As on brand as it appears for Philadelphia, questions persist around the Eagles following a narrow victory that moved them to a monumental record of 11-2 on the year. Context matters though. They were two-score favorites at home against a three-win Carolina team. The team's passing offense drew ire from fans, media members and even the players themselves.
The Birds' defense, throughout the vast majority of the game, underwhelmed compared to the standard that they had set for themselves over the previous two-plus months. In my final observations following the 22-16 win over the Panthers, I was pretty critical of the D. Physicality was missing. The pass defense wasn't up to par. Rookie sensation Cooper DeJean allowed six catches for 85 yards on seven targets, per Pro Football Focus. Carolina veteran wideout Adam Thielen ran crafty routes around Eagles DBs both young and old. The defense recorded just a single sack and linebacker Zack Baun was clearly offsides on that play from the jump. The Eagles avoided a trap game loss in the 22-16 victory, but the vibes weren't exactly where they should've been for a team that just tied a franchise win streak record.
My initial assessment may have been a little rough. The Birds still allowed just 16 points. They're second in the NFL in points allowed and first in yards. No Eagles defense has ranked that highly in both categories since the 1981 squad. Even against Carolina, there were standouts. Darius Slay was targeted a whopping 11 times in coverage, but allowed just two catches, per PFF. He also had two game-saving pass breakups to end any chance of a Carolina comeback on the Panthers' final drive. Chauncey Gardner-Johnson had an interception and balled out with his personal brand of tenacity. Josh Sweat played Bryce Young and that offensive line tough, recording five QB pressures, tied for his third-highest total of the year, per PFF. Even youngsters Jalyx Hunt and Moro Ojomo were key contributors, batting down upon Young on that game-sealing drive.
"Our defense played — you know, it was kind of that ‘bend, don't break’-type defense," Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said after the game.
"So, they got some yards and were able to move the ball, but we got some stops when we needed to in critical moments… We talked a lot about playing for 60 minutes with relentless effort," Sirianni continued. "And what do you see on the last play that's not a kneel down? You see Jalen Carter come off the ball like a crazy man. You see Sweat put pressure on him. Then you see Slay diving to make a pass break up.
"I thought our guys– even though there were times it was ugly, it's hard to win in this league."
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And, again, on the season overall, this defense has been something special. Baun, among players who've played at least 50 percent of their team's snaps, is PFF's highest-graded linebacker. DeJean is sixth among cornerbacks on PFF, even with his learning day on Sunday, and fellow rookie Quinyon Mitchell is 10th. Jalen Carter doesn't have the raw counting stats to be a true Defensive Player of the Year candidate, but he's approaching a game-wrecker level that puts him up with the top of his peers.
Should Eagles fans continue to worry about the Panthers "moral loss" or simply flush it away? When it comes to the passing offense, creeping concerns may be warranted, but this defense is going to be just okay even heading into a matchup with a 10-win Steelers team.
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