Critics may disagree, but Bill Davis did best he could with Eagles 'D'

I COME TO bury lame-duck Eagles defensive coordinator Bill Davis, but also to praise him, something that no doubt will enrage Eagles fans who are sure Davis is a main reason their team missed the playoffs the past two seasons.

Davis' group disintegrated in the second half of this, his third season on the job. The Birds' "D" was never really strong at any point in the Chip Kelly-Davis era, but the ugly numbers the Eagles put up down the stretch this season - with what should have been Davis' most talented cast, best-suited to his 3-4 scheme - are historic.

How do you give up 38 points or more in four of your previous six games? How do you go from a top-10 defense in most categories six weeks into the season to 30th in yards allowed, 28th in points, 28th in first downs allowed, 31st in touchdown passes allowed (with a franchise-record 34), and 29th in yards surrendered against the run, going into the final game?

All that said, I'll be sorry to see Davis go, which he surely will, along with most, if not all, of Kelly's staff, in the wake of their boss' firing on Tuesday.

For one thing, from a reporter's perspective, Davis is an uncommonly decent man who never gives sharp answers to pointed questions, a standup guy who patiently and coherently explains what went wrong and what he was thinking. For another, the inability of Kelly's offense to produce points, or even lengthy drives that can keep the defense off the field, surely was a huge factor in the late-season defensive collapse, this season and last.

To play the 3-4, single-high-safety defensive style Kelly dictated, you need really effective pass rushers, especially the outside linebackers. Trent Cole was on the downside by the time Davis got here, though Cole did a darned good job with the late-career transition from 4-3 end. Brandon Graham and Connor Barwin are hardworking, tough players. Neither Graham nor Barwin is an elite pass rusher, though Barwin managed gaudy sack numbers a year ago (14.5), gobbling up quarterbacks who were fleeing from Fletcher Cox inside. This year, QBs seemed to get rid of the ball quicker, and Cox took better care of business himself, going from four sacks to 9.5.

The Eagles have 35 sacks this season, tying them for 15th in the NFL. That doesn't sound so bad, until you factor in that they've played more snaps - 1,067 - than any other team, giving them more opportunities and a lower sack-to-play ratio than teams with similar numbers. Last year, with Barwin and Cole starting (he was released in the offseason) and Graham coming off the bench, they had 49, tied for second in the league.

Davis did not draft Marcus Smith in the first round in 2014, but that decision helped doom the coordinator, and maybe, by extension, his boss. A team that desperately needed to find an elite pass rusher to take pressure off its inside linebackers and defensive backs spent the 26th overall pick on a guy who was supposed to develop into just that. Smith played no defensive snaps Saturday night, as the Eagles fought for their playoff lives against Washington. Smith, who spent last offseason getting stronger and being tutored in pass-rush techniques, has played 91 defensive snaps this season, all the way up from 68 a year ago. He has five tackles, one solo, and half a sack.

Monday, the day before he was dismissed, Kelly suggested that Barwin and Graham were just so darned good, it was hard to get Smith on the field - yet another obfuscation by a coach who often seemed to devote his time in front of the cameras to trying to deny or deflect the truth.

It might be more accurate to say that no defense can withstand 1,067 snaps in 15 games without wearing down, and that Graham and Barwin played the defense's thinnest position, with Smith unable to provide any relief.

Asked about Smith on Tuesday, Davis said: "Marcus continues to, uh - all of the young guys have all the opportunities in practice, and that kind of is how we determine how long and how much we'll play 'em, and Marcus has gotta continue to get better. There hasn't been a whole lot of production yet. We're still working, and Marcus is working hard at it, and hopefully, we can get some production from him."

After Kelly was fired, Smith caused a minor sensation by telling an interviewer he was "ecstatic." This did not sound at all like Smith, a soft-spoken, easygoing player. And sure enough, Smith quickly apologized on Twitter, saying he'd thought "ecstatic" meant "surprised."

This raised the question of how much of Smith's inability to produce in his first two NFL seasons might be merely semantic. The next coach and defensive coordinator should definitely look into this; maybe Marcus thinks "sack" means "trip over your own defensive lineman, taking both of you out of the play," and "tackle" means "get lured out of your gap, then halfheartedly trot after the runner as he breaks into the secondary."

Anyhow, Davis probably will go back to being a linebackers coach somewhere, as he did after his first two coordinator stints, for the 49ers and the Browns. In each place, the Davis-led defense fared poorly, and, just as in Philadelphia, some of that had to do with stuff beyond the coordinator's control.

Wherever Davis ends up coaching LBs, he won't have to try to figure out what the deal is with Kiko Alonso - another huge defensive issue Davis didn't create.

While many Eagles players saw problems with the Chip Kelly regime, it's inaccurate to pretend the entire locker room rejoiced when Kelly was fired. Right tackle Lane Johnson had the harshest take, causing Johnson to be rebuked Thursday by safety Malcolm Jenkins, who opined that perceived strife between Kelly and Howie Roseman really had no effect on the team and that Johnson "reads too many articles."

In his remarks Thursday, and then more strongly on 94WIP with Howard Eskin on Friday, center Jason Kelce suggested the winning culture Kelly sought is hard to manufacture when you have to depend so much on free agents, not from guys you draft and develop yourself. Kelce said he thinks that this offseason, he and other team leaders need to do more to ensure bonding with newcomers, and a thorough understanding of what's expected.

"A lot of new pieces," Kelce said Thursday. "And it never really came together."

Kelce said both coach firings he has seen - Andy Reid in 2012 and Kelly - came after "huge overhauls in free agency."

Jenkins suggested that players who thought Kelly was unapproachable never really tried to approach him.

"I think the perception was not necessarily the reality," said Jenkins, who nonetheless differed with Kelly on holding players accountable in more than only position meetings.

On Twitter: @LesBowen

Blog: ph.ly/Eagletarian