The Philadelphia Eagles came out against the Los Angeles Rams with a win, but the defense was a bit of a mixed bag. Holding the Rams to 23 points and under 350 yards looks fine, but when you dig in, this was an inconsistent performance. Let’s look at the good and the bad! Previously: Eagles-Rams offense review.
Defense
The first clip highlights Zack Baun’s emergence as a superstar. The Eagles dialed up “Wasp” with both edges dropping out and Jihaad Campbell blitzing the A-gap. That freed Baun to read Stafford,
and he read him like a book! Stafford stared down the route, and Baun broke instantly for the interception. This wasn’t a fluke. It’s what Baun has been doing for weeks. He’s a complete and utter superstar and he’s awesome to watch every single week.
The biggest concern was the run defense. The Rams’ offensive line bullied the Eagles early on, and Jalen Carter struggled quite a bit. He looked gassed at times, slow off the ball, and was driven backwards multiple times. Carter was not bad (he still had some incredible moments) but it seems clear to me that his conditioning is an issue right now. Jordan Davis fought hard inside and held his ground most of the time, but he couldn’t do it alone. Jihaad Campbell was hesitant in his run fits (which is a definite weakness of his – he doesn’t trust his eyes yet), and when your DTs aren’t holding ground and your linebacker isn’t flying downhill, you give up chunk runs. This was not a one-off. The whole first half had too many snaps where Carter gave little and Campbell froze rather than get downhill quickly. This is a defense built around winning the trenches, and they lost that battle quite a lot in this one, on both sides of the ball.
Setting the edge was another major issue. The Rams leaned heavily on condensed splits and motion, using Puka Nacua as a blocker. Nacua is unbelievable. The Eagles can line up in condensed all they want, but they can’t do this because they don’t have a receiver like Nacua. On this play, Nacua sealed DeJean and Uche inside, and the edge disappeared. There were some poor snaps at setting the edge, but this is what McVay does better than almost anyone. He uses receivers like fullbacks, and it does challenge the defense in several different ways. You can’t replicate that unless you have a receiver like Nacua, who blocks with the technique of a tight end. The defense wasn’t good here, but sometimes you tip your cap to brilliant design.
This was a really interesting play to look at. It looked like OPI, but that was never going to be called. It was interesting that the Eagles ended up with Reed Blankenship isolated on Adams (this happened again later – McVay clearly used the Eagles’ defensive rules against them). Quinyon Mitchell was caught between routes and I wonder if Quinyon could’ve gone off-script and doubled Adams, but the truth is that this was another example of clever design. Quinyon isn’t supposed to carry the vertical, but I think Campbell already had the flat, so Quinyon could have carried Adams vertically. If the end result is your safety matched up one-on-one in the red zone with Davante Adams down the field, combined with a lack of pressure, then the end result is only going to be one thing.
Baun wasn’t perfect in the run game (he missed tackles and got stuck in traffic a few times), but he still made more ‘wow’ plays than any linebacker we’ve seen in Philly in forever. On this rep he triggered quickly and blew the play up. Compared to Campbell, who looked hesitant at times, Baun’s decisiveness stood out even more. Baun is the best defensive player on the field for the Eagles every single week right now.
Here’s another example of the Eagles just losing the battle in the trenches. Carter gets nothing, Davis fought but couldn’t penetrate, and either Campbell or Baun seemed to miss their run fit. The result was easy yardage. There were a lot of plays like this.
I don’t think the safeties were great early on (they did get better) against the run, as they were a little slow to trigger downhill. This was likely due to being worried about play action. Mukuba eventually came downhill with real urgency on this play and combined with Adoree’ Jackson to make a strong tackle. But across the game, the Rams’ motion and condensed splits kept the safeties tentative.
Here’s another poor rep from Carter. I think this is a little bit of lazy rep. I don’t think he’s trying to hold his gap, and he’s trying to jump the gap because I think it’s almost less effort. Combined with Baun’s missed tackle, it was another easy gain for the Rams. Carter looked out of shape too often. I am guessing the coaches are playing him a lot to almost play him into fitness. When he did make plays, he looked like he did last year. He’s still a supreme talent, but conditioning and consistency are currently issues for him.
Sometimes, you have to hold your hand up and say fair play to the offense. This is awesome from the Rams. After repeatedly using Nacua to seal edges on runs, the Rams showed the same look, then used him as eye candy and ran a clever pick to free the back. That’s just clever sequencing. The Eagles’ offense runs condensed looks, too, but the Rams use them purposefully. In comparison, it feels like the Eagles run them for the sake of running them at times. McVay is one of the best in football at manipulating defenders with small details, and the Eagles were caught flat-footed at times.
Once again, I thought Jordan Davis was excellent. This 3rd-and-2 stop is a freakish play for a man his size. He chased Stafford to the sideline like a linebacker and forced him out of bounds. Throughout the game, he was holding doubles, eating space, and making splash plays. For all the complaints about the run defense, Davis was the one constant positive. He looks like he’s going to have a big year.
Quinyon Mitchell deserves huge credit for his work against Davante Adams. Per Next Gen Stats, Adams ran 22 routes against him and caught just two balls for 12 yards. On this rep, Mitchell used a subtle jersey tug, stayed in phase throughout the whole play, and made this a tough completion. The Eagles gave him a tough job by asking him to cover Adams throughout the game, but Quinyon handled the job excellently. The Eagles have asked Quinyon to travel with receivers in 2/3 games this year, which is something he never had to do last year, and so far, I think he’s adjusted well for the most part. Jalyx Hunt helped by pressuring Stafford, but Mitchell was the guy I wanted to highlight here.
Even with his conditioning issues, Carter made impact plays when it mattered. Here, he and Davis combined to stuff a 4th-and-1, showing why running into six-man Fangio fronts is a terrible idea. I have no idea why offenses keep doing it, but I hope they don’t stop! Davis was brilliant all game, and when Carter joined him, the Rams’ running game couldn’t get going. The frustrating part is that you only got flashes of Carter at that level. If he plays like that consistently, the Eagles’ defense looks completely different. I have no doubts about him long-term at all. I just hope we can see the real Jalen Carter sooner rather than later. You can tell he is still a freakish talent.
The end of the game was frustrating, and I often find Fangio’s calls in big moments at the end of the game a little weird. Fangio leaned into Cover 1 blitzes, and they were telegraphed pretty easily. Stafford knew exactly where to go, and the Rams targeted Jakorian Bennett over and over. Bennett held up (just about), but he was lucky not to get flagged. I think on another day, he could’ve been called for DPI, and that would have likely cost the Eagles the game. I was a little surprised that Fangio was willing to put Bennett in one-on-one situations against Puka Nacua in high-leverage spots, considering he doesn’t think he’s good enough to start at cornerback. The Eagles got away with it, but it didn’t feel like good defense. However, I have to give Bennett credit for not letting the completions phase him and continuing to battle against Nucua.
The defense is still a work in progress, with new parts and teething problems, but the talent is obvious. If Carter gets in shape and Fangio leans into what’s working, this unit still has the potential to get better as the year goes on.
Thank you for reading! I’d love to hear your thoughts, so feel free to comment below and ask any questions. If you enjoyed this piece, you can find more of my work and podcast here. If you would like to support me further, please check out my Patreon.
