It's like some of you have never even played football and/or have a basic understanding of the sport.

As far as players go. There is literally no defending Desai. The LB's are clearly worse than they were last year. The rest of the defense is more or less on par with last year. Hargrave is out on the DL and Carter is in. Reed and Byard in, CJGJ and Epps are out. You can argue that is a downgrade but there is no good argument to suggest it's a significant downgrade.

With the pass rush. Yes they had a historic sack total last season which was going to regress. However, it has regressed far more than it should have and there are pretty clear reasons why. For one thing, for whatever reason Sweat and Reddick are playing way too much. For years we were all about the DL rotation and keeping guys fresh going back to the last coaching staff and now all of a sudden they aren't/ Smith got in the game a little bit last week and was a flashing early and then we barely saw him in the game again. Say what you want about Barnett but not getting him more snaps to keep the other guys fresh was dumb. Also, I don't want to hear this crap about BG and Cox getting older. Cox has been as good or better than he was last year and somehow BG had a career high in sacks last year and can't do anything. Couldn't have anything to do with the lack of stunts or imagination with the deployment of the DL to generate pass rush.

Now the secondary. It's also a lot easier to avoid sacks when the DB's are playing 10 yards off and giving up quick easy throws. Gannon's deployment of the DB's was passive but not this passive. A prime example is in the 49'ers game. After two straight terrible drives and Purdy looking like he was ready to crap in his pants the Eagles had them in a second and long and for some unknown reason Slay was playing a good 10 yards off of Aiyuk who ended up getting a quick short pass that he turned into a decent gain. Third and short they convert, and then they are on their way to 6 straight TD's. It's great and all that they don't give up deep plays, but they allow teams to carve them up and down the field on short routes with regularity.

Next up on the secondary is stupid stupid decisions with how to attack the opposing offenses. How many times have we seen guys like Ricks and Jobe one on one in the slot with stud WR's, sometimes even in cover zero. Lamb absolutely killed us for 4 quarters in the first game and they barely ever put Slay on him and when they did the damage was lessened significantly. I can literally tell you where the QB is going on 3rd down as soon as I see who is where and I am a dude who played and coached high school football. Imagine what an NFL QB is seeing.

Lastly on the secondary. Slay and Bradberry didn't fall off from all pro one season to completely washed up the next. Bradberry looks completely lost and unsure of himself most of the time. Slay has been ok but he isn't being put in a position to utilize his strengths and make plays. You can't blame Desai for the LB play or poor tackling in certain games but anyone who watches Eagles games and think he is putting these players in a position to have success is clueless about football. The dude coaches scared, stupid, and the defense has taken on his personality which is often the case with players as it relates to the coaching they are getting. People loved to trash JG and I was one of them, but my gosh he is 10 times the coach this clown Desai is.

On 12/15/2023 at 1:31 AM, Mat said:

What exactly does bum ass Matt Patricia do with the team? Didn't they bring him in to help the D in some capacity? 

Well I guess we're about to find out 

I’m no football genius nor am I claiming anything other than the obvious, but when this team went with two inexperienced coordinators I could not understand why- with so much talent and hopes to make another run at the SB, they would bring in two coordinators who are essentially at an intern level in the NFL. It was the worst front office/coaching call since Chip Kelly and I simply believe the Eagles will reap the consequences of such a shortsighted and arrogant decision. 
https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2023/12/18/24006266/sean-desai-demotion-matt-patricia-eagles-front-office-failure-defensive-coordinator-dc-change-nfl

23 minutes ago, Eldereagle1 said:

I’m no football genius nor am I claiming anything other than the obvious, but when this team went with two inexperienced coordinators I could not understand why- with so much talent and hopes to make another run at the SB, they would bring in two coordinators who are essentially at an intern level in the NFL. It was the worst front office/coaching call since Chip Kelly and I simply believe the Eagles will reap the consequences of such a shortsighted and arrogant decision. 
https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2023/12/18/24006266/sean-desai-demotion-matt-patricia-eagles-front-office-failure-defensive-coordinator-dc-change-nfl

I'm guessing they thought they were in a rebuild defensively and really didn't have a shot at a SB ... then BAM... wth... we 10-1 got damn.

On 12/11/2023 at 8:32 PM, EagleMatt said:

Graham was seen as a bust too and he was a starter, I think. Nolan has the potential. Hopefully he lives up to it.

Graham wasn't really seen as a bust ... it was just that a lot of people after season 1 were all apoplectic that they did not instead draft Jason Pierre-Paul, who had a very good rookie season. 

 

On 12/18/2023 at 5:30 PM, judunno said:

I'm guessing they thought they were in a rebuild defensively and really didn't have a shot at a SB ... then BAM... wth... we 10-1 got damn.

Tough to say, but I got the impression this team was looking to return to the SB from Day 1 this season.