Much has been said — and much can be said — about Philadelphia‘s failure to close the deal on Monday night against the Falcons. The attention has focused on the inexplicable decision to throw the ball (and to risk an incompletion) on third and three from the Atlanta 10 with less than two minutes to play.
But the Eagles defense deserves some scrutiny. It was one of the topics raised during the “Tuesdays with McCourty” edition of PFT Live. (The clip is embedded with this blurb.)
As Devin said, Philly looked like it was running a scout-team defense against an offense that needed to build confidence in its two-minute drill. They were too far off the ball. They gave up too many easy completions. They generated no rush on a quarterback who has a history of folding under pressure, since he lacks the mobility to run away from it.
There’s a deeper question that we stumbled into during a conversation that is always unscripted and organic. Is this one of the risks of having the defensive coordinator in the booth and not on the sidelines? Devin said that, in overtime of Super Bowl LI, it seemed inevitable that the Patriots would drive down the field and score the game-winning touchdown. Defensive coordinator Matt Patricia chastised the defensive players, telling them to quit watching the game and to go get ready to play.
Who was keeping the Eagles defense ready to play at a time when everyone assumed the game was over? Some of those players might have mentally checked out, assuming the game was in the bag. Who checked them back in?
McCourty specifically mentioned rookie cornerback Quinyon Mitchell. Last year, he was playing for Toledo. Now, in his second NFL regular-season game, he had to find a way to stay ready to go when it seemed like the offense was going to close out the win. Was anyone on the sideline keeping Mitchell’s head in the game?
Whatever the reason, the defense was on its heels from the outset of the final drive. In the blink of an eye, the vibe went from “Cousins will screw this up” to “holy shit, they’re gonna score.” The Falcons had gone from being on the ropes to punching the Eagles through.
With so many coaching-related issues plaguing the Eagles during their late-season collapse in 2023, it’s more than fair to wonder whether the coaching staff was doing everything it could to ensure that the defensive players were ready to finish the job, in the unlikely event that the offense didn’t.
