Eagles fan here, I come in peace.

So, there is a common feeling around covering the Eagles that this defense is the same as last years, and that you can look to how the Eagles approached it defensively last year, when that’s not the case.

The biggest change has occurred with coordinators. Obviously the new DC is Sean Desai, a Fangio disciple, and one of the rare Famgio disciples who puts his own twists on Fangio goverage/front structure marriages. He has been a far cry from Gannon last year, who came from the Mike Zimmer tree, and was famous for running a very basic shell/quarters based coverage, where very little would be obfuscated from the QB presnap, and would dare thr offense to go on long, sustained drives, or gamble that the QB and protection would hold up against that pass rush. Generally that gamble paid off last year, with the talent that the eagles had often bailing Gannon out. But while he was here, there is a reason that every top half of the league QB, other than Kirk Cousins, TORCHED that defense. They were more than willing to take what was given, especially against the middle of the field. There were obviously communication issues, and lack of adjustments to gameplanning, which was covered at length post superbowl.

Cut to today. Desai, although he may have more talent up front today, has dealt with more injuries and turnover than Gannon ever did, and yet has shown to be more flexible and willing to experiment than Gannon was. Much has been made of the Eagles pass defense, and I believe this is a 3 pronged issue.

1. Bradberry and Slay simply have not played nearly as well as they did last year, particularly bradberry.

2. Injuries to slot corners. When healthy, Avonte Maddox is one of the best slot corners in the league… when he’s healthy. Which is rare. The Eagles backup nickel, Zach McPherson tore his Achilles in TC, so they signed Robey-Colman, who performed well, until he too was hurt. Since then, it was mixing and matching between Bradberry, rookie Eli Ricks, who is a outside corner, and rookie Sydney Brown, who is a safety. Coleman comes back this year, so hopefully stability at nickel corner can shore up communication and coverage assignments.

3. Run defense. Unlike last year, Jordan Davis has been largely healthy. And not coincidentally, unlike last year, the run defense has simply been… the best I’ve seen from Philly in maybe a decade. This is a combo of Davis, who is excellent at his role, Jalen Carter, the best player on the Eagles defense, who is better against the run than Hargrave was, and Desai’s front structures, which are better suited against the run than Gannon’s were. Teams abandon the run because nothing has worked.

In terms of what Desai will do to actually do, I’m not sure there is one thing. He has a tendency to throw different looks throughout a game, presumably so the offense can’t establish a consistent rhythm. Not saying it will work, that requires execution from safeties, (surprisingly good) linebackers, and Bradberry, which is just frankly not reliable. But I’d expect to see a variety of looks, between bracketing, physical play at the LOS from Bradberry, and more bracketing.

Sorry for the book. Hoping for health for both teams, and looking forward to this game. Also, appreciate how this fanbase werent douches, unlike others lmfao. Go birds.