Eagles' defense comes up short

There are two obvious ways to look at the Eagles defense after Friday night's preseason opener against the Patriots:

You could chalk up a shaky start to facing one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, to the expected growing pains that would accompany a schematic change, and to Bill Davis' first game as defensive coordinator.

Or you could panic.

"How am I doing so far?" Davis joked after the Patriots' touchdown-resulting first drive was brought up.

A more measured approach would be somewhere in the vast gray area between optimism and pessimism. No one expected the defense to be the strong suit of Chip Kelly's first team, let alone after one preseason game. But the Eagles' first unit was dismantled by Tom Brady and the New England offense, much as it was during two scrimmages earlier in the week.

It wasn't so much that Brady sliced and diced up the secondary, completing 7 of 8 passes for 65 yards and a touchdown. Everyone knows the Eagles' defensive backs would be a weak point. But the pass rush was almost non-existent and the front seven got pushed around whenever Brady handed off, which he did eight times for 95 yards and one touchdown.

Before we cast Davis as the second coming of Juan Castillo, it is once again important to note that we're still a ways from the start of the season, a long journey from judging the success or failure of the former 49ers and Cardinals defensive coordinator.

If Kelly and his offense can score points at will, as the first team did Friday night, putting up 14 points in the first half, then Davis' defense might need only to keep opponents at bay. The NFL is set up for scoring, and if Kelly can't light up the scoreboard, then this thing was destined to fail anyway.

Davis has preached patience. He's still overhauling the defense, moving the front seven from a wide-nine 4-3 to a two-gap 3-4. He's not going to get all the way to a Steelers-style 3-4, as we saw Friday night. He just doesn't have the horses up front.

The scheme will evolve, and it's unlikely Davis unveiled much in terms of blitzing. But the base defense was a traditional three-man front with Isaac Sopoaga at nose tackle and Fletcher Cox and Cedric Thornton as the five-technique defensive ends.

The Eagles needed to add some heft on the line after years of favoring smaller, quicker linemen. But the line got off to a dubious start when Patriots running back Stevan Ridley shot through a wide-nine-like gap and raced 62 yards on the first play from scrimmage.

Later during the drive, inside linebacker Mychal Kendricks couldn't wrap up running back LeGarrette Blount on third and 1. Missed tackles happen, but Kendricks struggled in that regard last season, as did many other Eagles.

Makes you wonder why Kelly elected not to tackle to the ground during camp.

"We got to eliminate big plays," Davis said. "The effort to the ball, the tackling were key things coming in here that we wanted to make sure we got right. We had the effort to the ball, but we didn't have the tackling."

Two plays later, Ridley ducked his head and powered a yard for the opening score. Brady didn't drop back once during the six-play drive.

He came out firing on the Patriots' next possession. He completed seven straight passes, going right at cornerback Bradley Fletcher several times.

The Eagles were without injured corner Cary Williams, and he should be an upgrade over his replacement, Brandon Hughes, but Fletcher has looked anything but effective since the start of camp.

The Eagles went with four down linemen several times in the nickel. Outside linebackers Connor Barwin and Trent Cole put their hands on the ground - just one of the many multiple looks Davis will show up front.

But it was the Patriots who created mismatches. When Shane Vereen split out wide and Kendricks was covering, Brady had his advantage. Kendricks did all he could do on the fade route into the corner of the end zone, but Brady lofted a strike for the Patriots' second touchdown in as many drives.

That was it for the first-team defense.

There were flashes from various defenders on the second team. But a Blount 51-yard touchdown run in which he reversed field and zig-zagged through the Eagles' second-team defense momentarily shot down the idea that there is help down on the farm.

But that would be a panic move.

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