This was as comfortable and controlled a defensive performance as the Philadelphia Eagles have produced all season. It was a complete reversal of the Week 6 meeting. The New York Giants were never really in this game. Once Cam Skattebo left injured, they lost the one player who gave their offense any physical edge, and from then on, they couldn’t match the Eagles. The Giants did not have enough to really test them.
Defense
The first clip was probably my favorite play of the game! Fangio’s defense has always thrived on post-snap confusion, and this was textbook. The Eagles started with two-high as they always do, before then spinning into Quarter-Quarter-Half, which meant Cooper DeJean was waiting to jump the out route Dart thought he was getting. This is because DeJean is playing the flat, due to the safety playing 1/2 technique behind him. Dart froze and tried to bail out. It was beautiful coverage and a reminder that when the communication is right, this secondary can make quarterbacks look lost. This is the difficulty of facing a Fangio defense! Every coverage can look the same pre-snap!
It was interesting to see the Eagles stay in base against the Giants’ three-wide receiver sets. With Nolan Smith and Brandon Graham both missing, Fangio clearly wanted to get Jihaad Campbell and Nakobe Dean on the field together a little more. It worked fine here, but it’s not sustainable in the long term, in my opinion. Campbell was effectively playing EDGE while rarely rushing the passer, just like last week. He’s being used as a placeholder until the depth returns, not as a permanent position change. The pass rush still looked pretty average despite the five sacks; most were the product of coverage rather than quick wins up front, as we will get into.
The worst play came on the Giants’ touchdown. Fangio sent pressure with Dean coming late and Patrick Johnson dropping off into coverage. That’s not ideal, as Johnson’s a try-hard edge, not a coverage player, and Dart found the mismatch in space. Fangio likes to mix in those simulated looks, but you could feel the limitations of personnel here. It’s one of the moments where the injuries showed up. If you had Nolan Smith or Jalyx Hunt out there in coverage, this likely would not have been the end result.
The physicality up front was outstanding, especially compared to two weeks ago when the Eagles were bullied up front! However, you have to consider the impact of Skattebo’s injury. Nakobe Dean’s return continues to pay off; he and Andrew Mukuba were aggressive downhill on this one. Mukuba got downhill quickly to take on a blocker, leaving Dean to finish the tackle cleanly. Those kinds of aggressive fits are why the run defense looked completely different from the last matchup.
Moro Ojomo was excellent, and I think he’s played very well the past month. He consistently won up front and played with the kind of leverage and violence that’s made him one of the team’s best players over the past month.
Quinyon Mitchell had an outstanding performance, and I thought this was a good rep to highlight the importance of an elite cornerback in this defense. It was his first career game, allowing zero receptions and one or fewer targets (though I think he got a little lucky with the penalty later). The Giants just didn’t have the talent to test him on the outside. Fangio’s defense is all about flooding the three-receiver side to prevent classic zone beaters from overloading one side of the field. That’s great, but it means the opposing side often ends up in one-on-one coverage with little help. Quinyon’s ability to play both sides of the field is really helpful, because it means you can stop Kelee Ringo from being this isolated.
The theme of coverage carrying the pass rush carried through the entire game. The rush got home because the secondary forced Dart to hold the ball. There were several plays where he stood flat-footed in clean pockets for three or four seconds before the defensive line got home. However, the defensive line was more cautious with its rush lane integrity, a massive improvement from Week 6, when Dart repeatedly broke contain and punished the Eagles with his legs.
Cooper DeJean was everywhere again. He’s just fantastic! His range and trigger downhill are awesome to watch. He flew through traffic for a tackle for loss here, and his ability to both fill in the run and match routes makes him invaluable. He’s quickly become the heartbeat of the secondary. I was glad to hear Fangio say that he will keep him at nickel cornerback, because I think that’s where he is at his best, and I’ve been consistent with this!
Nakobe Dean’s usage alongside Campbell was interesting. I didn’t particularly like taking Campbell off the field on passing downs, and the numbers back that up.
Dean had to carry this vertical route in nickel and was a step late, giving up a decent gain. It wasn’t a bad rep, but it raised a fair question about why Campbell was not out there more in nickel. Dean’s physicality is vital against the run, but asking him to handle coverage responsibilities in space is not the best use of his skills. I am guessing the Eagles just don’t want to overload Campbell with too many responsibilities, as he is effectively needed at EDGE right now. Still, I am a little disappointed he’s having to move around so much at the moment. I’m hoping he’s back to off-ball linebacker after the bye. I would be OK playing Dean more on early downs, and Campbell on late downs.
Later, the Eagles even mixed in some Dime. Shout-out to Parry Nickerson’s hair for making it easy to spot. The coverage was tight again, and Fangio sent five rushers, with Patrick Johnson actually winning off the edge this time. Dart tried to step up, but Jalyx Hunt cleaned it up for another sack. Hunt’s numbers look fantastic from this game, nine pressures on 22 rushes, but his production mostly came from persistence and excellent coverage from the secondary. He’s still learning to rush consistently with a plan, but his motor and versatility mean he will end up with some clean-up sacks like the one below. I still think the Eagles could do with a true dominant EDGE rusher, but when Nolan Smith and Brandon Graham return, I think they will have just enough to get it done.
Let’s end here. Fangio sent a heavy-pressure look, the man coverage held up beautifully, and Jalen Carter and Moro Ojomo executed a stunt beautifully. I thought Andrew Mukuba had one of his steadier outings, and Kelee Ringo looked composed opposite Mitchell. The Giants’ receivers simply didn’t have the talent to test them, though, in all honesty. It’s a little hard to judge some of the defenders against the level of talent they faced.
Final thoughts
One of the things I love about Fangio is that he seems to recognise the flaws with the defense and corrects them. The Eagles’ defense was bad against the Giants two weeks ago, but they bounced back this week. This was the game I expected two weeks ago, as the Giants have no juice on the outside. Fangio’s increased reliance on zone (up to around two-thirds of dropbacks) forced Dart to hold the ball for nearly 3.7 seconds on average, giving the front time to collapse the pocket. The pass rush got after Dart, but the game was won behind them, by a secondary that gave up nothing.
The Giants didn’t have the talent to challenge them, especially once Skattebo left, but that shouldn’t diminish how the Eagles played. The Eagles bullied the Giants physically, played disciplined football, and suffocated every attempt to find rhythm. The pass rush still isn’t where it needs to be, despite the sack numbers, but hopefully we will see some improvement there when the injured players return.
Thank you for reading! I’d love to hear your thoughts, so feel free to comment below and ask any questions. If you enjoyed this piece, you can find more of my work and podcast here. If you would like to support me further, please check out my Patreon here!
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