More Eagles defensive momentum and other takeaways ahead of Week 5

Jonathan Gannon’s defense again takes center stage for another Eagles victory.

It wasn’t that long ago that the complaints and much of the criticism that we heard during Jonathan Gannon‘s first season as Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator were carrying over into the current campaign. Then, it was as if a switch was flipped. No one’s bashing J.G. these days, are they?

The first weekend of NFL action was rocky. The Eagles nearly blew a comfortable lead versus the Detroit Lions in Week 1. Maybe it was a tune-up. Perhaps there was a need to knock the rust off for a starting unit that didn’t play during the preseason (and wasn’t allowed to tackle at practice). Maybe we should just give the Lions credit for being feisty and scrappy.

Whatever you can attribute the turnaround to, here’s where we all can agree. Gannon’s guys were on fire during the home-opener, a 24-7 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. The light bulb came on, and this unit hasn’t looked back since.

After sacking Carson Wentz nine times and holding the Washington Commanders to eight points and 240 yards of offense, the Birds treated Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars like unwelcomed guests in Week 4 during another home win.

Lawrence was sacked four times and was only able to lead two touchdown drives as Philly’s defense did their part by forcing five turnovers. They’re continuing to establish some momentum as they still have room to get better. Here are some other lessons that we learned.