Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Appreciating Vic Fangio

Posted July 4th, 2026 | 1 Comment »

The Eagles have run a version of the Vic Fangio scheme since Nick Sirianni took over as coach of the Eagles. It wasn’t until 2024 that they were able to hire Fangio himself that anyone knew how good he and the scheme are. Having the playbook is one thing. Knowing how to teach it and call defenses during the game is quite another. That’s what makes Fangio special.

Fangio has coached in the NFL since 1986. He’s been a LBs coach, defensive coordinator and head coach. Some coaches struggle to evolve with the new trends in football, but that isn’t the case with Fangio. He came in as the 3-4 was taking over the league, saw the rise of the zone blitz and came up with his own theory on the light box in recent years. Fangio might be old, but his scheme stays young. Secondary coach Joe Kasper explains part of that.

“We try new things,” Kasper said. “We try things, we study other teams. I mean, we’re here a lot. We look at copious amounts of film, and we try and decide what marries best to what other teams do. Can we steal something from somebody else? Do we understand what they’re doing? Can we pick and choose where it can help us?

“You try things, and you see what works, and you see what doesn’t work. And you try things in the training camp. You try things in this team. and you try and compliment your guys and see, you know, is this something we love and we can lean on? And we have our staples, you know, and our bread and butter that we hang our hat on.”

Good coaches are thieves, stealing ideas from anyone and everyone. We see NFL teams borrowing from the college game, where coaches like to steal from the high school game. There is more experimentation as you go down a level and that leads to some interesting concepts. The best ones move up the ladder.

Doug Farrar wrote a great piece on the defenses used by the last two Super Bowl champs and the things they have in common. I recommend reading this to get a good understanding of what defenses are trying to do now to shutdown offenses. Here is what Doug said about the Eagles.

In their 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, the Eagles refused to blitz Patrick Mahomes. They didn’t blitz a single time in their 56 defensive snaps, but they still disrupted Mahomes to the tune of six sacks and 30 total pressures. Instead of sending extra pass-rushers at Mahomes, the Eagles stunted their defensive linemen to an extreme degree, and it worked to great effect. Philly stunted its linemen 11 times in the game — two of their sacks and five of their pressures came as a result.

This also aligns with recent NFL trends.

The Eagles kept four defenders at the line of scrimmage on every snap (there were a handful of snaps in which linebacker Zack Baun did rush the passer, but always with a defensive lineman dropping back into coverage); they also had six or fewer defenders in the box on 52 of those 56 snaps. And they played with two-deep safeties on 36 of 56 plays.

Both Seattle and Philly focused on coverage. The Seahawks played mostly dime defense, while the Eagles were mostly nickel, but the overall idea was the same. Stop the passing game and try to limit the run game. Both teams had the right personnel to pull this off, based on talent and versatility. Seattle coach Mike Macdonald is 39. Vic Fangio has been part of the NFL since before he was born. That should give you some appreciation for Fangio’s ability to adapt with the game.

While Fangio didn’t blitz in the Super Bowl, he did blitz Mahomes when the teams met in the 2025 regular season.

You want each gameplan to be different. There isn’t one magic scheme that works all the time. You have to mix things up. While Fangio focuses on coverage, he isn’t afraid to attack. Part of that is due to his background.

Fangio has had good teachers. He worked under Steve Sidwell in New Orleans. Sidwell ran the 3-4 and helped the Saints have one of the best defenses in the league in his tenure. Dom Capers was also part of that staff. Capers left for Pittsburgh, where he ran the defense and really developed the zone blitz. Capers then became the head coach of the Panthers and later the Texans. Fangio was his DC in both spots. Fangio learned the zone blitz from a true expert. Later on Fangio became the LBs coach for the Ravens and DC Rex Ryan. Fangio learned about overload blitzes and complex coverages from Ryan. Fangio has been able to take all of these ideas and use them to develop his own scheme.

One of the keys to his success is being able to explain role to all of his players so they are on the same page and can function as a unit rather than a bunch of individuals.

“I think Vic [Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio] does a good job of telling us where our help is and what leverage we should play,” Baun said. “We’ve always got help. When I’m out there, I trust my own tackling ability, but I also trust that Coop [defensive back Cooper DeJean] is going to come down and make the tackle with me, or Oren [linebacker Oren Burks] is going to come down and make the tackle with me.”

The Eagles use some complex coverages. They couldn’t do that successfully unless the players understood what was going on in great detail. Good communication is essential, between Fangio and his guys as well as between the players themselves.

Fangio is old school. He is a tough, demanding coach. That’s true for his assistants and his players. Kasper explains that.

“Vic is an amazing teacher and coach of coaches, not just of players,” Kasper said last week. “I think everybody realizes how great he is as for the players and what he does schematically for us as an organization.

“But just for the coaches to sit in there every day in his process is really unique. And for me, it was like, ‘Man, I can’t wait to learn from this guy. I can’t wait to be a part of his system. Can’t wait to be a part of his process,’ like the day-to-day and week-to-week operations of what gives us advantages and what disadvantages or what kind of weaknesses do we want to avoid.

“He’s hard on players and he’s hard on coaches, but it comes from a place of wanting to, wanting to win, right? So if you’re about the right stuff, meaning your motivations and intentions are aligned with his, then you’ll be in good shape with him.”

Greatness doesn’t come easy. It requires hard work and some tough love. Fangio is tough on his guys, but will also praise them when they do well. He wants to play great defense and win, which has happened since he arrived in Philly.

This season should be more of the same.

*****

This is a crazy story.

