Like old times, defense carrying Eagles
The season has been saved and the Eagles have their defense to thank for it. That used to be said and written all the time when Buddy Ryan's bullies beat up Eagles opponents in the late '80s and early '90s. It was still true after Ryan was fired by Norman Braman, a.k.a. "the guy in France," and Bud Carson became the team's defensive coordinator. The early success of the Andy Reid era was much more about Brian Dawkins, Jim Johnson and the defense than Donovan McNabb and the offense, too.
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The season has been saved and the Eagles have their defense to thank for it.
That used to be said and written all the time when Buddy Ryan's bullies beat up Eagles opponents in the late '80s and early '90s. It was still true after Ryan was fired by Norman Braman, a.k.a. "the guy in France," and Bud Carson became the team's defensive coordinator. The early success of the Andy Reid era was much more about Brian Dawkins, Jim Johnson and the defense than Donovan McNabb and the offense, too.
Given Chip Kelly's devotion to the offensive side of the football and the way things went in his first two seasons as the head coach, it seemed unlikely that the defense would ever be the primary reason for the Eagles' success. But that's where things stand right now.
The weakest link in Kelly's first two seasons has become the strongest while the offense, despite piling up yards, keeps leaving too many points on the field.
The team's biggest star is Fletcher Cox, who has evolved as the league's most disruptive defensive line force this side of Houston's J.J. Watt. Bennie Logan and Cedric Thornton, the two other starters on the defensive line, mostly fly under the radar, but they also fly to the football. They are a big reason that the Eagles' front three is in the conversation about the best defensive line in the NFL.
In the 27-7 win over the New York Giants on Monday that prevented the Eagles from starting 0-3 against NFC East rivals, Vinny Curry showed once again why he belongs on the field whenever defensive coordinator Bill Davis needs an optimum pass rush. Curry, coming off a season in which he had nine sacks in a limited role, was credited with 11/2 sacks on Eli Manning.
Three of the team's best leaders are also on the defensive side of the ball. Before leaving in the second quarter with a hamstring injury, DeMeco Ryans altered the flow of the game by muscling a drive-stunting interception away from Giants tight end Larry Donnell. When it comes to voices that must be heard in the locker room, Ryans' is the strongest since Dawkins departed seven years ago.
Good leaders, of course, have to also be good players and there was some question as to whether Ryans would still be one after suffering a second ruptured Achilles tendon in the middle of last season. Those questions have been answered.
Ryans gets plenty of support in the leadership department from outside linebacker Connor Barwin and safety Malcolm Jenkins. Speaking of Jenkins, he is the best safety the Eagles have had since Dawkins' departure and No. 2 on the list is not even close because the position had become such a black hole on the roster. Walter Thurmond, in fact, has moved into second place by coming up with three interceptions in the team's first six games.
The Eagles' best rookie through six games also has been a defender. Given the injuries suffered by Mychal Kendricks, Kiko Alonso and Ryans, it's frightening to think where this team would be if third-round pick Jordan Hicks had not stepped in as an instant playmaker.
Cornerback Byron Maxwell, by far the highest-paid member of the defense, has not lived up to his contract so far, but he has been better than Bradley Fletcher and Cary Williams. Nolan Carroll, the other new starter at cornerback, scored the go-ahead touchdown Monday night and has been better than Maxwell.
The defense is good and certainly better than an Eagles offense that operates in fits and starts with quarterback Sam Bradford behind center. The two big questions are this: Can the offense get better and is the defense good enough to overcome the shortcomings of Bradford and his receivers?
We should get a decent answer Sunday night when the Eagles play a prime-time road game against the unbeaten Carolina Panthers. With duel threat Cam Newton at quarterback, the Panthers run the kind of offense that Kelly loves.
"Cam is playing at a really high level right now," Kelly said. "You've got quarterback run [option] that we haven't seen this year and we really have to start to kind of home in on because Cam is going to carry the ball. I think they lead the NFL in rushing attempts per game."
They do and they are third in the NFL with 132.8 yards rushing per game. Stopping the run, however, is also the Eagles' strength. They are eighth in the league, allowing just 94.2 yards per game. The Panthers also rank seventh in the league in points allowed per game at 18.8.
The team just ahead of them is the Eagles, who are allowing just 18.3 points per game.
The Panthers, however, have had the more productive offense so far this season. They have committed just five turnovers in six games and are averaging 27 points per game, good for sixth in the league. The Eagles, by comparison, have 14 turnovers, ranking second in the NFL. Still, they are 10th in scoring at 24 points per game.
If the turnovers continue, however, it will not matter how well the defense plays because the offense will undermine all the good work.
@brookob