Focus On The D

Posted September 15th, 2025

Heading into the 2025 season I was a bit nervous about the defense. The Eagles were missing a handful of starters/key players. It is hard to remain a great defense because that is such a high variance side of the ball. Defense is about strong execution by all 11 players. They need to be on the same page and need to play well as a group. That’s tough to do over and over. It is even harder when you lose some key players.

Vic Fangio is a great defensive coordinator and Howie Roseman has given him plenty of talent to work with. Still, I was curious to see how this group would perform. Could they be a Top 10 unit? Top 5?

After two games, the Eagles are 11th in points allowed and 9th in yards. That is a great start for Fangio and his new gang of marauders. He has two rookies in the starting lineup and three players in just their second season. The fact this group has come together quickly and is playing well is very encouraging. I feel confident in saying the numbers would be even better had Jalen Carter not been ejected in Week 1.

The defense still has plenty to work on. There have been blown coverages in both games. Patrick Mahomes burned the defense with his legs in the first half. Fangio and his players adjusted at halftime. Mahomes went from 5-60 to 7-66. That shows improvement within the game.

I’ve been very impressed with the tackling so far. The back seven has shown real promise in coverage. The Eagles still need to figure out CB2, but Adoree Jackson seemed better yesterday than the opener. Fangio is mixing up his gameplans and challenging the players. He used blitzes effectively in KC and they gave the Chiefs fits.

I’m excited to see where this defense will be in a few weeks. As the young players get more experience, they will improve. As the unit gets more time together, it will improve. Fangio could end up with another outstanding defense.

While I had some reservations about the defense, I was confident the offense would be one of the best in the league. After two weeks the offense is a mess. There is reason for some concern, but there still a tremendous amount of talent and potential.

Jalen Hurts is a good QB. Saquon Barkley might be the best RB in the league. AJ and Smitty are the best WR duo in the league. Dallas Goedert is a good TE. The OL is one of the best units in the league. I understand that Kevin Patullo is new and it is easy to blame him for the slow start. He certainly deserves some of the blame. The players haven’t done a great job of executing so far.

I do think the first two opponents have had a chip on their shoulder. Dallas got swept last year. They got embarrassed in both games. The coaches had that team fired up and ready to battle the Eagles. KC also got embarrassed by the Eagles a few months back. Their defense was aggressive and played well on Sunday. They had great crowd noise as well.

The Eagles offense has not looked comfortable on the field for parts of both games. I think that will change and they will settle down. The Rams have a really talented defense so they will be a good challenge for the Eagles. Thankfully the game is at The Linc so that will help. If the offense doesn’t start trending in the right direction, it will be time to get seriously concerned. I still have faith in the unit after two weeks.

Do you remember who had the best offense in the NFL after two weeks last year?

It was the Saints. They scored 91 points in those games and people wondered if they could be the surprise team to watch. The Eagles held them to 12 points in Week 3 and the Saints finished 5-12 after a 2-0 start. September football can be a mirage, good and bad.

*****

There is a lot of discussion about the Tush Push after Sunday. The Eagles clearly jumped offside on multiple plays. They should have been flagged, but weren’t. You can bet the officials on Sunday will be under a lot of pressure to watch everything closely and enforce any infractions. The Eagles better be clean or there will be flags this time around.

All the critics are out now and ripping the play left and right. It’s bad for football. It’s bad for the economy. It’s bad for the environment. Children shouldn’t be exposed to it. Some of the criticism is legit, but the hatred and hyperbole are a bit much.

https://igglesblitz.com/2025/09/focus-on-the-d-2/