Eagles' defense shows up in second preseason game

After last week, after Tom Brady and the Patriots, after the Eagles' defense couldn't tackle and couldn't win a battle at the line of scrimmage, after all of that happened and left everybody wondering only about the proper metaphor - the parting seas or the revolving turnstile? - it turns out that there was another night and another opponent.

And there was a collective exhale.

This time, it was Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers. And in the first half, this is what the Eagles' defense allowed: 8-for-17 for 112 yards passing by Newton, and 50 yards rushing on 15 carries.

There was no big running play, and only two longish passes of 20 and 23 yards. There was some opportune blitzing pressure by linebacker Mychal Kendricks, and a couple of Bennie Logan moments, and an early bit of extracurricular activity that involved, shockingly, cornerback Cary Williams (and Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith).

Fletcher Cox awoke from his Game 1 coma and was in the mix. Cedric Thornton was in the backfield a couple of times early. There was a dropped interception by cornerback Brandon Boykin (and another in the third quarter). The first defense allowed only six points in the first half on two field goals. For the game, it was three field goals and a 14-9 victory.

"It was a lot better out of our defense this week," said Williams, who claimed his criticisms of the defense last week were taken out of context. "Guys played sound fundamentally. Guys tackled well. It was a great improvement over last week and definitely something we can build off of."

The Panthers were 12th in the NFL in yards last year, 18th in points scored, living in the league's vast middle. Against that level of offense, the Eagles' defense did well. Against that type of competition, the latest snapshot was reasonably attractive. That's all.

But that is such an improvement over the previous game that it qualifies as significant progress. There is still nobody on the defense who really scares you, or who the other team will need to game plan around in any significant way, and it is fair to say that this defense will aspire to middling this season - middling and no higher.

But middling will be OK, given the early reviews of this offense. Middling will be OK in Year 1 of Chip Kelly.

Face it: We are all fixated on the quarterbacks, and on the battle between Michael Vick and Nick Foles - which Vick is continuing to win - and on the go-go tempo that the Eagles again displayed last night. The story this season is mostly going to be an offensive story. More than the wins and losses - assuming neither number is extreme - the success and the style of the offense will be how we judge the progress of the new regime.

Offense. Offense. As linebacker DeMeco Ryans said, "It's fun to sit back and watch it."

Everybody senses that the defense is undermanned and going to take some time. Nobody thinks the defense is going to win many games this year, if any. But there is a difference between rolling over and competing - and that is the difference everybody saw against the Panthers.

"This was a lot better," Ryans said. "Guys played sound fundamentally. Guys tackled well. This is definitely something we can build off of."

Why the stark difference between the two games?

"I think a little of it was getting the first game under our belts," Ryans said. "A little of it was getting [better] focused. Let's see if we can build off of this and get even better."

The line continues to have the most intriguing players. It is there where the defense will have to be at its best. So many of the returning players are trying to do the square peg/round hole thing as the team shifts from a 4-3 to a 3-4 (predominantly), and it makes sense that there will be some adjustment time needed. It is fair to say that Cox looked better at defensive end in this game, and so did Trent Cole at outside linebacker.

Again, though, those are only quick, initial impressions - and it was only one night against an OK-ish offense. There are likely to be some long days ahead.

But if the Eagles get the same compete level that they got last night, this defense will have a chance to be average.

And that would be OK. Really, it would be.

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