While most of the attention during this up-and-down 2025 season has understandably been focused on the Eagles’ confoundingly inconsistent offense, Vic Fangio’s defense has been unable to match last year’s pace.
Of course, that’s understandable. The 2024 Birds defense is one of the most complete we’ve ever seen. They gave up the fewest yards of any team in the league, the second-fewest points, allowed the third-lowest passer rating, were sixth in turnovers forced, first in passing defense and 10th in rushing defense.
Anytime you lose the caliber of talent they did this off-season, it can’t help but have a negative effect, at least at the start of the season. Josh Sweat and Milton Williams’ production on the defensive line has been sorely missed. Everyone agrees it was time to say goodbye to Darius Slay, but Isaiah Rodgers’ departure left a gaping hole at CB2 (even though he got put in a blender by A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith on Sunday). They’ve largely weathered the storm of the CJGJ trade, and with Jihaad Campbell’s emergence and Nakobe Dean’s return, the loss of Oren Burks hurts less.
Still, everyone can see the weaknesses on defense. An edge rushing group that is so thin Brandon Graham is considering a return from retirement. Campbell is being utilized at edge to help out, and it’s not a great fit. Adoree Jackson and Kelee Ringo have struggled at CB2.
While the numbers may not reflect it, this year’s defense is doing an admirable job.
Sunday’s performance against the Vikings won’t go down as one of the finest performances of the Nick Sirianni era. They allowed 21 first downs, Minnesota went seven of 15 third down conversions with one fourth-down conversion as well, and gave up 298 net passing yards and 387 yards total. But it was just enough to get the job done.
More often than not this season, even in the losses, Fangio’s unit has given the team a chance to win, just like on Sunday in Minnesota.
In terms of EPA/Play, the Eagles’ -0.01 is tied for 10th best in the NFL through the first seven games. They are 10th in total EPA and EPA/Pass, they’ve allowed the 12th-fewest passing yards in the league and the 4th-lowest completion percentage (58.9%). Not bad for a unit that lost a starting cornerback and safety in the off-season and replaced them with a rookie and a one-year veteran who has largely struggled.
Obviously, they’re not getting to the quarterback. Only four teams (Jets, 49ers, Ravens and Jaguars) have fewer sackes than the Eagles’ 11. Their sack percentage also ranks 28th. But against Minnesota, three of their biggest plays of the game was the result of pressure on Carson Wentz.
The first was on this hit by Jalen Carter on Wentz that forced the pick-six to Jalyx Hunt.
A quick note on Carter and Hunt…
The second came early in the 4th quarter, with the ball at the Eagles’ 10-yard line, and the Vikings facing a 3rd & 5. With a 21-16 lead, a touchdown would have put Minnesota in front, but Moro Ojomo, who would later leave the game after getting clocked by Ringo on an open field tackle attempt, came through with a clutch sack that forced a field goal attempt.
Finally, on 1st and goal from the 10 yard line and the Eagles’ holding a 28-19 lead with 2:54 left, Josh Uche came through with his first sack of the season at the most critical moment.
Fangio’s defense played exceptional bend-but-don’t-break defense throughout the afternoon, allowing six trips inside the red zone but only one touchdown and five field goals. Their 52.9% red zone conversion rate is 8th-best in the NFL. On Sunday, they forced Wentz and the offense to slow-play themselves down to the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter, knowing that the clock was on their side with a two-score lead. Sure, they allowed a field goal (and almost a touchdown if T.J. Hockenson doesn’t drop a poorly-thrown Wentz ball), but forced the Vikings to run out of time.
That’s a sign of a well coached unit.
There are obvious areas for improvement, outside of the defensive line piling up more sacks. They are 26th in 3rd down conversion rate (42.3%), 18th in overall success rate (44.5%), 27th in rushing yards allowed, and have allowed the 3rd most rushing touchdowns (8) in the NFL. But there’s also reason to be optimistic those improvements could happen sooner rather than later.
Dean has only just returned from injured reserve and ascending Nolan Smith will return from IR sometime around the bye week. It’s unclear how Fangio will utilize Zack Baun, Dean and Campbell, but it’s never a bad thing to have three elite linebackers on the field at once. Andrew Mukuba is a playmaking safety who can cover. There will be rookie mistakes, but he should only get better. Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean have picked up right where they left off last year. Carter and Jordan Davis were dominant on Sunday, and it appears Uche is heating up.
There is a lot of elite talent on the field, and the Eagles have the youngest defense in the NFL right now. It’s also assumed Howie Roseman will use some draft capital to improve the defense before the trade deadline. Miami has a couple of edge rushers — Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips — who could be made available should they continue to falter, with Cincinnati’s Trey Hendrickson and the Jets’ Jermaine Johnson also potential targets. ESPN’s Bill Barnwell suggested a Riq Woolen for Ringo corner swap and mentioned Cam Taylor-Britt of the Bengals and Joshua Williams from Kansas City as possibilities, too. The degree to which any of those players are upgrades over Ringo and Jackson is debatable. Regardless, expect Roseman to add talent to the defensive side of the ball.
The offense is understandably sucking up all the oxygen in the room, simply because it shouldn’t be struggling the way it has thus far in 2025. Mercifully, for one week at least, some of that chatter will die down a bit. Fans expected the defense to struggle as they adjusted to the new faces in new places, but even as they’ve done so, they’ve managed to keep the Eagles in games.
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