It doesn’t get this bad by accident.
The Eagles identity used to be its pass rush, and sending waves of impact rushers at opposing quarterbacks. It’s part of how the franchise rebuilt its identity in the late 90s and early 2000s. It’s part of how a Super Bowl team was constructed in 2017.
And now it’s gone, and it has nothing to do with defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon.
No, I’m not totally absolving the guy on the sideline calling the defense after another ugly effort. But the issues the Eagles have on defense right now are above Gannon (or any defensive coordinator). This is on general manager Howie Roseman and a trend nearly a decade in the making of failing to properly replenish the defensive line.
The Eagles defense has gone up against five quarterbacks (Dak Prescott, Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, Derek Carr and Justin Herbert) playing and looking like top 10 players at the position this season. Here’s how each has fared against this Eagles defense, including how many times each was sacked.
Prescott: 21-of-26, 238 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT, 143.3 passer rating, 4 sacks
Mahomes: 24-of-30, 278 yards, 5 TD, 1 INT, 131.0 passer rating, 1 sack
Brady: 34-of-42, 297 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, 102.1 passer rating, 1 sack
Carr: 31-of-34, 323 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, 113.6 passer rating, 0 sacks
Herbert: 32-of-38, 356 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT, 123.2 passer rating, 0 sacks
When you combine those totals, here’s what you get: 142-for-170 (85.3 percent), 1,492 yards, 14 TD, 3 INT. In five games, the Eagles have a total of six sacks against those star quarterbacks. That includes zero in the last two vs. Carr and Herbert, both of which looked more like seven-on-seven drills than NFL games. I was at Sunday's game vs. Los Angeles. It felt like Herbert had all day to throw, all day long. Re-watching after on DVR didn't dispel those notions. My eyes, screen and DVR told the same story. Herbert wasn't even hit once. The only reason his white Chargers jersey had any grass stains was from a touchdown run and sprawl into the end zone.
The Eagles drafted Brandon Graham in 2010 and Fletcher Cox 2012. Those turned into home run picks. From 2000-2012, the Eagles spent their first pick on a defensive lineman in seven of 13 drafts. The backbone of the franchise was the pass rush. Since 2013, the Eagles have spent their first pick on a pass rusher just twice: Marcus Smith in 2013 and Derek Barnett in 2017. Those two players combined for 24.5 career sacks in midnight green.
For a while, it didn’t seem to matter. The Graham-Cox combination was so good and so durable that just plugging in mid-round picks and late-career free agents around those two produced good pass rushes. Well, Graham is now hurt and Cox is in decline. While Josh Sweat has become a nice player, Roseman’s neglect of the pass rush is now rearing its ugly head. And Reggie White or Seth Joyner aren’t walking in the door to save the day now.
We can scream and yell for more blitzes (and Gannon has sent more pressure in recent weeks), but it won’t matter if the front doesn’t perform. Expecting or asking Gannon to blitz 80 percent of the time to cover for Roseman’s past mistakes is a losing formula. Let’s stop asking Cox and his linemates less about why this coordinator doesn’t blitz more and more about why he might have to.
Of course, none of this is likely to be fixed now. Graham isn’t returning this year. Cox has one foot out the door. But the offseason will soon arrive, and the ongoing debate will rage on for the next six months: Should the Eagles use franchise-changing draft capital to upgrade at quarterback or fix the defense? Unless Russell Wilson truly wants to come to Philadelphia, there should only be one thought in the minds of the Eagles front office: Pass rush.
Instead of thinking about which veteran wide receiver to pair with DeVonta Smith, Roseman should be canvasing the free-agent market for guys who can get to the quarterback. Instead of (foolishly) thinking Liberty’s Malik Willis or Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett would be an upgrade from Jalen Hurts, names like Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux, Texas A&M’s DeMarvin Leal, Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson, Georgia’s Jordan Davis and Pudue’s George Karlaftis should be spray painted on the walls at the NovaCare Complex.
The Eagles have spent time, energy and resources rebuilding the offense. There’s upside there, a growing leader at the quarterback position and an identity forming. The same can’t be said for the defense, and nothing will change until the Eagles remember what made them so successful for years.