“I’ll tell you one game because it’s probably down in history,” Capers said.

Capers is right.

In December 2002, the first-year Texans (3-9) were a 14-point underdog at Pittsburgh (7-4-1). The Texans were outgained 422-47 … and won 24-6.

It remains the fewest yards for a winning team in NFL history. The Texans had four first downs, only the 13th time in NFL history that the winning team had four or fewer first downs.

Fangio’s defense scored three touchdowns — a 40-yard fumble return by Kenny Wright and Aaron Glenn interception returns of 70 and 65 yards.

“They scored 24 points and I gave them 21 of them,” Steelers quarterback Tommy Maddox said after the game. “You can put it on my shoulders. I will take the heat.”

The Texans also had six sacks.

That is nuts. I do not remember the game at all.

*****

Happy July 4th everyone!

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Underrated Offseason?

Posted July 3rd, 2026 | No Comments »

It can be tough to judge an offseason because sometimes you need time and context for it. Back in 2004 the Eagles traded for TO and signed Jevon Kearse. There was immediate celebrating. There were key moves in 2017 that stretched over months and didn’t get the same attention (Patrick Robinson, Chris Long, LeGarrette Blount), but turned out to be keys to winning the franchise’s first Super Bowl.

Have we underrated how good this offseason was?

Seth Walder of ESPN gave the Eagles the only A in his offseason grades.

The Eagles prepared for the loss of Brown by trading fifth- and sixth-round picks for Dontayvion Wicks and selecting Makai Lemon in the first round of the draft. I particularly like the Wicks acquisition. The former Packer has a 69 open score over the past three seasons — well above average — and perhaps has not fully realized his upside.

There is no question that Wicks still has upside. The question is whether the Eagles can get him to play to his full potential, or at least close to it.

The Eagles also had one of my favorite free agency signings of the offseason, nabbing Woolen for one year and $12 million. Woolen is not considered among the game’s best corners despite metrics that suggest elite-level play. Over the past four seasons, Woolen ranks first among all cornerbacks with at least 500 coverage snaps in air yards allowed per coverage snap, just ahead of new teammate Quinyon Mitchell and Pat Surtain II.

Woolen had a terrific spring and looks like a major upgrade at CB2.

Let’s review some of what the Eagles did.

DIFFERENCE MAKERS

The Eagles had a talented roster heading into the offseason. Howie Roseman is always looking to add top talent and it appears he was able to find three such pieces. Trading for Jonathan Greenard upgrades the edge situation in a big way. Greenard is highly disruptive and plays the run well. He has good size, which Vic Fangio wants in the left end when possible. That helps the player set the edge in the run game.

It is critical in this scheme for the front four to play the run well so you can keep the light box and focus on coverage. I think Greenard will prove to be a really key player for the defense. He seems really bought in and hungry to win big.

As mentioned above, adding Woolen looks more and more like a great move.

Woolen will help the secondary get back to the 2024 level, or even better. Woolen has an elite combination of size, speed and length. He’s also skilled. QBs won’t have great options with who to attack, Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean or Woolen.

Rookie Makai Lemon can also be a difference-maker. He won’t be AJ Brown, but he can be an impactful slot receiver. The new offensive scheme wants to throw the ball to the middle of the field on a regular basis. Lemon is right at home working the middle. He knows how to get open, has strong hands and is outstanding at running after the catch.

The Eagles will be asking Lemon to do what he does best. That puts him in a position to succeed and should ease his transition to the NFL.

I think you can also add Sean Mannion to this category. The players have raved about him and the new offense. The old scheme relied on star players. With AJ Brown gone, the new scheme will focus on spreading the ball around. Roseman added good WR depth to fit the scheme. DeVonta Smith will be the workhorse to be sure, but Jalen Hurts will have more options than ever before. It will be up to Hurts and Mannion to make things work.

PLUGGING HOLES

Not all moves are going to involve star players. The Eagles needed a blocking TE and added Johnny Mundt, who can handle that role. Arnold Ebiketie figures to be a regular part of the pass rush rotation and is a good fit for the scheme. Eli Stowers brings some real juice to the TE spot and could be a good role player. As mentioned above, adding WRs Dontayvion Wicks and Hollywood Brown weren’t splashy moves, but they give Hurts talented veteran receivers to work with.

DEPTH

Roseman and his staff did a good job of finding depth pieces. They added veteran corner Jonathan Jones to the secondary. He’s an upgrade on what they had last year. Elijah Moore, a proven slot receiver, will be ready to step in if anything happens to Lemon this summer. Rookie Markell Bell gives the team better depth at OT. Veteran Michael Jordan could help at OG. Rookie Cole Wisniewski will be in the mix at safety. He’s bigger and more physical than the other safeties. AJ Epenesa offers size on the edge.

LOSSES

The Eagles lost key players in Jaelan Phillips, Nakobe Dean, Reed Blankenship and Brown. The team has Greenard to replace Phillips and could be an upgrade. They have Jihaad Campbell to replace Dean. Marcus Epps will get the first chance to succeed Blankenship. There is no clear replacement for Brown. They are using scheme and depth to replace him. Overall, the Eagles were well prepared to lose these guys. Epps has his doubters, but Fangio seems to believe in him.

The Eagles didn’t storm out of the gates making big moves, but it feels more and more like they had a better offseason than we realize.

*****

Here are some thoughts on the new offense.

Mannion will figure out what Hurts is most comfortable with and does the best and will tailor the offense accordingly. This isn’t one size fits all. You can adjust as needed to fit your personnel.

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