Best of unCovering the Birds: ‘Vic Fangio’s boogeyman’ and the biggest issues for the Eagles defense
The offense is getting most of the flak, but the defense’s lack of impact has been more than notable. We break down that and more on the latest episode of our Eagles podcast.
It was a blowout, and it left a lot of questions. The Eagles’ 27-7 loss to the Bears Monday night at Soldier Field featured an offense that fizzled, a defense that folded, and a coaching staff that looked outmatched. On the latest episode of unCovering the Birds, The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane and Jeff Neiburg provided a postmortem of the defense’s disappointing start to the season, critique of offensive coordinator Sean Mannion’s approach, and assessment of how some of general manager Howie Roseman’s moves have panned out so far.
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Jeff McLane: What do you think are the biggest issues? Big picture when we’re looking at the defense, not just this game. What could be the problems going forward that the Eagles have to find a way around?
Jeff Neiburg: To hear multiple players use the phrases like we’re not ... on the same page or miscommunications, those are the worrisome things to me, right? Like, of course, you know, Ben Johnson might be Vic Fangio’s boogeyman at this point, right? It’s only a two-game sample size, but boy, the data is there at this point. and and Ben Johnson’s offense creates a lot of chaos. It causes miscommunications because there’s so much motion, there’s lots of things going on, there’s funky formations.
I’m with you in the sense that some of this stuff is just isolated to this game, I think. but there are worrisome trends. Not being able to communicate correctly.
» READ MORE: Eagles defense ‘not on the same page,’ as Ben Johnson and Case Keenum pick them apart
I think it was Zack Baun who mentioned after the game, he said it comes down to communication, whether that’s hearing the call, playing the right thing, knowing the assignment. Those are the things [the Eagles] gotta get better at.
McLane: I think it is concerning that it wasn’t really just this game. Like the the defense was underwhelming in the first two weeks. Now, they kind of kept the scores down.
I thought they were pretty much good enough against Washington, kind of folded late. It felt a little bit like last year when the offense wasn’t getting the job done to close out games and the defense had to do it or that, you know, they suffered under the weight of how ineffective the offense was. Last week, 12 missed tackles. I think they had 11 this week. Vic [Fangio] kind of did what he normally doesn’t do, which is he stacked the box. He kind of sold out to stop the run based upon what the Bears had done to them last year, 281 yards on the ground, and so you can’t fault him in that regard.
» READ MORE: Nick Sirianni has a lot of work to do, and not much time to do it, after Eagles’ weaknesses are exposed in Chicago
And you know, look, make Case Keenum — 38-year-old Case Keenum who hasn’t started in nearly three years, and he when he did start a few years ago was dreadful — make him beat you. The way they beat the Eagles was they just got the ball out of his hand quick. They schemed up one, or two plays. I’m not saying Keenum didn’t play well. There were times where he had to kind of make some really sharp and quick decisions and maybe sidestep a rusher here or there. But they forced the Eagles to tackle. And this is clearly now an issue. And I think if you’re looking at those guys in the middle of the field, specifically the safeties and you know, the linebackers, like they’re just they’re not getting it done. And miscommunication should be [viewed as] an issue.
Third year in Vic Fangio scheme and the majority of the guys are are back. You know, I mean I know Riq Woolen is new, but the rest of guys really really aren’t, in that back seven. So that is concerning.
» READ MORE: Eagles grades vs. Bears: Nick Sirianni, entire defense culpable in blowout loss
Neiburg: An interesting part too, I don’t think we’ve touched on with the defense yet. What’s your level of concern with the the lack of impact the the vaunted interior trio (Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Moro Ojomo) has made on games so far?
McLane: Jalen Carter’s getting paid to be like a a Jeffrey Simmons-type defensive tackle and it just hasn’t been there. He makes these splash plays when ... he’s a smart football player, he can kind of diagnose something or whatever. I just don’t see him winning a lot at the point of attack. I mean, he gets held a bunch, but it’s like there’s just not a push in the pocket where he’s in the quarterback’s face even. There’s not him, just like kind of winning. One-on-ones he’s not even really kind of pushing the pocket. And this was a center that quite frankly, is maybe one of the the worst pass blocking centers in the NFL. Now I haven’t looked I haven’t looked at the film.
Neiburg: I’ve seen a couple clips out there. I gotta really look at it a little more to see what happened. My feeling from it was that the pass rush wasn’t horrible. The ball was coming out quick, and it was really more a problem with the back seven.
But you know, Jordan Davis you are paying all this money and [is a] good run defender, although I don’t think he had his best game, even though the numbers are pretty good. But he’s not out there a lot on pass rushes because that’s just not his thing. And it’s just like, can you afford to pay someone [like that] that amount of money? [Carter and Davis are] not a a big contributor on passing downs. Like they’re both good players. I’m not saying they can’t even become great players, but they’re paying them to be dominant players. And right now, I just don’t see it.
It was a blowout, and it left a lot of questions. The Eagles’ 27-7 loss to the Bears Monday night at Soldier Field featured an offense that fizzled, a defense that folded, and a coaching staff that looked outmatched. The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane and Jeff Neiburg provide a postmortem of the defense’s disappointing start to the season, critique of offensive coordinator Sean Mannion’s approach, and assessment of how some of general manager Howie Roseman’s moves have panned out so far. Listen here.
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