time2rock Posted October 26, 2023 Share Posted October 26, 2023 Is the Eagles' defense among the NFL's elite? How good is the Eagles defense, after seven solid games this season? BY EVAN MACY PhillyVoice Staff ERIC HARTLINE/USA TODAY SPORTS Big Play Slay lived up to his name Sunday night. The Eagles might not have the consensus best defense in the entire NFL — not yet anyway — but they have a case to make as one of the league's elite units. After seeing the 49ers' mighty defense lose Monday night to the Vikings, allowing Kirk Cousins to carve them up not all that long after the Browns' historic defense allowed 39 points to the Colts on Sunday, and just a month after the Cowboys' turnover machine faltered against the Cardinals — well, perhaps there is a little more parity than anyone thought. And after the Eagles' defense made a statement against the Dolphins in Sunday night's win, holding a 500-yard per game offense to just 244 total and 10 points (not including the pick-six of Jalen Hurts), the front office went for one more major upgrade, trading for two-time All-Pro safety Kevin Byard. Here are some really compelling figures that paint the Eagles as an elite group of disruptors and run-stoppers: Category Stat NFL Rank Yards per game 290.3 6th Points per game 20.1 20th Rushing yards per game 62.9 1st Yards per rush 3.6 4th Rush TD 3 5th QB hurries 34 3rd QB sacks 24 3rd QB pressures 85 1st Net yards per pass 5.5 6th The biggest weakness on paper is that they allow a lot of yards through the air — the 15th most per game in the NFL right now. The Birds' secondary has allowed 12 passing touchdowns – the fourth most in the league – but they are so good at stopping the run that they actually make opposing offenses one-dimensional and particularly pass-happy, which has led them to see the fourth most pass attempts in football (266) and the fewest run attempts (123). "They talk about every week, you’ve got to earn the right to rush the passer," Eagles defensive coordinator Sean Desai said Tuesday, proudly fielding questions after his most impressive performance on the job yet. "The way to earn the right is to knock the run out. That's a core philosophy of what they believe in, what I believe in, what we believe in as a defense and as a staff and as players. They take a lot of pride in that." They also found a way to limit Miami — a team with 32 rushes of 10-plus yards this year (the NFL's most) and 17 passes of 25-plus yards (second most) to just three such plays, with a relatively mundane long of 29 yards. "I think the big part was obviously playing physically up front, right?" Desai said, "Having great anticipation in terms of the coverages and the disguises that we presented, and the route distributions that we were expecting. Putting our guys in spots to make sure they understood that this is where these targets were going to come and where they were going to go, and we need to defend these parts of the field and these routes in these parts of the field." It's a defense that looks like it's always having fun, which can sometimes be just as valuable as having sound fundamentals and game-planning. If the defense can stay healthy and continue developing chemistry together, there's a pretty solid mix of over 30 veterans and extremely talented early-round draft picks sharing the field together every week. "I think you have to be able to let guys play freely and within the structure of the defense, knowing when they can take their shots," Desai said. "We've got playmakers, and so they've got to know when they can go make plays, and that's our job, is to provide them those opportunities to go make plays when we need them to... "They're a team. They have to do it all together. It can't just be one guy saying, hey, this is my turn to go make a play. The other 10 guys better be understanding the same thing, and that's part of our preparation that we try to take them through." https://www.phillyvoice.com/eagles-defense-nfl-elite-stats-analysis-49ers-browns-cowboys-run-sacks-qb-pressures-news/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UK_EaglesFan89 Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 I think it’s a top 10 unit. They’ve had some struggles in the secondary but they’ve also faced a lot of injuries so that’s played a big part for sure. I don’t think they are a top 5 unit but adding Byard is going to raise the level of this team. They do need more TOs though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LacesOut Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 I would say..,...not yet. Let's see what they can do against some of the better QBs they will face coming up. They did do a great job on Tua and the Dolphins though. Props for that effort and result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UK_EaglesFan89 Posted October 28, 2023 Share Posted October 28, 2023 11 hours ago, LacesOut said: I would say..,...not yet. Let's see what they can do against some of the better QBs they will face coming up. They did do a great job on Tua and the Dolphins though. Props for that effort and result. To be fair they’ve done a good job the last few weeks. Against the Jets they were good until that final Jets TD drive which I think they were kind of allowing to get our offense back on the field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdman#12 Posted October 29, 2023 Share Posted October 29, 2023 Well, not against the foreskins.......the defense was terrible today..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EaglesAddict Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 12 hours ago, birdman#12 said: Well, not against the foreskins.......the defense was terrible today..... Yeah, I'm going to go out on a limb and say no, this Eagles defense is not among the elite (thread title). They are middle of the pack overall...and were particularly bad against Washington yesterday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR-CYN Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 Quote Points per game 20.1 20th This is who they are until they change it and hopefully get better. Points are all that really matters. I think anyone who follows this team knew the offense was going to need to carry the defense quite a bit this season. When the offense makes boneheaded mistakes they do make it harder for themselves. Good thing they're actually pretty good. 28 points a game total offense is good for 3rd place. .1 behind Dallas. 🙈 This team is going to go as far as the offense takes it imo. The defense just has to not completely bend over and crap itself. Pretty close against the commandos... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdman#12 Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 I think the defensive line dictates how the game goes for the eagles......they didn't get much pressure yesterday and it exposes the weaknesses in the defensive backfield. Plus Howell was dead on yesterday until they got some pressure on late. They have to get pressure all game.....and make changes when they aren't....Davis and Carter being out certainly didn't help....and I'd like to see more of Nolan Smith and his speed get more snaps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsdarkstar Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 They are a top 10 defense. It's possible they move into the top 5 but they will need to stay healthy to do that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYEagle Posted November 1, 2023 Share Posted November 1, 2023 I think they have the pieces...they need to stay healthy AND play together.....I think the bye week will also allow them time to be able to do both. They haven't had the same back 7 all season so bad communication/lack of familiarity definitely plays a part so give them some time to jell and yes, I do think they can pull it all together. They are 7-1 and have and to piecemeal it all together with injuries....I don't need them playing their best now....I need it going into the playoffs! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UK_EaglesFan89 Posted November 1, 2023 Share Posted November 1, 2023 46 minutes ago, NYEagle said: I think they have the pieces...they need to stay healthy AND play together.....I think the bye week will also allow them time to be able to do both. They haven't had the same back 7 all season so bad communication/lack of familiarity definitely plays a part so give them some time to jell and yes, I do think they can pull it all together. They are 7-1 and have and to piecemeal it all together with injuries....I don't need them playing their best now....I need it going into the playoffs! I agree. They have a very good DL that is more than capable of taking over games. And they have experienced players in their secondary who we know can play. They just need to stay healthy and hopefully it’ll start to come together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portyansky Posted November 2, 2023 Share Posted November 2, 2023 Are they an Elite D??? Most definitely! Are the playing like one??? Not when you play down to weaker teams. Sunday will answer a lot of questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weko Posted November 6, 2023 Share Posted November 6, 2023 No not even close Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weko Posted November 6, 2023 Share Posted November 6, 2023 Our ability to cover receivers isn't anywhere near elite. We really miss our slot corner. Huge loss not having him this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UK_EaglesFan89 Posted November 6, 2023 Share Posted November 6, 2023 No we definitely are not. We aren’t even a top 10 defense which is where we need to get to if we want to win the SB. The whole unit needs to improve significantly but I’m not sure they can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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