Philadelphia Eagles: Can the defense dominate against more explosive offenses?

With the NFL's most explosive offenses left on the docket, we should soon know whether the Eagles defense is as good as it has looked.

Carson Wentz has been solid and accurate to start the season, but the Eagles still don’t trust him to throw deep and make game-changing plays. In Sunday night’s loss to the Cowboys, Wentz was averaging just 4.7 yards per attempt. He’s not going to be beating anyone in a shootout.

The real key to the Eagles’ success so far has been Jim Schwartz and his defense. In each of their four wins this season, the Eagles have limited their opponents to 14 points or fewer—and that includes a Steelers team in Week 3 that still had Ben Roethlisberger behind center. They’re currently ranked second in total defense behind Minnesota’s remarkable unit, third in passing defense, and eighth in rushing defense. 

If the Eagles want to challenge the Cowboys in the NFC East, they need their defense to continue to come through for them and take pressure off Wentz as he works through some rookie growing pains. That challenge starts right away. In their next five games they get to see Odell Beckham Jr., Julio Jones, Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers and A.J. Green.