Eagles News: “Strong case as one of the worst defenses in football”

[CCBoy]

2023 NFL playoffs: Should the Chiefs, Eagles, Lions, Jags panic? - ESPN+
Let’s keep it simple: The Eagles’ defense is bad. Not bad by last year’s standards. Not bad by Philadelphia’s standards. Not bad by their expectations heading into the season. Not bad by the measure of other Super Bowl contenders. Over this six-game stretch that followed the win over the Dolphins, they have a strong case as one of the worst defenses in football. In the situations that matter most, the Eagles have come up wanting. Since the second Commanders game, Sean Desai’s defense ranks last in third-down conversion rate, allowing opposing teams to move the chains a league-high 54.8% of the time. They’ve also gone 8-for-14 on fourth downs. The Cowboys were right in that ballpark during Sunday’s comfortable victory, going 9-of-16 on third downs and adding a fourth-down conversion on their only try for good measure. Dak Prescott and the Dallas offense were 6-for-8 in the first half, allowing the Cowboys to get out to a 24-6 halftime lead. [...] Most disconcertingly, though, the pass defense feels broken. The 2022 defense approached league records with 70 sacks, and the pass pressure helped produce career seasons for James Bradberry and C.J. Gardner-Johnson in the secondary. There were concerns about how the defense would hold up with changes at the second and third levels, but the Eagles don’t really have a place to hang their hat right now. Over the past six games, they rank 30th in pressure rate, as they’ve bothered opposing quarterbacks just 24.0% of the time. Over that same stretch last season, they were pressuring opposing passers just under 35% of the time, which was the fifth-best mark. They posted a 12.7% sack rate from Week 8 to Week 14 last season, which was comfortably the best in football.

https://www.bleedinggreennation.com...ball-philadelphia-nfl-sean-desai-cowboys-game

 

[CCBoy]

The Eagles are a good team playing very badly - BGN
Not to make excuses, but this schedule has been the most difficult I can ever remember in Eagles’ history. The last stretch that remotely compares was in 2006, when Jeff Garcia had to navigate through three straight road games against divisional opponents in December in order to get to the postseason — and they did it. In the last seven weeks, these Eagles have played the Dolphins, Cowboys, Chiefs, Bills, 49ers and Cowboys again. Those opponents have a combined record of 44-20. That’s a winning percentage of .687. They’re a team with older players at key positions and it’s clear the physical and mental toll of this string of games has gassed them. They look like they’ve hit a brick wall, particularly the defense. Last night, they were on the field for 82 snaps. Against the 49ers, they played 72 snaps, the week before in the OT win against the Bills, an insane 95 snaps, and against the Chiefs were on the field for 79.

https://www.bleedinggreennation.com...ball-philadelphia-nfl-sean-desai-cowboys-game

 

[G2]

Maybe the defense gets a little break if your 3 best players don't turn the ball over.

 

[Scotman]

Quick question? What was the relative strength of the schedule the years the Cowboys won their 5 Superbowls?

I hate hearing about the strength of the schedule when trying to discount wins. I hate it equally as much when it's used to discount losses. The Eagles are going to lose at least one more game, IMO. Cowboys need to win out.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Quick question? What was the relative strength of the schedule the years the Cowboys won their 5 Superbowls?

I hate hearing about the strength of the schedule when trying to discount wins. I hate it equally as much when it's used to discount losses. The Eagles are going to lose at least one more game, IMO. Cowboys need to win out.

I'm not going to worry about what other teams do. We DO need to win out. I'm not sure it will do anything for playoff position...

but I want to establish our dominance and confidence. The ability to handle the next team up no matter what. We're good enough to do that. At least until 9ers and I expect nothing less than an all out brawl. A win? Yes...that'd be great. We'd have to play almost perfect and get a break or two. But it's doable.

 

[doomsday9084]

The Eagles are a good team playing very badly - BGN
Not to make excuses, but this schedule has been the most difficult I can ever remember in Eagles’ history. The last stretch that remotely compares was in 2006, when Jeff Garcia had to navigate through three straight road games against divisional opponents in December in order to get to the postseason — and they did it. In the last seven weeks, these Eagles have played the Dolphins, Cowboys, Chiefs, Bills, 49ers and Cowboys again. Those opponents have a combined record of 44-20. That’s a winning percentage of .687. They’re a team with older players at key positions and it’s clear the physical and mental toll of this string of games has gassed them. They look like they’ve hit a brick wall, particularly the defense. Last night, they were on the field for 82 snaps. Against the 49ers, they played 72 snaps, the week before in the OT win against the Bills, an insane 95 snaps, and against the Chiefs were on the field for 79.

https://www.bleedinggreennation.com...ball-philadelphia-nfl-sean-desai-cowboys-game

Eagles are delusional if they believe this. They should have lost to Washington twice and really could/should have lost their entire tough streak of Dallas, Chiefs, Bills, Niners, Dallas.

They aren't a good team that is having a tough stretch. They are a mediocre yet lucky team regressing to the mean.

