Brian Dawkins says the Philadelphia Eagles are an "ugly" 8-1, something he loves because it allows them to realize the mistakes they must correct.
"The other thing I love about where they are, and I'm a little twisted this way," Dawkins told Jon Marks and his former teammate Ike Reese on Thursday's 94WIP Afternoon Show. "Because I've been in the NFL long enough and I've been through so many seasons and I recognize the significance of what I'm about to say. They are an ugly 8-1. Quote, unquote, an ugly 8-1. It's not a pretty 8-1. It's not a glossy and shiny 8-1, right? They're not just blowing people out of the door. They're not winning by 30 points, 25 points. They're not doing that, right? They're finding ways because of mistakes they have made. So when you win that way, the way that I see it, the way that I understand it—now they can continue to have tough conversations in the locker room when you don't have people or guys in there when they don't have the ultimate standard.
"When you do it like this, Charles Barkley said it like this and I'll always remember this. He said, 'Success or winning is the greatest deodorant there is,' because it covers up a whole bunch of stinky stuff sometimes.
"If we don't correct these things while we're at this junction, when we get into the playoffs, that's going to be the one that gets us kicked out. That's why I love that they are a quote, unquote ugly 8-1."
When it comes to the defense, Dawkins says the Eagles need to focus on cleaning up their third-down and red zone defense.
"Just in the red zone for the defense," Dawkins said. "Third downs and red zone, that is not a formula for success. You know that being with Jim Johnson for all those years. We want to be tops in the league when it comes to getting off of the field third down and especially in the red zone."