PHILADELPHIA — The Eagles’ disappointing 21-22 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night centers first on a dropped pass by the usually outstanding Saquon Barkley and the coverage problems that followed during a 65-second, microwaved drive in which the motionless Kirk Cousins thwarted Vic Fangio’s coverage strategies.
Peel back the onion a little and you’ll find that the perceived strength of Fangio’s defense is the reason for the late announcement about the 2024 season.
For the second straight game, the Eagles’ defense didn’t exactly set the tone, whether it was closing off running lanes for Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier or putting so much pressure on the 36-year-old Cousins, who was less than 11 months after tearing his Achilles tendon, that he was uncomfortable.
The highlights were few and far between, most notably Milton Williams racing through a Chris Lindstrom block in the red zone in the third quarter for a third-down sack – the Eagles’ only one of the night. On the same run, however, Robinson chipped sophomore edge rusher Nolan Smith into nothingness.
Embattled nose tackle Jordan Davis intercepted a pass from Cousins at the line of scrimmage on the Falcons’ first drive before retreating into anonymity, while Jalen Carter didn’t even start the play, which at least smacks of potential disciplinary action. The second-year defensive tackle is Philadelphia’s most talented defender and wasn’t able to pressure an incomplete pass from Cousins until late in the third quarter.
The team’s $51 million edge rusher, Bryce Huff, continues to spend most of his time on a milk carton in pass rush mode and can only be found failing in run support.
Veterans Josh Sweat and Brandon Graham remain the most representative players on offense, while Smith and interior players Thomas Booker and Moro Ojomo don’t play enough to make a difference.
“We’ll look at that game and see what happened,” head coach Nick Sirianni said when asked about the shaky pass rush. “Sometimes you have to earn the right to rush, which means you have to have them in passing situations. It didn’t seem like we had some passing situations today. They were third and manageable or second and manageable.”
“Sometimes you have to earn the right to hurry.
However, that speaks to the ineffectiveness on both fronts. Robinson and Allgeier combined for 150 yards at over 6.0 yards per rush, and the run led to Williams’ sack and only two QB hits.
“Like I said, when they’re ahead, it’s a little tougher on the pass rush,” Sirianni said. “We’ll look at the video of that play – yeah, we’ll see what it is.”
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