Eagles Defense Falters When it Matters Most

GLENDALE, Ariz. - A hard-scrabble town a little behind on the evolutionary scale of professional football, many Eagles fans didn’t like being taken kicking and screaming into the Vic Fangio era of defensive football by Jonathan Gannon.

Quarters coverage and zone-match principles are hardly as sexy as a Buddy Ryan or Jim Johnson blitz.

Yet it was Gannon who took the Eagles to No. 2 on the league’s defensive chart while putting together a front that generated a franchise record of 70 sacks (78 if you add in the postseason) and had a host of players like Haason Reddick, Josh Sweat, T.J. Edwards, James Bradberry and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson performing like they never had before.

Gannon even won over his biggest detractors for a short time by lowering his window to fans before the NFC Championship Game, foreshadowing the outcome by saying, “We’re gonna expletive gut these guys” before topping the San Francisco 49ers 31-7.

Gannon, the front-runner to become the next head coach in Arizona, was 30 minutes away from exiting Philadelphia a conquering hero when the floor fell out underneath his defense.

The Kansas City Chiefs erased a 10-point first-half deficit to win Super Bowl LVII, 38-35, on Sunday night.

“It hurts," said veteran DE Brandon Graham. "We know we didn’t put our best foot forward in this game. ... Boy, it stings. You can taste it. You can feel it. All we had to do was make a play on defense. We’re all together, but we know that it sucks that we couldn’t get off the field and make a stop for the offense because the offense put us in a position. They just got us in the end.”

Gannon did not speak after the game — he never does — but if he lands the head coaching job, we may never get his thoughts on what happened in the second half. They may not come unless an Arizona reporter asks him about the Super Bowl at his introductory press conference should he get the Cardinals job.

While it's true that 14 of those 38 points are at the feet of the offense and special teams, the bottom line is that the Chiefs had four possessions in the second half and scored three touchdowns before Harrison Butker”s game-winning 27-yard field goal with eight seconds left.

“I can’t exactly tell you this or that, but I thought we were playing a really good offense. We gave up 24 points at the end of the day,” coach Nick Sirianni said. “It’s tough to give them a short field. That’s why this is the ultimate team game. We’re all in this together — offense, defense, special teams.

"I just felt like a couple times we put the defense in a tough spot in the defensive area.”

The numbers weren’t even that bad — 340 total yards — but the big plays weren’t there: no interceptions, no fumble recoveries, and no sacks.

“They had a good game plan, a lot of chips, things like that. For the most part, getting the ball off fast, the game plan worked, that’s a credit to them,” Reddick said.

At some point, the emotion will dissipate, and many will realize the Eagles had a hell of a season defensively before losing a shootout to the No. 1 offense and the best player in the game.

Gannon, meanwhile, will likely have many opportunities to exorcise the demons at State Farm Stadium.

“Getting to know Gannon this year, I told him I appreciate him, I love him because he lets his players be who they are at the end of the day and if decides to leave, whoever’s getting him I think they have a great head coach and someone the players will really take to,” Reddick said.

“So, we’ll see what happens. Hopefully, he doesn’t go but that’s for my own selfish reasons I like Gannon. Whatever he decides, I support him he worked hard for it and it’s all love.”

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen