A Sophomore Year of Pressure
What will the Eagles’ Youthful Secondary Do in Act 2?
It was the Thursday before the Eagles Super Bowl Parade when Vic Fangio met with his defense at the Novacare Complex. Against the backdrop of the Eagles’ players absorbing all of the information about the celebration in Philadelphia the next day — many players were meeting with coaches in preparation for the off-season.
But Fangio wasn’t interested in lauding his defense for a season of domination or its incredible playoff run. He wanted to discuss the sixteen points the Eagles’ defense surrendered in the last ten minutes of Super Bowl LIX. With the game completely in hand, the Eagles’ defense withstood a flurry of late Kansas City points before stopping an on-side kick and running out the clock.
PHOTO: Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images
The incredible fact isn’t only that Fangio spent the last three weeks wading through a sea of Eagles Euphoria that would culminate in a bus-ride down Broad Street on which Vic himself was a passenger trying his best to go into 100% celebratory mood. But Vic Fangio is always focused on the play on the field. The real improbability about this Eagles season culminated in a Super Bowl appearance Fangio didn’t blitz. Not once.
Not since the 1960 World Champion Eagles did the Eagles claim a trophy without bringing pressure and allowing a dominant defensive line performance to control the game. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Eagles Coach Buddy Ryan molded one of the most formidable defenses in Eagles history, complete with the cornerstone of pressure. Andy Reid’s Eagles of the early 2000s were complete with Jim Johnson pressure packages that made you think that 15 defenders were on the field.
The Eagles are known for pressure, and their defenses are known for blitzing. Even Jim Schwartz’s 2018 Eagles defense brought pressure to bring the franchise the first NFL title in team history.
Fangio wanted to keep the gameplan simple for the Eagles’ rookies. The result is that he is the first player in NFL history to return an interception in the Super Bowl on his birthday in Cooper DeJean and the first NFL team to make it to that Super Bowl with two rookie starting defensive backs. Their defensive performance contributed to the highest score of an NFC Championship Game in history.
I take it back.
Let’s keep it simple, after all.
PHOTO: Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images
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Categorized:Eagles