Eagles Week 2 game balls following their win on Monday Night Football
We’ve criticized the Eagles’ defense when they’ve deserved it. We have to give them praise when they deserve it too.
At the risk of sounding overly cautious, though we thought the Eagles would win, we thought this would be a much tighter contest. The defense was masterful. The pass rush needs to be more consistent, but as we said last week, it’s much more fun to make improvements after a victory.
Arryn Siposs, punter/Avonte Maddox, cornerback
Okay, so this is a special teams guy and not a defender, but how about some love for the Australian? As if tallying a 44.8 average and placing two of his four punts wasn’t good enough, Arryn Siposs made one of the underrated plays of the night, tackling Patrick Peterson after a blocked field goal. That and Avonte Maddox‘s first interception kept six points off of the scoreboard.
Darius Slay, cornerback
Here’s our defensive MVP. Darius ‘Big Play’ Slay broke up five passes, blanketed Justin Jefferson all night, and came up with two interceptions in the red zone. He was a joy to watch all evening.
T.J. Edwards, linebacker
Maybe we’re being emotional, but T.J. Edwards, the Eagles’ quarterback on defense, has the potential to become one of the best undrafted finds in franchise history. He’s that good, and in Week 2, he led all defenders in solo tackles (seven) and total tackles (ten). He also had a quarterback hit and one stop for a loss of yardage.
Dick Vermeil gets his Hall of Fame ring. light. Trending
Jonathan Gannon, defensive coordinator
What’s good for the defense is good for its coordinator. Jonathan Gannon was heavily criticized in Week 1 (and rightfully so), but he looked like the second coming of Jim Johnson in this one. Again, maybe we’re being emotional, but that’s our story, and we’re sticking with it.
We beat him up when he deserved it. We have to give credit when he deserves that as well.