How McDermott's pass defense stacked up
I'll take a three-part look at how the Eagles' defense performed under Sean McDermott, compared to the previous five seasons.
How McDermott's pass defense stacked up
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
With Sean McDermott out, I wanted to take a look at just how much the Eagles' defense dropped off in the past two years with him running the show.
We'll start with the pass defense, then move on to the run and finish with some overall numbers.
If you missed my thoughts from Saturday night on the McDermott firing, click here.
What I did here was measure how the Birds' D stacked up statistically in a number of categories for two different time periods. One was 2009-2010, with McDermott at the helm. And the other was from 2004-2008, the last five years of the Jim Johnson era.
I looked at both the actual numbers and also league rank - which is in parentheses. Certain numbers can be up league-wide in any given year so league rank gives a good indication of how the Eagles stacked up against their competition.
Here's a chart with the comparison of how the pass defenses measured up:
| YPG |
YPA |
TDs |
INTs |
Sacks |
20+ |
QB rating |
|
| 2004-08 |
199.6 (12.6) |
6.54 (9.2) |
18.4 (9.6) |
15.8 (14.8) |
40.2 (13.6) |
43.2 (13.6) |
76.96 (10.4) |
| 2009-10 |
216.6 (15) |
6.75 (10.5) |
29 (26.5) |
24 (3.5) |
41.5 (6.5) |
50 (19.5) |
79.2 (11) |
Let's tackle these one-by-one:
Yards per game: Count me among the many who don't believe this is a great measure of defensive success, but since it's such a widely-used stat, it's at least worth mentioning. Under McDermott, the Eagles allowed 216.6 passing yards per game for an average league rank of 15th. In the previous five years, they allowed 199.6. The Birds were obviously better in this category from 2004-08, but the discrepancy is not huge when you look at where they ranked against their peers.
Yards per attempt: This is a better number because it measures how effective opponents were when they passed against the Eagles. As you can see, the numbers are pretty similar, but again, the Eagles were slightly better from '04-'08.
Passing touchdowns: This is the huge one. We all know about the Eagles' historically bad red-zone defense in 2010, and the numbers here reflect that. In two years under McDermott, opponents had a total of 58 passing touchdowns - 31 in 2010 and 27 in 2009. From '04-'08, opponents averaged only 18.4 passing touchdowns per season against the Eagles. The Birds surrendered 19 touchdown passes or fewer in four of the five previous seasons before McDermott.
Interceptions: The Eagles were actually significantly better here under McDermott. Then again, Asante Samuel didn't join the team until 2008, Johnson's last season. The Eagles finished fourth and third in interceptions in 2009 and 2010. They failed to finish in the top five in interceptions the previous five seasons.
Sacks: The numbers here are similar. And they might be more of a reflection of the system than anything else. The Eagles have finished in the top 10 in sacks in six of the last seven seasons. They've finished in the top five three times.
Passes of 20+ yards: The Eagles were worse here under McDermott. They gave up 54 pass plays of 20 yards or more in 2010, 24th in the league. Then again, 2010 was the first season without Sheldon Brown. The Eagles played with Ellis Hobbs and Dimitri Patterson at right cornerback. McDermott was also not given the luxury of having an all-time great in Brian Dawkins at free safety.
Opponents' QB rating: This one was almost identical, which surprised me. The Eagles finished 11th in this category both seasons under McDermott. Their average finish the previous five seasons was 10.4.
Overall, what do the numbers say? The Eagles could not keep opponents out of the end zone the last two years, even if many of the other numbers were similar. They created more turnovers against the pass, but also gave up more big plays.
I do think it's important to rewrite history. Johnson was a great defensive coordinator - an all-timer. But even his units struggled at times. In 2007, the Eagles allowed 215.6 passing yards per game, almost the exact amount they allowed under McDermott. In 2005, opponents averaged 7.0 yards per attempt and threw for 24 touchdowns against the Eagles.
The Bird had only 11 interceptions in 2007 and allowed 47 completions of 20 yards or more in 2008.
