Zack, Vic and Reggie

The Eagles defense this season is better than anyone could have anticipated. Everyone expected Vic Fangio to make a real difference for the unit, but I don’t think anyone saw them leading the league in points and yards allowed. This isn’t all Fangio, of course. He would be the first to tell you the players are the ones making his ideas come to life and shutting down offenses.

Jalen Carter is the dominator up front. He eats up blocks and makes plays. Offenses have to account for him on every snap. Rookies Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean brought speed, skill and toughness to the secondary that desperately needed those qualities. The key to the defense just might be Zack Baun.

Baun is a good LB. He’s also a versatile player that Fangio can move around and be creative with. You don’t see a lot of exotic fronts with the Eagles, but they obviously are creative enough and complex enough that offenses struggle to figure them out consistently.

Ollie Connolly wrote a fantastic piece that made the argument for Baun as the Defensive Player of the Year.

Baun has 35 – THIRTY-FIVE – run stops this season. Tack on coverage stops, and Baun is up to 63, ten more than any other player in the league. Baun also has a team-leading 14 tackles for a loss or no gain. Add to that, he has totted up three sacks – and has a season-wide pressure rate of 16.3%, a ludicrous total for an off-ball linebacker not playing in one of the mug-centric, read-blitz-heavy defenses in Minnesota or Denver.

And

But those light boxes do not always mean light fronts. The Eagles’ ability to fit the run from 4-2, 5-1, 5-2, or 6-1 boxes is reliant on having an off-ball linebacker comfortable toggling between playing off-the-ball, where he may fit an interior gap, and hanging on the edge as a true defensive end in the run fit. Baun is that guy. His versatility allows the Eagles to play heavy or light – and still stay sound against the run or pass. He is the linchpin of the early down success.

The roaming style has hung around every week. Sometimes, the Eagles back off, with Baun playing classic off-ball football and Fangio trusting his line to win on their own with an early-down plugger (one of Baun or Dean) helping to create a five-man wall at the snap. Other times, the Eagles max out Baun’s movement sliding him down to the line late in the snap count. But the option is always there, right on the surface, ready for when Fangio needs it most.

Sometimes we overrate versatility. It doesn’t mean as much unless the player is actually good at multiple things. Baun is. He is a strong, physical tackler. He is a good pass rusher. He can set the edge and be a stout run defender. I think the area where he’s really surprised everyone is in coverage.

9) Right, I know this was completed. But this was an utterly absurd play by Zack Baun. My god. How many linebackers (not named Fred Warner) can run with receivers like this? He looks like a defensive back! It’s a shame he couldn’t break it up or this would be on highlight reels… pic.twitter.com/2iyybXZbDd

— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) December 17, 2024

Not only has Baun played at a high level, he’s allowed the Eagles defense to play at a high level.Going with Fangio’s light boxes and coverage ideas only gets you so far.

If you’re going to go light box/no press/no blitz on the majority of your defensive snaps, everyone had better be in order more often than not.

The Eagles are getting away with it. The Chargers are starting to run into some issues.

— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) December 20, 2024

The Chargers have been one of the best defenses in the league, but they have given up 27 or more points in 4 of the last 6 games. They didn’t allow more than 20 points in the first 9 games. Keeping offenses off balance and executing at a high level isn’t easy. It makes you really appreciate what Fangio and the Eagles are doing.

Fangio gets a ton of praise for his defensive system. And that’s fair. But he’s been around a looooongggg time. He’s run the same defense for a loooonggggg time. What differentiates him from his pretenders is his week-to-week plan. The rules do not always change; the coverages hover around the same mark. But knowing when and what to call, recognizing and understanding tendencies, and attacking tells is what sets him apart.

Absolutely right.

Having the playbook is nice, but knowing how to use it is the key. It is also critical that a coordinator be a good teacher so that they can explain their system to the players and get everyone on the same page. Bill Belichick was a great teacher. Buddy Ryan was a great teacher. Fangio is showing us how good he is.

Let’s hope Fangio and Baun stay in Philly for a while.

*****

Happy Birthday to the late, great Reggie White. He is the best DL I’ve ever seen play and my favorite player of all time. https://t.co/dtVWD3XpZ9

— Tommy Lawlor (@lawlornfl) December 19, 2024

Reggie would have loved watching this current group play defense. He would appreciate how tough, physical, but also smart they are. He would have been a bit confused by the lack of blitzing of course.

Without Reggie White, I might have ended up a Carolina Panthers fan.

Thank you, Reggie.

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