Secondary force: Revamped Eagles D-backs among best Jim Johnson has had

THE IMMEDIATE danger when trying to compare teams or athletes from different eras is to put too much weight on what's current. Sorry, kiddies, Michael Jordan was better than both Kobe Bryant and LeBron James and Wilt Chamberlain was the best of them all. Barry Bonds was great, but please don't forget Willie Mays, Babe Ruth or Hank Aaron.

Dialing down the scope a bit, how about this Eagles secondary? Specifically, where does it rate among the groups defensive coordinator Jim Johnson has had in his 10 seasons here? Pretty darn high, according to many observers. But not at the top ... not yet.

Led by starting safeties Brian Dawkins, Quintin Mikell and cornerbacks Asante Samuel and Sheldon Brown, the Eagles secondary is part of a defense that held opposing quarterbacks to a 54.1 completion percentage, tops in Johnson's tenure, and allowed the second-fewest passing yards per game.While there are dissenting opinions on whether this is Johnson's top group, there is consensus on one point.

"It's the deepest secondary, there's no question about it," Johnson said. "With Lito [Sheppard]in a backup role and [Joselio] Hanson in the nickel and the safeties, it has very good depth. If you have an injury, you can plug in another guy. We've had some good secondaries here, too, so I'm not going to rate them right now."

Last year, Johnson's unit gave up the most passing yards aside from his first season here in 1999 when he began rebuilding and installing his aggressive defense. They were statistically average in most other categories, but felt the need to upgrade the defensive backfield by signing Samuel, as a free agent, to a 6-year, $57 million contract. The move created a logjam with Samuel and veteran stalwarts Brown and Sheppard competing for the two corner positions. Sheppard eventually became the odd man out and has even fallen behind Hanson when the Eagles go to their nickel package.

Throw in that free safety Dawkins is headed back to the Pro Bowl, strong safety Mikell had his best season and rookie free safety Quintin Demps has showed steady improvement and you can see why this year's unit is regarded as the deepest secondary the Eagles have had.

"I would say so," head coach Andy Reid said. "I would say it's a good group. When you've got Lito and Jose back there and guys that can step in and do certain things for you, I think that's a tribute to the depth of the crew."

Dawkins, who is headed to his seventh Pro Bowl, at first stopped just short of proclaiming the 2008 Eagles as the best defense, in general, he's ever been part of. He seemed to reconsider as he spoke.

"It's hard for me to think back to some of the other defenses," Dawkins said. "I will say that this is probably, if not the best, the top two. But I'm leaning towards the best that I've played on.

"The speed in which the guys play, this is the best run-stopping defense that I've played on since I've been here, by far. That allows the whole other part of the defense to flow, when we stop the run. We're stopping it and getting after the passer on third-and-long with the speed that we present by bringing [Chris Clemons and Darren Howard] onto the field. This is definitely a defense that can cause havoc."

In the last four games, they have allowed zero touchdown passes while scoring four - two by Samuel, one by Hanson, one by Clemons. They are on a roll, for sure.

But going back to earlier in the decade when Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor and reserve Al Harris patrolled the concrete Astroturf of Veterans Stadium, the Eagles always have been strong at cornerback. In 2000, they allowed just 11 touchdown passes. In 2001, the Eagles allowed 3,147 passing yards. In 2002, they registered 56 sacks. All are tops among Johnson's defenses. all cq

"This team just hasn't played together as long," said Ike Reese, an Eagles linebacker and special-teams standout from 1998 to 2004. "When you look at those guys - Bobby, Troy, Al and Dawk – they had so much time together. They played off each other."

But while Dawkins was in the prime of his heat-seeking missile career, the Eagles couldn't find a strong safety they like as much as Mikell. Damon Moore was OK, but got hurt in the 2001 NFC Championship Game, Blaine Bishop was in his twilight in 2002 and Michael Lewis couldn't sustain the momentum from a 2004 Pro Bowl season. cq

In 2002 and 2004, the Eagles had three of the four regulars from their secondary selected to the Pro Bowl. This year, Dawkins and Samuel were chosen. cq

"We're operating at a very high level," Dawkins said. "I've said this before and I think everybody knows, we know our role, we know what is expected of each individual and everybody is comfortable in those roles; comfortable in the fact that we know where the next guy is going to be. There's no guesswork at all. That makes for a very fast-moving and big-play-potential secondary."

Which is the point Reese made, before he added: "When you talk about abilitywise and potentialwise, yes, it's there. Sheldon is [similar to] Troy. Troy was the better ballhawk than Sheldon is. Asante is a better corner than Bobby Taylor was, but just not as physical at the point of attack."

"What this secondary lacks is that we had a: Brian Dawkins in his prime and b: Al Harris, a legitimate starting cornerback [who played nickel]. That's not a knock against [Sheppard and Hanson]. If Lito was playing [more often] ... and Joselio is going to be a good corner ... but that's the only thing that would hold them back from being as good as those guys."

There is one thing that this group could do to distinguish itself from all the others: win the next three games and end this city's 48-year drought without a football championship.

"We didn't bring home the glory," said Vincent, who was on the wrong end of the Eagles' three consecutive NFC Championship Game losses from 2001 to '03. "That's the challenge I'd issue to them. Go do something we didn't do. The same kind of stories were written about us when we followed Eric Allen and Erik McMillan and those great [defenses of the early 1990s]. Finish the deal, young men. Finish the deal." *