The 2-2 Philadelphia Eagles are coming off their early bye week with their fanbase not in great spirits. The performances of the Eagles have not been very convincing, with fans, media, and analysts already circling Nick Sirianni with pitchforks. Besides the Week 1 game against the Green Bay Packers, the offense has looked stagnant. For the defense, its only great game came against the New Orleans Saints in Week 3.
It’s frustrating because both units have shown the ability to be dominant, but the consistency week to week is the issue. The offense has suffered from the absence of some of their stars, but there are still problems they need to address. The defense has been struggling and will continue to struggle if they stay the course they are on right now. Both these units require a stylistic change before it’s too late in the season.
A Look Around the League: What the Eagles Need to Do
The Fangio Defense Needs to be Aggressive
Aggressiveness is a buzzword in the NFL, and it has benefits but weaknesses as well. Aggressive defenses tend to let up big plays in games which has been a focal point in limiting for defensive coordinators around the league this year. This fits perfectly with the philosophy of Eagles defensive coordinator, Vic Fangio, who likes to play safe and limit big plays. However, this current Eagles team cannot play this way. The defensive line cannot generate pressure or stop the run, and tackling has not been a strong suit for the Eagles either.
The Eagles need to be more aggressive by moving the corners close to the line of scrimmage, sending more blitzes, and lining up in more five-man fronts. In this style of defense, the Eagles will give up more big plays and make some more mistakes. However, it will also allow them to create more takeaways, in which they rank last in the league.
Looking at the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals game last week, the Ravens aggressive defense got shredded by Burrow and company for most of the game. However, they stayed aggressive with tight coverage throughout the game and eventually got a crucial interception that led to them tying the game and eventually winning. Their offense matched the Bengals offense, but the defense got one more turnover that flipped the game on its head.
A Slight Shift in the Eagles Offense
The offensive performance against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will not be the standard performance of the Eagles offense. The absence of any team’s two top receivers and starting tackle will lead to struggles. However, they need to get Jalen Hurts out of the pocket more. Two of the top three scoring offenses, the Baltimore Ravens and Washington Commanders, have two mobile quarterbacks.
They also make sure these quarterbacks get on the move with play-action boots which gives something else for defenses to be worried about every down. Jalen Hurts’ legs must be a bigger factor in this offense and not necessarily just with quarterback-designed runs. On a final note, there should never be a game where Saquon Barkley gets less than 15 touches.
Why These Changes Need to Happen
Overall, the Eagles are a team that needs to be comfortable with winning shootouts. Their defense is not good enough to consistently shut down offenses like they did against the Saints. Yet, if they create turnovers and get the ball back to a healthy, explosive offense it will be hard to keep pace with the Eagles. Getting Hurts to run and making defense respect his rushing will only open more things down the field. Also, it could help Hurts limit his turnovers by making things a little simpler.
Main Photo Courtesy of Stephen Lew – Imagn Images
