The Fangio Factor
Posted: January 23rd, 2025 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 1 Comment »The Commanders scored 45 points last week in Detroit, in a playoff game. With a rookie QB. That tells you that injuries finally caught up to the Lions, but also that Jayden Daniels is special and Washington’s offense can be a dynamic unit.
How do you stop a team like that?
You need good players and a great coach. Someone like Vic Fangio. Offense is about timing. Defense is about disrupting that timing. You need a coach who can design a gameplan that is complicated enough it will affect the offense, but simple enough that it can be executed at a high level consistently. Fangio is masterful at striking that balance.
Fangio is also a demanding coach, as explained in this great piece by Tim McManus. Here is what Fangio told his players on the first day of OTAs last spring.
“It’s not your fault you don’t work hard,” he said.
“Work hard?” defensive lineman Milton Williams said quizzically last week, mimicking the reaction of a group of men who toiled for years to get to their positions.
“It’s not your fault, you just don’t know how,” Fangio went on. “But that’s going to change now that I’m here.”
Nick Sirianni loves to talk about connecting as a core value for the Eagles. There are different ways to connect. Fangio didn’t come in to be their best friend. He wants to push them to be the best players they can and the best defense they can. Howie Roseman and his staff assembled a talented group of defenders, but also a group that is willing to work hard and be pushed.
Fangio has pushed and his players have responded by being the best defense in the league. There are stars at every level. Some are young, some are old. They were all hungry to succeed and Fangio has pushed the right buttons to get the most out of them.
Getting guys to work hard and buy in is only half the battle. The coach needs the right system and must know how to use it. Fangio does a great job of mixing things up so that QBs need an extra bit of time to read the defense and make a decision.
“When the ball is snapped, the guys just don’t run to a spot and show the ID to the quarterback,” Donatell explained. “It’s kind of mushy. It’s not clear, so sometimes [the QBs] are into their first or second step and they still don’t know. It’s a delayed identification for the quarterback if done properly. He works very hard to not give any tells from any position on his defense to the offense.”
That moment of hesitation by the QB can make all the different in the world. We’ve seen game after game where QBs looked a bit slow or seemed indecisive. That’s not luck. That’s not an accident. That’s Fangio working his magic.
Great ideas don’t mean much if the players can’t execute them. This is where keeping the scheme simple comes in.
Players are given clear job descriptions to avoid overreaching and promote playing with “certainty and aggression,” as defensive lineman Thomas Booker put it.
And
The greatest thing about Vic Fangio’s defenses has never been the scheme. He’s a prime example of why hiring for that is stupid. No matter what call is made, you can only play it as well as it’s been taught.
— Honest NFL (@TheHonestNFL) January 13, 2025
Players also need to play hard. Relentless effort is a key part of great defense.
There has not been a defense on tape that has played as hard as the @Eagles all season long pic.twitter.com/eRc9xIbQik
— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) January 22, 2025
Fangio is a great schemer, motivator and teacher. That’s how you build a top defense.
*****
Sunday will be Fangio’s toughest test of the year. Daniels will be facing the Eagles for the third time this year. That means Fangio has seen a lot of what they want to do, but it also means Daniels should have a good feel for what the Eagles want to do.
Fangio was more aggressive in the December rematch. He blitzed more. That had mixed results. Washington used more empty sets and that proved to be very effective. Daniels also ran more and that was probably the difference in the game.
What will Fangio do this time around? He probably won’t blitz as much. He could throw another wrinkle or two at Daniels.
You hire a guy like Fangio for games like this. Jonathan Gannon could shut down crappy QBs when he was here. Fangio is the kind of smart, veteran coach who can slow down a good offense and affect a good QB.
Sunday will be one heck of a chess game between Fangio and Kliff Kingsbury.
*****
Injuries could be a factor for both teams. Cam Jurgens didn’t practice on Thursday. Nor did Dallas Goedert.
Landon Dickerson slid into center for the day and Tyler Steen took over at LG. We’ll see if the extra rest helped Jurgens or if he’s going to miss the game due to his back issue.
Goedert missed with an ankle injury. The Eagles need him for sure. Goedert has been the best pass catcher so far in the playoffs.
LB Bobby Wagner and DT Daron Payne didn’t practice for WAS. Wagner played last week despite not practicing.
You hate to see injuries at this time of the year, but that’s part of the game.
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