Inside the Iggles
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Philadelphia Eagles: Impossible Defense

By Jacob Brooks

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uDec 15, 2013; Minneapolis, MN, USA; The Philadelphia Eagles defense looks on during the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Vikings at Mall of America Field at H.H.H. Metrodome. The Vikings defeated the Eagles 48-30. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia Eagles have had a bad defense for far to long, its time to address that situation, but is it possible? If you are anything like me, you were constantly frustrated with the pass defense, specifically the cornerbacks. It seemed like every other play was a bad one for the corners, either getting burnt deep or a costly flag.

I’ve spent some time looking over our season and I came to the conclusion: Our defense needs to improve, but can it? My answer is no.

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    • Defensive Time on Field:

    One thing I hear consistently is how long the defense is on the field. In Head Coach Chip Kelly’s scheme, the defense is on the field a lot, in fact they were on the field more than any other defense in the NFL. I used offensive time of possession per game, then subtracted that number from 60 to get the amount of time the defense was on the field. On average the Philadelphia Eagles defense was on the field for 34 out of 60 minutes, highest in the NFL.

    While having your defense on the field for that long is never a good thing, it isn’t what makes this defense impossible to be good. Some  perspective things to consider when you think about how long the Philadelphia Eagles’ defense is on the field:

    1. 28 Minutes – The top 3 teams in defensive time on field spend about 28 minutes per game on the field.
    2. 29 Minutes – 4 teams have their defense on the field for 29 minutes per game.
    3. 30-31 Minutes – More than half (18 teams) of the NFL falls into this category, suddenly the 34 minutes doesn’t seem horrific.
    4. 32 Minutes – 3 teams have their defense on the field for 32 minutes per game.
    5. 33 Minutes – 3 teams have their defense on the field for 33 minutes per game.
    6. 34 Minutes – only the lonely Philadelphia Eagles has a defense on the field for 34 minutes per game.

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    For what its worth, when I calculated out the amount of yards the Philadelphia Eagles defense gave up divided by the amount of time they were on the field, the Eagles defense was above average. I have a post in the works to show those numbers.

    Below Average Cornerbacks:

    Oct 5, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; St. Louis Rams wide receiver Brian Quick (83) catches 5-yard touchdown pass against Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Cary Williams (26) during the fourth quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles defeated the Rams, 34-28. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

    I hear a lot of talk about Philadelphia Eagles cornerbacks Bradley Fletcher and Cary Williams. The friendly version of the words that Phialdelphia Eagles fans use to describe these two players is, “Terrible.” While I do think these two players are below average and the Eagles should invest high draft picks into the corner position, will that be enough?

    My answer is no, it will not be enough. The problem the Philadelphia Eagles face is that their defensive scheme is not “cornerback friendly.” What I mean by this is that, if the Eagles front 7 doesn’t get immediate and constant pressure, the cornerback position gets exposed.

    The Philadelphia Eagles play a lot of man-to-man cornerback coverage and when the opposing quarterback has time to sit back and read the defense, eventually the cornerbacks will break. Its disheartening to think that no matter who the Eagles pick up in free agency, or who the Eagles may draft in the 2015 NFL Draft, the corners could still look bad.

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    If you go back and look at the games that the cornerbacks didn’t give up big plays and had “solid” games, you will notice that in every single one of them, the Eagles front 7 was in the quarterbacks face on almost every play. I know it is a simple concept that applies to almost any team, “get pressure with the front so that the corners can do their job,” but in the Philadelphia Eagles scheme it is exponentially more important.

    If the Philadelphia Eagles use this off-season to gather some top caliber conerback talent and use a first round draft choice on a player like Trae Waynes, the Eagles will have improved their defense. Even with these improvements, the Phialdelphia Eagles will still give up plays if the front 7 doesn’t get more consistent pressure.

    I don’t think it matters who is playing cornerback in an Eagles uniform next year, in this system the cornerbacks get exposed. Unfortunately for all Philadelphia Eagles fans, hope for a much improved defense may be impossible.

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