The Reincarnation Of The Philadelphia Eagles Defensive Line

Some idiot wrote an article about the demise of the Eagles defensive line last week.  So to be fair, I thought I would take a look at their week 3 performance to see who, and/or what, changed.

The chart above has the Eagles defensive player stats from week 1 -2.  The point was made that certain defensive linemen: Huff, Graham, Davis, Smith, Carter…well almost all of them save Milton Williams, Josh Sweat, & deep reserves Booker and Ojomo, were either ill suited for run defense or not giving maximum effort given their inherent talent level.

To make matters worse, they were going to face the New Orleans Saints who were averaging 45 points a game after steamrolling Carolina, and then woodshedding the Cowboys.   Kamara was running amok for the Saints who seemed to have a sturdy offensive line through 2 weeks.

Eagles 15 @ Saints 12 Week 3

Let’s start by saying that this was a strange game.  The Saints were basically inept offensively, while the Eagles would march up and down the field only to be undone by a negative play or some really baffling Sirianni decisions.  The Eagles were shut out through 3 quarters but only trailed 3 – 0.

The Saints loss their center Eric McCoy which undoubtably helped, but to be fair the Eagles were decimated by injuries in the game: Lane Johnson, Becton, Slay…It may even be fair to say the Eagles offensive line played better after the inuries pointing to the Eagles OL depth, and for the Saints, it seemed like the wheels fell off.

For the Saints, Williams had one carry for -1 yard.  Carr had 2 carries for 3 yards.  Kamara had 26 carries for 87 yards, 3.3YPC, and a long of 16 yards.  The Eagles were giving up 6.4 YPC through 2 weeks and almost 8 yards if they didn’t stuff the run play for no gain or loss.  What happened?

Two things happened.  The Eagles showed up with a 5 man defensive line package, and Jalen Carter & Jordan Davis happened together for once.

Davis played his best game in a long time.  He played 18 run snaps, had 4 tackles/4 stops, generated a sack and a pressure.  Carter was a terror inside.  He played 25 run snaps and 24 pass snaps, 4 tackles/4 stops, 3 QB pressures.  Shout out to CJ Gardner-Johnson who had 8 tackles/3stops, but still is an issue in coverage.

Zach Baun continues to be a tackling machine.  Quinyon Mitchell appears to be the real deal.  Blankenship has played every snap so far this year.  Dean is playing well in his third year.

But let’s look specifically at who played more in week 3, and when.

Philadelphia Eagles Defense Snap Counts Week 1/2 vs. Week 3

So if the Eagles show up with a 5 man defensive front package it makes sense that they are probably going to need to sacrifice a DB to do it.  And they did.  Avonte Maddox saw almost 40% less playing time, and 50% less against the run.  Say goodbye to the light box.

Now you would think that logic would follow and that would be an increase in playing time for the defensive linemen.  And you would be right.  For most of them.

Changes in overall playing time in week 3:

INCREASED

• Milton Williams +25%
• Brandon Graham +20%
• Jalen Carter + 12.4%
• Jordan Davis +4%
• Thomas Booker +4%
• Moro Ojomo +3%

UNCHANGED

• C.J. Gardner-Johnson
• Reed Blankenship
• Zach Baun
• Quinyon Mitchell
• Nakobe Dean

DECREASED

• Avonte Maddox – 39%
• Bryce Huff -18%
• Darius Slay -14% (injury)
• Josh Sweat -5%
• Nolan Smith -4%

Kelee Ringo replaced Slay after the injury.

Changes in playing time vs Run in week 3:

INCREASED

• Milton Williams +36%
• Brandon Graham +28%
• Jalen Carter + 14%
• Moro Ojomo +18%
• Nolan Smith +10%
• Quinyon Mitchell +4%

UNCHANGED

• Jordan Davis
• C.J. Gardner-Johnson
• Reed Blankenship
• Zach Baun
• Nakobe Dean

DECREASED

• Avonte Maddox – 50%
• Bryce Huff -38%
• Josh Sweat -21%
• Darius Slay -10% (injury)

Summary

Saw what you will about Fangio, but clearly he put in this 5 man front after seeing the disaster that was the Eagles’ run defense through 2 weeks.  They used the same exact players, except at different times and in different ways.

It’s hard not to point the finger at a couple guys, but it isn’t me who is pointing the finger, it’s Fangio.  Bryce Huff saw his play time cut drastically, particularly against the run.  Josh Sweat also saw a notable decrease in playing time, particularly against the run.  Maddox is blameless as some DB had to be sacrificed.

It will be interesting to see what Fangio does in week 4 vs Tampa Bay.  The Bucs are going to be smarting from the flop at home against Denver.  The Bucs aren’t the greatest running team in the world and prefer to pass, so it may not be the best test for this new Philadelphia run defense.  However it will be interesting to monitor Huff’s & Sweat’s snap totals going forward and see if they are going to be relegated to push rushing specialist.  Honestly Nolan Smith would seem to fit this description as well, but if he can man up against the run better than Huff or Sweat, he is going to need to play a bit.