Philadelphia Eagles: 3 Ways to flip turnover ratio back in their favor
By Ben Swanger
In conclusion, this could be a big year for the Philadelphia Eagles defense.
On defense, turnovers often have more to do with coaching than technique, and the Eagles have seemingly found a nice mixture of coaches to lead them into 2020. They just promoted Matt Burke to their defensive line coaching position. He’s served as both a linebacker coach and as a defensive coordinator in Denver, but this is the first season he’ll be focusing on the defensive line.
It shouldn’t be too much to ask as he’ll be managing one of the best defensive tackle groupings in the league and some solid edge rushers. The front four should create enough pressure to allow the secondary to make plays. Philly can truly rely on this unit to wreak havoc.
In the defensive backfield, Cory Undlin is gone after five seasons in Philly. In his last two, the team ranked in the bottom third of the league in interceptions. In his place, the Eagles hired Marquand Manuel, and they signed two high-level corners. The new faces should do the defense some good, and despite the loss of Malcolm Jenkins, the secondary should be better.
With Schwartz, Burke, Manuel, and linebacker coach Ken Flajole in the fold, the Eagles have four defensive coaches that have the experience of being a coordinator. This defense shouldn’t lack technique or discipline and should see an increase in the number of turnovers they produce.
If the Eagles want to hang another Super Bowl banner, they’ll have to protect the football and create more turnovers on defense than they have over the past two seasons. There are countless amounts of factors that play into any team winning the Vince Lombardi Trophy, but winning in the turnover ratio is always at the top of the list.
Remember, the target number is +11. It should be easy to remember as it’s the jersey number of one of the best and most popular players on the field.