Writing about the Eagles’ defense is becoming a slightly repetitive exercise. Once again, the offense made its job harder. Once again, the defense spent far too much time on the field. But even so, this defense isn’t playing well enough right now, and it certainly isn’t carrying this team.
The workload is ridiculous. Just look…
That matters. It affects the rotation, the pass rush, and how much you can reasonably ask of players over four quarters. The offense has to give this group some help.
However, the workload doesn’t explain everything we are seeing. There are communication problems in the secondary, missed tackles, and players who don’t look comfortable with their responsibilities. The Panthers deserve credit for finding those weaknesses and repeatedly attacking them. Imagine our staff did that? Let’s get into it.
Defense
The Panthers’ first play from 13 personnel set the tone in a few ways. The Eagles put Jihaad Campbell on the edge while keeping a split-safety structure behind the front. I’m not a huge fan of that combination here because it leaves Zack Baun as the lone off-ball linebacker with a lot of ground to cover. I think some of the Panthers’ success from 13 personnel opened up play action later on, too.
As always, one thing that stands out when I watch other offenses is how well their tight ends block. Tommy Tremble had an excellent game, and his work here is part of what makes these heavier personnel packages useful. Having three tight ends on the field means very little if they cannot actually block anyone! Tremble looked like the sort of player the Eagles should be interested in if he becomes available. Based on this game, he would offer something they could use. To be fair, I doubt it’s hard to find tight ends that can block better than the Eagles’ current group.
The Panthers quickly identified a matchup they wanted: Tetairoa McMillan against Andrew Mukuba. They used motion to create it repeatedly in the first quarter, and Mukuba struggled to handle it. That is good offensive coaching. I didn’t see it much after the first quarter, so I’m guessing the Eagles made an adjustment, but not until they had 2 big completions.
What frustrates me most about this particular play is how little else the secondary has to account for. The Panthers only send two receivers into routes, and the Eagles essentially have four defenders around McMillan. There should be enough help available to make this much harder. Instead, nobody gets in front of the route. Cooper DeJean needs communication from someone around him so he can get across and affect the throw. It just can’t be this easy.
Something is missing in the secondary’s communication this year. These are the sorts of situations where you expect the coverage to squeeze the offense and take away an obvious threat. The Eagles aren’t doing that consistently, and I’m still not convinced by what we are seeing from DeJean at safety. Tariq Woolen cost the Eagles about $12 million on a one-year deal. He isn’t giving them value right now.
Here is the same idea again. The Panthers use motion into a switch release, which changes the receivers’ release paths and forces the secondary to sort out who is taking whom. Once again, McMillan ends up against Mukuba. Once again, the Panthers win.
Mukuba has to perform better, but you also have to acknowledge how deliberately the Panthers created this matchup. They weren’t just lining up and hoping their best receiver would get open. They were using personnel, motion, and route distribution to get him against the defender they wanted. God, it is frustrating watching other offenses make things look this coherent.
There were good coverage snaps, too, and Campbell deserves credit for this one. His athleticism shows up as he gets across the field and takes away the crossing route. This is exactly the sort of movement ability that makes him worth developing. He can cover ground that many linebackers simply cannot.
Nolan Smith ends up with the unblocked sack, and I know he seems to collect a fair few fortunate sacks. However, I don’t think it is entirely coincidence. Being athletic enough to close space and reliable enough to tackle a quarterback in the open field has value. Plenty of defenders get an opportunity like this and fail to finish it. Smith’s hustle and closing ability will create a few cleanup sacks every season, and there is nothing wrong with that.
There is plenty to like against the run here. Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter do their usual work up front, but I particularly wanted to highlight Jeremiah Trotter Jr. Watch how he avoids the center and gets to the ball carrier. He recognizes where he needs to go and gets there before the blocker can properly engage him. Keep that movement in mind because there is a useful comparison with Campbell later.
Arnold Ebiketie also deserves some credit. He played 72 defensive snaps, a ridiculous workload for an edge defender, and he kept competing. Especially as he hasn’t played much this year, so there is no way his body would have been ready for this workload. I thought he fought hard throughout the game, and that will matter to the coaches. The Eagles needed a lot from him, and his effort deserves recognition.
I know I can sound biased on this subject because I have never been particularly keen on moving DeJean to safety full-time. However, I’m not even convinced the current arrangement, with him playing safety in base and moving to nickel in other packages, is working.
You can criticize Tariq Woolen for not getting enough depth here, but DeJean is also far too far away from Jalen Coker. Whatever the precise communication should be, the coverage cannot leave this much space around the receiver. You don’t see many NFL completions that are this easy. Coker is absolutely wide open. The hole shot should be tough to throw. This isn’t.
Hopefully, these are growing pains that DeJean will work through. Safety and nickel have overlapping responsibilities, but that doesn’t make them interchangeable. They involve different angles, different pictures, and different decisions. We shouldn’t assume that being an outstanding nickel automatically makes someone an outstanding safety. DeJean still has to show that he can handle those responsibilities consistently.
Before I criticize DeJean again, here is a reminder of what he can do from the nickel position. This is an awesome tackle for loss. There still aren’t many nickel defenders capable of making this sort of play.
That is part of why this whole situation is so frustrating. We know how much he can offer close to the line of scrimmage. The ability hasn’t disappeared. The Eagles need to find a way to get him playing confidently and consistently again because there are still outstanding individual reps mixed into a disappointing overall performance. I’ll be watching his play closely for the rest of the year.
