What makes Eagles’ secondary truly remarkable originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Their coverage has been impeccable. Their playmaking has been otherworldly. Their communication has been flawless.
They’re one of the best secondaries in the NFL and they’ve been together all of five weeks.
It was during the bye week that defensive coordinator Vic Fangio replaced Avonte Maddox with rookie Cooper DeJean, giving the Eagles the final piece in a revamped defensive backfield.
“Definitely feels like more than five weeks,” DeJean said at his locker Tuesday. “It feels like it’s been a couple years.”
The Eagles ranked 31st in the NFL in pass defense last year and 29th in opposing passer rating. They allowed 35 touchdown passes, 2nd-most in the league, and had just nine interceptions, 26th-fewest.
Say good-bye to Kevin Byard, Bradley Roby and Justin Evans, among others, and welcome DeJean, Quinyon Mitchell, Isaiah Rodgers and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson.
Just like that, everything changed.
Nine games into the 2024 season, the Eagles are 2nd in passing yards allowed, 4th in opposing passer rating and tied for 4th with just eight passing touchdowns allowed – just one during the five-game winning streak.
They’re allowing 5.0 yards per pass play, their lowest figure since 1991 and more than a yard below last year.
Almost overnight, the Eagles have gone from one of the worst pass defenses to one of the best. And they’ve done it with defensive backs who weren’t here last year playing 1,452 snaps.
It’s really not supposed to happen this fast.
Only Reed Blankenship and Darius Slay are back from last year’s main rotation, and even Slay has been on and off the field lately, replaced by Rodgers.
“Vic has everybody on the same page of what’s required, what’s expected, how he wants things to play versus different looks,” Nick Sirianni said. “I think that’s such a big part. Obviously, we’re talented there. We have talented players. The addition of the new guys we have, and Reed and Slay and Avonte (Maddox) being the holdovers.
“But they’ve worked really hard to be on the same page. One of the easiest ways to get beat in the secondary, in my opinion, is not 1-on-1 matchups. One of the easiest ways to give up plays is when you’re not all on the same page.
“Obviously, these guys have come in and are good football players, but then just constant work of being back there together as one. You know, the rookies, they have really flexed their muscles, with Q and Coop. It’s just a nice mix.”
When the Eagles won their fifth straight game Sunday in Dallas and held the Cowboys’ hapless passing attack to 49 net passing yards on 32 drop-backs, Reed Blankenship was the only defensive back on the field for the entire game who was even on the team last year.
The key to everything has been the play of the two rookies, and this is the first time since 1973 – with Joe Lavender and Randy Logan – that the Eagles have had two rookie full-time starting defensive backs.
Mitchell has shut down every receiver he’s faced – he’s allowing 31 passing yards on five targets per game and has yet to give up a touchdown – and DeJean has electrified the defense with his physical play, sure tackling and knack for big plays at huge moments.
Gardner-Johnson has a couple interceptions the last few weeks and even Rodgers has played a lot lately – 149 snaps during the five-game winning streak as Slay deals with injuries.
It’s supposed to take a secondary a while to find itself. To figure out how to play together, to learn who does what well, to communicate at a high level.
This group?
It took just a few weeks.
“Our togetherness is the biggest thing,” Mitchell said. “You’ve got rookies like me and Coop, and then leaning on veterans like C.J. and Reed and Slay out there, they’re just picking us up and helping us, and it just came together. We’ve just been harping on the details lately and keep getting better.”
Opposing quarterbacks during the Eagles’ five-game winning streak have completed 62 percent of their passes, passed for just 148 yards per game (123 net yards), thrown that one TD to four interceptions, averaged 4.9 yards per attempt, been sacked 19 times and have a combined passer rating of 65.3.
First time the Eagles have allowed fewer than 615 net passing yards and one passing TD in a five-game span since 1964.
The challenge gets a lot bigger Thursday night, when this newly constructed secondary faces Commanders rookie Jayden Daniels.
That’s going to be a fascinating matchup between a secondary that keeps getting better and one of the hottest rookie quarterbacks the NFL has ever seen.
“We’re just a really close group,” DeJean said. “Whether we’re talking football or anything else, we’ve been able to become really close. More like friends and family than teammates.
“I think that helps on the field. It’s being able to communicate with each other better, be able to talk through things, whatever it may be on the field. Everybody’s asking each other questions. We’re just figuring things out. When you have those things that are difficult to figure out on the field, just having that communication and trust helps a lot.”
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