It was a tough 27-24 loss today for the Eagles. The Birds pass defense must improve if they are going to have success. Too many times this season, the Eagles pass defense has been missing in action.
It’s happened time and time again this season where the Eagles have allowed opponents to complete over 75% of their passes. Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes and Dak Prescott were able to complete over 75% of their passes. You have add Justin Herbert to that group. Herbert is a good quarterback, but he’s not 80% good. He completed 32 of 38 passes for 356 yards and two touchdowns. I remember Herbert missing a couple of open receivers, but he still had a Hall of Fame day against the Birds.
The Eagles pass defense is much to passive. They don’t disguise and camouflage their coverages. You can’t make it that easy for opposing NFL quarterbacks. You show them three deep zone, but you change to man-to-man just before the snap. You slip into a blitz after showing them zone.
Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon has put the defense in a passive two-deep zone, but that has allowed opposing quarterbacks to put up Hall of Fame numbers. Justin Herbert is a good quarterback and he may one day be in the Hall of Fame, but he’s never been able to complete passes so easily.
You have to mix it up in the National Football League. I’ve stressed it all season. I’m talking about mixing things up with the passing game and the running game offensively. Defensively, you’ve got to mix things up. You can’t just sit in the same defense or in the same coverage. These are professionals. You’ve got to give the other team some credit. You know that they’re not that stupid. You can’t just run the same defensive pass coverage again and again against professional players without paying a serious price for it.
The Eagles have made some improvements versus the run, but they’re got to make some improvements against the pass and they need to do it immediately.
