Eagles' Defensive Plan Remains Sound, Despite Struggles to Stop Run
PHILADELPHIA - Name the running back.
Derrick Henry, Nick Chubb, Saquon Barkley, or this week’s test for the Eagles, Indianapolis’ Jonathan Taylor. The dirty little secret when it comes to the NFL and run defense is that anyone can be stopped if you really want to stop them.
This is not the week Philadelphia fans want to hear that especially after watching a pair of rookies – Houston’s Dameon Pierce and Washington’s Brian Robinson – gave Jonathan Gannon’s defense fits over an 11-day span without Jordan Davis’ presence in the middle of the defensive line mucking things up.
In record time many Eagles fans have gone from ‘how are they ever gonna lose one?’ after an 8-0 start to ‘how will they ever win one again?’ with Gannon refusing to commit more resources to stop the run and Taylor, Aaron Jones, Henry, and Barkley the next four RBs on deck.
The crux of the debate is philosophy.
The Eagles’ organization’s defensive cost-benefit analysis was about building to best matchup with the Kansas Citys and Buffalos of the world.
To do that, they have employed the en vogue Vic Fangio-like scheme that is heavy on zone coverage on the back end with the default being quarters responsibility and a variable front that attempts to mask light boxes with the 1½-gap responsibility that a space eater like Davis excels in.
If you listen to Gannon, he will always say there is a give and take to any defensive play call and someone is always tasked with “tough duty” depending on the goal trying to be accomplished.
Every play is about investing your resources and if you boiled the Eagles’ defense down to a Football for Dummies-like explanation the best description would be a quarters-based coverage scheme designed to limit explosive plays by a former defensive back.
The front is going to be those 6- or 7-man looks with Davis the key to making that work on early downs. Without the imposing rookie, the Eagles have been forced to play the same looks with a bunch of three-technique-suited interior players trying to somewhat replicate what a natural nose tackle can do.
It's also allowed lesser teams like Houston and Washington to control the clock and shorten games against a more talented and explosive team with the latter employing the game plan nearly flawlessly and engineering an upset that has many restless and demanding short-sighted actions.
Remember, however, that the Eagles had to play both carelessly and poorly offensively for the Commanders to cash in on their grinding running game.
In other words, had the offense carried its own water, the issues the defense had in stopping the run would have been just a footnote en route to 9-0.
The Eagles’ goals remain higher than beating a mediocre football team on a chilly November night and the likely opponent waiting at the end of any playoff run remains the Chiefs or Bills with other high-powered passing offenses like Cincinnati and Miami being the likely spoiler.
The Philadelphia brass made the right decisions in building their defense from both personnel and philosophical standpoints and overreacting to one loss in the middle of a season against a team pulling off a narrow path to victory out of necessity would serve as a disastrous course correction.
Wednesday provided a short-term answer when the Eagles brought in veteran space eater Linval Joseph.
Whether that's directly related to a knee injury Marlon Tuipulotu suffered against Washington, which landed the second-year player on IR, is debatable but there's little doubt that Joseph, who was once one of the best nose tackles in the NFL with the New York Giants and Minnesota, better mirrors Davis' skill set.
-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 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