 

[Retro88]

I'm not going to worry about what other teams do. We DO need to win out. I'm not sure it will do anything for playoff position...

but I want to establish our dominance and confidence. The ability to handle the next team up no matter what. We're good enough to do that. At least until 9ers and I expect nothing less than an all out brawl. A win? Yes...that'd be great. We'd have to play almost perfect and get a break or two. But it's doable.

I'll never root against us but I don't think we're gonna win 13 str8 games and that's what we'd have to do to win out and accomplish our goals.

 

[CWR]

Quick question? What was the relative strength of the schedule the years the Cowboys won their 5 Superbowls?

I hate hearing about the strength of the schedule when trying to discount wins. I hate it equally as much when it's used to discount losses. The Eagles are going to lose at least one more game, IMO. Cowboys need to win out.

Our schedules are nearly identical. When it's all said and done they have zero excuses.

 

[Nova]

The Eagles are 30th in opponent passer rating

 

[CWR]

I'll never root against us but I don't think we're gonna win 13 str8 games and that's what we'd have to do to win out and accomplish our goals.

There's only one game on the schedule, the next one. I hear you but this team is really good. This week will be interesting.

 

[Jake]

Last year the Eagles led the league in sacks and it hid some of their flaws. This year they have the fewest third down sacks in the NFL.

The thing that has been saving them this year is their ability to win close games. That sort of thing doesn't always hold up in the playoffs, though.

 

[erod]

The Eagles defense was supposed to be incredible, and it's exactly the opposite of that.

They're awful.

How did we lose in Philly?

 

[plymkr]

And to top it all off is the refs aren’t helping them. The Eagles and the Chiefs have been having to win games like everyone else. Tragic

 

[Blue&Silver]

The Eagles have one of the worst defenses. I've been saying that all year and some on here jump down my throat. They also have a defensive coordinator with no big-game experience. They didn't have a good defense last year, only reason why they didn't blow out a team like Kansas City who they were far superior than. They had a great pass rush and that covered up for their bad defensive scheme. Their defense isn't so much a talent problem more a scheme problem. Of course this year they've had a ton of injuries, but even when healthy they can't stop anyone.

They have a good offense that's very opportunistic. But it's good enough they can beat any team at any time in the NFL in spite of their woeful defense. That's why they are dangerous.

 

[CowboysLakerBamaFan]

I think the Eagle defense has gotten OLD quick. At least their dBacks.

But it's odd to evaluate the defense IMMEDIATELY after holding the Dolphins to 7 points (they were the hottest offense in the league at that time...and often #1 on power rankings). Why start evaluating immediately after that game?

Neverthess...multiple things at ay here: the author intentionally excludes their defenses better performance....AND their dBacks have gotten old....AND they just went thru the most brutal stretch of games of any team this year....so ANY team's defense would struggle through that stretch

But...the Eagles D is still bad. BUT...they have enough tent on their dLine, where they can still shut good teams down IF they get early leads (see dolphins)...which isn't happening now. Their faltering run game is every bit as much to blame as their D.

 

[shabazz]

The Eagles defense was supposed to be incredible, and it's exactly the opposite of that.

They're awful.

How did we lose in Philly?

A big toe on the sideline for the 2 point attempt

 

[darthseinfeld]

Reading some of the comments, it looks like BGN does as much brainwashing on "great coaching hires " as BTB. You have guys in the comments deflecting for Desai just like posters on BTB used to do for our oversold coaching hires

 

[Cowboys1966]

Eagles are delusional if they believe this. They should have lost to Washington twice and really could/should have lost their entire tough streak of Dallas, Chiefs, Bills, Niners, Dallas.

They aren't a good team that is having a tough stretch. They are a mediocre yet lucky team regressing to the mean.

Lol. Dude, they’ve lost like 7 games in almost 2 seasons… Give the devil it’s due… I think the only one delusional is you. Jk.

I just don’t get how fans continuously, demonize other teams… Or how they always assume that when a team they don’t like wins the close one it was luck… But when they win a close one, it was being clutch. Bottom line, when a team goes 26 and 7, and you call it luck… it may not be fans of the 26 win team that is delusional.

And dude, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. We are very probably going to have to beat them, in Philly, to get to the Super Bowl. And in that rematch, it’ll be them who had the extra rest… if you think that would be a cakewalk for us, then… I don’t know what to tell you…

 

[Cowboys1966]

Reading some of the comments, it looks like BGN does as much brainwashing on "great coaching hires " as BTB. You have guys in the comments deflecting for Desai just like posters on BTB used to do for our oversold coaching hires

I think that’s their biggest drop off from last year… Coordinators. I hope they keep both of those guys lol.

 

[Cowboys1966]

The Eagles defense was supposed to be incredible, and it's exactly the opposite of that.

They're awful.

How did we lose in Philly?

Lol I never thought the Eagles D was gonna be incredible… a great pass rush, maybe… but incredible… Nope.