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Feels Like the Eagles Defense is Finally Rolling Over After Carrying the Team for a Full Year Now
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With some time to sleep on it, that game was a bit of a head scratcher. The Eagles’ offense, missing Jalen Hurts, DeVonta Smith, and Dontayvion Wicks, plus the recently retired/traded Lane Johnson and Cam Jurgens, scored 21 points against the Cowboys. It was the first time they’ve gone for 20+ since the Tennessee game back on September 20th.
It wasn’t amazing, but it may have been enough to win the game had the Birds’ defense showed up.
Instead, Vic Fangio’s unit conceded 38 points and 416 yards, allowing Javonte Williams to go for 6.2 per carry. Dallas was 8-13 on third down (61%) and hit on some explosives that really changed the game. Those touchdown passes for George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb were really solid and the coverage wasn’t bad at all.
Ultimately, however –
You don’t expect anything out of the Eagles’ offense, but you do expect something from the defense.
And that’s the problem.
These guys have been carrying the offense for almost a full year now. The only reason they even made the playoffs last season is because of games like these:
- Eagles 20, Chiefs 17
- Eagles 10, Packers 7
- Eagles 16, Lions 9
- Eagles 13, Bills 12
They only had 1-2 clunkers last year, when they gave up 34 in New York on short rest and then were run over by the Bears at home. But Fangio’s unit was the only reason they won the four games listed above, three of which were on the road. They also did enough to get wins against the Chargers and Broncos, games in which the offense couldn’t get to 20 points. They arguably did enough to win the playoff game against the 49ers, even if the fourth quarter was a disappointment.
Then you go into this season and the offense looks just okay against Washington and Tennessee. The D holds both teams to under 23 points. They get steamrolled by Chicago on Monday Night Football, then play very well against both the Rams and Jags in games where the offense and special teams can’t shut the door.
By that point, they’re probably thinking to themselves, “alright, enough of this shit, I can’t believe we have to do this again.“
You’ve been there before, at a much lower level, presumably. You’re busting you ass at the rec game, playing D and grabbing rebounds, and the other guy on your team keeps demanding the ball and bricking shots. He’s a turnstile and a ball hog, which is a bad combo. Or you’re playing flag football and the quarterback can’t complete a forward pass. The “strikers” on your adult soccer team can’t even hit the target. You get frustrated because everybody else is failing to hold up their end of the bargain.
That’s what it feels like here, that the defense has finally rolled over and died after keeping this team afloat from October of 2025 to October of 2026.
It’s hard to blame them, considering the circumstances, but it’s certainly not an excuse. A bunch of these guys got paid after the Super Bowl win. Jalen Carter got paid. Jordan Davis got paid. Zack Baun got paid. They gave Jonathan Greenard four years and $100 million. Nakobe Dean was allowed to walk because Jihaad Campbell was in the house, and he’s still trying to get off Cowboy blocks this morning. Cooper DeJean might not even get a second contract if things keep trending this way. Nobody outside of Quinyon Mitchell is performing at the level we know they’re capable of.
And we all know Fangio himself is close to retirement. Maybe this is his final season. But schematically he’s gotta mix things up and adjust, and try to bring pressure and create chaos. That’s not typically in his wheelhouse, but if things aren’t working you’re going to have to deviate from the script. The fact of the matter is that the Eagles’ pressure rate of 15.5% is dead last in the NFL. Their three takeaways in seven games is tied for dead last, with the Colts. They’ve played four of their seven games against top 10 offenses (Dallas, Carolina, Chicago, Jacksonville), and LA’s offense is 11th, so the schedule has been pretty tough to start out. But we’ve seen these guys bang with the best over the past season or two, and we know what they’re capable of.
We’ll see what kind of effort we get against the Giants and Commies over these next two weeks, but this looks to me like a unit that’s beginning to pack it in. I don’t blame them after the year that they’ve had, but at the same time, you’re highly-paid professional athletes and you’re not carrying your weight.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com