State of the NFC East: Ranking the Eagles defense vs rival units

The Eagles defense has seen its challenges recently. They’ve struggled, and they’ve been sharp.

A lot has happened during the past two weeks of the Philadelphia Eagles‘ season. They lost their first game, one versus the Washington Commanders in primetime. They followed that performance by narrowly beating a terrible Indianapolis Colts in Week 11.

After a ‘shaky’ two-week stretch, many of the ‘experts’ are jumping off of Philly’s bandwagon. They’re no longer first in all of those power rankings we read despite being the only NFL team with one loss.

Philadelphia’s defense hasn’t looked the same recently. Opposing offenses are getting off to faster starts. Jonathan Gannon’s defense is still formidable. They held the Colts’ offense to 16 points mind you, but based on the eyeball test alone, they haven’t been as dominant.

The NFC East isn’t the ‘NFL Least’ anymore. The Dallas Cowboys, Washington Commanders, and New York Giants are all playing better football, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

Everyone loves to rave about the Dallas Cowboys defense, especially following their performance in Week 11 versus the Minnesota Vikings, but don’t let the hype fool you. Dallas’ defense wasn’t the NFC East’s best during Week 10 and Week 11.

So, if it isn’t the Cowboys, who is it? The Eagles defense hasn’t looked the same recently. They’re still among the NFL’s best, but how do they rank versus their rivals these past two weeks? The answers to those questions might surprise some people.

Let’s dig into another State of the NFC East power ranking. We’re counting down the best defenses in the NFL’s most popular division.