The Eagles' pass defense was a weakness under McDermott, and he needs to bear some responsibility for that, but by most statistical measures, it was not an elite unit in the five previous seasons.
The next breakdown will look at the run defense.
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good riddance to bad rubbish
I am so tired of hearing about Babin and Clemons! Does anyone remember Trotter, Douglas? They were good here went some where else and stunk. There are countless stories of players being good somewhere and going somewhere else and being bad and Vice Versa. They are two players get over it! Again as I have posted before, the defense let up 17 points and 21 in the two biggest games of the season. I believe if anyone was told they would do that we would have expected the Eagles to win. The miracle at the meadowlands II do you think the defense had a little bit to do with that? In my opinion the defense played good enough for us to have an opportunity to win and when you take in to account the personnel they have that is not a bad job!— faffy12
Comment removed.- The Eagles' defensive philosophy the past two years seems obsessed with finding linemen who can drop into pass coverage, which I found odd and assumed would lead to inferior run defense. I'll be curious to see how the run numbers look.— paolibulldog
- Why does nobody mention, that McDermott did let go Babin and Clemons and was not able to bring out their best as the coaches on their respective teams evidentially did. From the distance, it looks like he does not adapt as good as others to the individual capabilities of his personnel.— AachenEagle
- Just a thought, wait till next year, I'm just saying, it is what it is, play till the whistle blows, and it's not over till the fat lady sings— tommy_the_k
- Simple explanation - more int leads to taking more risks leads to more TDs by opponents when you don't get the pick. Sound defense wins championships - big lines, smart aggressive linebackers and blanket secondary. Teams rarely have all 3 so you pick your poison. Problem is Eagles have none. They don't have the personnel to run JJ defense so they must change the approach to fit the players. Spagnolo took NYG to SB and beat the Pats with JJ defense - Giants have better players on D than the Eagles.— atomic71
- The Eagles sack numbers are very overrated. They've fattened up in a few games, but over the second half of the season didn't put any real pressure on the passer at all. The Eagles DE's are too small. It would be ok to have smaller fast ends, if you didn't have Kmart OLB's behind them. Parker/Graham were a non-factor against the better tackles. Cole is a very good all-around end, but just an average pass rusher.
I'm a little different than many about blaming the talent evaluation. Andy believes you win with O in the modern NFL, not D. It's not that he doesn't know who can play, but he's looking for versatile cheap guys he can use for about three years and then dump, while the money is spent on offense. He doesn't place any value at all on the SS and OLB positions, as you can see by the drafting patterns and salaries.— jimmyj - Here is a small morsel to chew on folks: Two guys let go by the Iggles to other teams, two D-Linemen, had many more sacks than OUR starting tandem of D-Ends. Who wanted to see them gone?...I'm just guessing here, but I'll say the D-Coordinator. Just a thought.— TBear
kind of tough to have good defensive numbers against the pass when you have trash personnel. didn't we lose the best safety in eagles history and for some weird reason trade pro-bowl caliber (even if he never did make it) corner in sheldon brown? how can u expect a good secondary when you have a rookie safety in the position the entire year? it doesnt help that the linebackers are a bunch of jokers either. i dont know whether he was a good coordinator or not but i'm not sure there is a defensive coordinator out there who could've done a better job with these bums— MPatt24
Aside from the numbers was this problem: Andy is the coach/quasi-OC/GM. When he had JJ he could completely leave the defense to him. Not that he is calling plays on D or anything but I am sure more situations developed that demanded his attention and the dude is not the greatest multi-tasker to begin with.- Only in Philadelphia do they criticize a team for firing a man unfit for the job.— phineas
- Why is there controversy? McDermott couldn't make any improvement on the red zone defense. Reid had to try something different. It's a no-brainer. Fans and media should be applauding this decision not making ridiculous accusations of scapegoating.— soulman386
- should've made the move sooner!— Geno D
- So essentially what this piece said was the D was equal, except for all those touchdowns. Isn't that the point of the D?— Tech_Triumph
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