The concern is that DeJean doesn’t always look physically comfortable in coverage, either. On this rep, he has outside leverage and help inside. His technique should allow him to use that help, but his body position gets him into trouble, and he ends up holding John Metchie III.
Metchie is a crafty route runner, but I expect DeJean to play this better. The leverage and the help should give him the advantage. Instead, he loses control of the rep and commits a penalty. I do wonder whether he is dealing with something physically that we don’t know about, although that is only speculation. The drop-off in his coverage is worrying. It isn’t confined to the snaps where he is playing safety, which makes it harder to put everything down to learning a different position.
This touchdown seemed to generate a lot of online criticism of Campbell (shock), but I think Quinyon Mitchell is more likely responsible. Without knowing the exact call, I can’t be certain. However, Campbell appears to have the running back releasing into the flat, which should leave Tremble for Mitchell. If you think Campbell should have Tremble, then who is covering the flat?
The Panthers deserve credit for the design again. Tremble chips before releasing, making this almost a delayed switch release. Mitchell appears to expect him to remain in protection, and the late release changes the picture. It is a clever way of making defenders sort through their responsibilities after the snap.
Mitchell is a very smart player who rarely gets caught out like this, but I think the Panthers get him here. Campbell being the defender nearest to the action doesn’t automatically make it his mistake.
This is a much fairer example of where Campbell needs to improve. I think he has the B-gap, but he takes too long to commit downhill and ends up stuck on the center. Compare this with Trotter’s rep earlier. Trotter recognizes the opening and beats the center to the spot. Campbell’s slight hesitation gives the blocker time to reach him.
Campbell won’t win consistently by playing like an old-school linebacker who stacks an offensive lineman, sheds him, and makes the tackle. He needs to use his movement skills to arrive before that contact happens. That means recognizing the run and trusting what he sees a little quicker.
I still think the criticism of him online has gone too far. He is raw, and these are legitimate things he needs to develop. Trotter looks more natural coming downhill, but he also had a coverage mistake in this game. Neither player is without issues. I’m comfortable with a rotation that gives Trotter opportunities while allowing Campbell to develop without having to handle every single rep. I think the way both players were used in this game was fine.
This was a strangely poor third-down call from Vic Fangio. Coker is already lined up in the backfield. There is no late motion that suddenly creates a difficult matchup with no time to respond. The Eagles can see the alignment, yet they stay in man coverage and send five.
That leaves Baun covering a wide receiver out of the backfield, with no underneath middle defender to help him. I love Baun, but that is a very difficult assignment. The Panthers have created space for Coker to work, and the Eagles’ call gives him the matchup he wants.
This was a big third-down conversion at a key point in the game. The Eagles actually held the Panthers to six conversions on 17 third-down attempts overall, which is pretty good, but this was an avoidable opportunity to extend a drive. I would have liked a different call from Fangio here.
DeJean’s missed tackle on fourth-and-1 wouldn’t have prevented the first down, but it could have prevented a much bigger gain. Instead, Chuba Hubbard gets the opportunity to turn it into a chunk play.
Hubbard deserves credit because he is an excellent running back, but DeJean has to finish better. His tackling has been too inconsistent, and this wasn’t the only example.
Shoutout to Deniz Selman for pointing me toward DeJean’s comments afterward about adjusting to different tackling angles and where he is making contact. That fits what we are seeing. Playing safety creates different approaches to the ball carrier, and DeJean is still adapting. Understanding why it is happening doesn’t make the missed tackles any less costly.
Quinyon Mitchell against McMillan was an awesome battle. McMillan had a couple of wins, but I thought Mitchell played very well overall. This red-zone rep is excellent because McMillan starts with the leverage advantage, yet Mitchell stays competitive and prevents the completion. McMillan is awesome, by the way.
It is really cool watching Mitchell take on these receivers every week.
We finish with another apparent coverage bust around Woolen. Without being in the meeting room, nobody can tell you the precise responsibility with complete certainty. However, I would guess this is on him because he doesn’t appear to have another threat to cover on his side of the field.
There have been too many of these situations this year. That is why I have been disappointed with Woolen, even when individual coverage reps look good. Playing cornerback in this defense involves understanding how your responsibility connects to everyone around you. The communication has to be dependable.
I also wonder how much the constant rotation at CB2 is helping. These players need time to understand Fangio’s system and develop communication with the defenders beside them. The Eagles seem to keep reaching the start of a season with uncertainty at the position and problems sorting out routes. At some point, this team needs stability there. Right now, I don’t think it has it.
Final Thoughts
The Eagles did some things reasonably well. This wasn’t a defense getting beaten on every snap. However, the coverage breakdowns, missed tackles, and uncomfortable-looking assignments were too costly. The Panthers finished three of their four red-zone trips with touchdowns, and the Eagles didn’t make them work hard enough for some of their biggest plays.
The pass rush also needs to produce more. The Eagles blitzed quite a lot in this game, which is always a sign that Fangio isn’t happy with his front four. Which is a shame, because this Panthers’ offensive line isn’t particularly good.
I still have sympathy for a defense being asked to play this many snaps every week. The offense is making an already difficult job harder, and that has to change. But I can’t keep using the offense to explain away everything happening on the other side of the ball. This defense needs help. It also needs to play better.
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