subtleties of the scheme. They need to read plays the same way and they must communicate well. Jalen Mills, Ronald Darby, Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod have a lot of experience playing together. That’s a huge foundation for the secondary.

Then you mix in Sidney Jones and Corey Graham, if they re-sign him. Jones wasn’t on the field much last year, but spent the season bonding with the players and studying with them in the classroom.

Young guys like Rasul Douglas, De’Vante Bausby, Avonte Maddox, Tre Sullivan and Jeremy Reaves can provide depth. We haven’t seen a secondary like this in Philly in a while. Big time potential.

Of course, the secondary is only as good as the pass rush. The Eagles are pretty stacked up front so that should be a good thing.

With Tim Jernigan out until September or even October, it is easy to worry. Haloti Ngata will take his place in the base defense, but the key point here is that the Eagles play mostly sub-packages. The Nickel and Dime units play most of the snaps. You will see Michael Bennett at DT in a lot of those looks. That eases the loss of Jernigan, for however long he’s out.

Jim Schwartz can even rest Fletcher Cox on 3rd-and-long and go with Chris Long-Brandon Graham-Michael Bennett-Derek Barnett as his rushers if he wants to. That might be fun to watch.

Obviously it will help if Jernigan is back sooner rather than later. It would also help quite a bit if one of the young DTs took a big step forward.

With the return of Nigel Bradham, the LBs should be outstanding. He and Jordan Hicks give the Eagles a pair of talented playmakers in the middle of the defense. Corey Nelson is the favorite to get the WLB job. He is athletic and can cover, making him a perfect fit for that role.

Depth is a mystery. Nate Gerry could turn out to be a key backup, but he’s inexperienced. Kamu Grugier-Hill could finally push for playing time on defense. Joe Walker could be the backup MLB. We have to see if his athleticism is back to the 2016 level. LaRoy Reynolds is a role player and STer. He’ll fight for a job.

MLB could be a spot to watch. Losing Paul Worrilow hurts. The Eagles might look around the league and see if a veteran is available in the next couple of months. Or maybe Walker will get on the field and show he can handle the job. This is a fluid situation.

The 2018 defense has the potential to be a great unit. They can rush the passer. They can cover. There are playmakers at every level.

The big questions for the defense are whether they can withstand whatever injuries come up and how this unit will fare vs good, veteran QBs. If the defense can stay healthy and the pass defense is improved, then yeah…this can be a legitimately great defense.

I can’t wait to see them in action.

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