Just how bad has the Eagles' defense been? Read at your own risk

[time2rock]

Just how bad has the Eagles' defense been? Read at your own risk

By Reuben Frank, Eagles Insider • Published December 11, 2023

 

They’re 28^th in pass defense. They’re 22^nd in sacks per pass play. They’re last on third down. They’re 30^th in the red zone, 28^th in points allowed, 28^th in first downs allowed, 31^st in interceptions and 20^th in takeaways.

For the record, last year the Eagles ranked 1^st in pass defense, 1^st in sacks per pass play, 14^th on third down, 11^th in the red zone, 8^th in points allowed, 13^th in first downs allowed, 6^th in interceptions and 4^th in takeaways.

After another collapse Sunday night, we thought we’d take a look at just exactly how bad the Eagles’ defense has been of late.

WARNING: IT’S NOT PRETTY.  

33 POINTS THREE STRAIGHT GAMES: The Eagles weren’t very good in 1967. That was Joe Kuharich’s fourth year as head coach, and the Eagles went 6-7-1 after a 3-1 start. Late in the season, they lost 44-7 to the Giants at Yankee Stadium, tied Washington 35-35 at District of Columbia Stadium (later named RFK) and then lost 38-17 to the Cowboys at the Cotton Bowl. That was 56 years ago and it’s the only other time in franchise history the Eagles have allowed 33 points in three straight games. The Eagles have allowed 30 or more points five times this year. Only Washington has allowed 30 points more often. 

WORST IN THE NFL: Since Week 8, the Eagles have allowed an NFL-high 2,569 total yards in six games. That’s the 3^rd-most yards they’ve allowed in franchise history over any six-game span. They allowed 2,701 over six games in 2015 and 2,576 in 2018. In their previous six games they allowed 1,650 yards – more than 900 fewer yards.

CHIP-ESQE: They’ve also allowed 17 touchdown passes in those six games. The only time they allowed more TD passes in a six-game span was in 2015, late in Chip Kelly’s final season. They’ve allowed multiple touchdown passes in six straight games for the first time since 2012 and only the third time ever. They also allowed two or more TD passes in six consecutive games the last six weeks of the 1967 season.

POINTS PILING UP: The 109 points the Eagles have allowed vs. the Bills, 49ers and Cowboys are the most they’ve allowed in a three-game stretch since 2015. The last time they allowed 109 points in a three-game span when Chip Kelly wasn’t the coach was 1972.

ALARMING RUSH DEFENSE: The Eagles have allowed 168, 173, 146 and 138 rushing yards in their last four games. It’s the first time since 2006 they’ve allowed 135 or more rushing yards in four straight games and only the third time since 1985. Through the Miami game in Week 7, the Eagles had the NFL’s No. 1 run defense, allowing 63 yards per game and 3.6 per carry. In six games since, they’re 27^th in yards allowed (130) and 29^th in yards per carry allowed (4.7).

WORLD-CLASS AWFUL 3^RD-DOWN DEFENSE: The Cowboys converted 56 percent of their third downs on 9-for-16. On the heels of the Bills converting 59 percent (13-22) and the 49ers 73 percent (8-11), this is the first time the Eagles have allowed three straight teams to convert at least 55 percent of their third downs since the NFL began tracking 3^rd-down conversion stats in 1991. Overall, the Bills, 49ers and Cowboys were 30-for-49 on third down for 61 percent. That’s the highest conversion percentage against the Eagles in a three-game span since 1991. Overall, the Eagles are last in the NFL in 3^rd-down defense at 48 percent. That’s way over the highest on record for a full season. In 2021 they allowed 43 percent. The Cards are 2^nd-worst on third down this year at 46 percent.

75 YARDS OVER AND OVER: In their first 11 games, the Eagles allowed 11 touchdown drives of 75 yards or more out of 117 total opposing offensive possessions. In the last two games, they’ve allowed eight 75-yard TD drives out of 18 opposing offensive possessions. 

PASS DEFENSE KEEPS GETTING WORSE: The Eagles have allowed the 2^nd-most passing touchdowns in the NFL (29) and they have the 2^nd-fewest interceptions (6). They’re on pace to allow the 7^th-most touchdown passes in NFL history and to become the fifth team in history to allow at least 37 TD passes and record seven or fewer interceptions. Even converting the numbers to a 16-game season, they’re still on pace to become only the fifth team allowing 35 TD passes with seven or fewer INTs.

WHAT ARE INTERCEPTIONS? The Eagles have gone 19 consecutive games with either one or no interceptions. That’s the 2^nd-longest streak in franchise history – they had a 22-game streak over the 1983 and 1984 seasons. The Eagles have only four INTs in their last 10 games and their six INTs this year is the 2^nd-fewest in franchise history through 13 games. In 2020 they only had four interceptions after 13 games. 

INSANE FIRST DOWN STATS: The Eagles have allowed 23 or more first downs in six straight games for the first time in at least 50 years.

https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/just-how-bad-has-the-eagles-defense-been-read-at-your-own-risk/551738/

[UK_EaglesFan89]

And the worry is they can’t fix those issues because they simply don’t have the players to fix it. The DL is very good and yes they can absolutely perform better but they can also be negated. And there’s nothing this secondary can do to stem the bleeding because they just aren’t very good.

[weko]

The DC is horrible.  Same old soft as Charmin D every game.  Drops 7 way back before every snap.  He's a loser

[LacesOut]

It's trash. The DC, the players, the game plan, the execution, the tackling, the depth, it's the WHOLE TEAM ON DEFENSE!!! There are no play makers in the back 7 on D.

Yet, the team has won 10 games. Will probably win 2 more and make the playoffs. Crazy to be that BAD on one side of the ball and still win 12 games. 

 

[weko]

So bad they just fired the DC in season