Highlights
- Vic Fangio aims to finish his career with the Philadelphia Eagles.
- The Eagles’ defense needs significant improvement after a poor 2023 campaign.
- Fangio focuses on fundamentals to strengthen the team.
Defensive trendsetter Vic Fangio started his career with the Philadelphia Eagles 40 years ago and hopes that’s where it finishes:
Well, it was exactly 40 years ago when I started my pro coaching career across the street at Veterans Stadium, and I thought it would be cool to hopefully end it here. I still go to the Philadium down on Packer [Avenue] for my meals, just like I did way back then. Phillies are still playing good. You guys didn’t clobber them for losing one game yesterday, did you?
If Fangio wants to fulfill his poetic dream of finishing in Philly, he’ll have to turn around a defense that absolutely crumbled in the latter half of last season. The team finished 30th in points allowed and 31st in third-down conversions. Without massive improvement from 2023, the jobs of the entire coaching staff are likely in jeopardy.
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Can Fangio Succeed Where Sean Desai and Matt Patricia Failed?
Plenty of pieces for Fangio to work his magic in Philly
Through 10 weeks of 2023, the Eagles’ defense ranked first against the run while holding explosive offenses like the Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, and Los Angeles Rams under 23 points. However, there were signs of cracks in the armor that turned into gaping holes as the season went along.
Turning to Patricia for answers only fanned the flames of their demise. In 2022, their pass rush covered up a litany of issues, converting solid pressure rates into historic sack numbers (70). In 2023, that flipped with decent pressure rates that failed to finish in sacks (6.2% sack rate, 24th).
Suddenly, their secondary became swiss cheese without opposing quarterbacks under fire. Injuries to Darius Slay and James Bradberry certainly didn’t help matters. On short passes, they ranked 31st in DVOA and 26th on passes to the middle of the field. Throws outside the numbers also plummeted to 27th.
To ensure this collapse doesn’t happen again, the Eagles heavily invested in the secondary bringing back Darius Slay, James Bradberry, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson while also drafting Quinyon Mitchell plus Cooper DeJean. That gives Fangio plenty of ammunition in the secondary to plug those holes.
Although Fangio’s success will likely hinge on his ability to get the most out of the Eagles’ highly drafted butt-kickers up front in Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, and Nolan Smith. The two Georgia defensive tackles in particular wore down as the year went along.
Davis notched 2.5 sacks, two TFLs, and five QB hits through seven games, but very little after that. Carter dropped from four sacks, seven QB hits, and two forced fumbles through week 8 to two sacks, two QB hits, and three TFLs the rest of the way.
The recent additions of players like Cooper DeJean, who the Eagles drafted in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft, could help change the fortunes of the defense, but as things stand, it’s looking bleak.
For his part, Fangio plans to build around fundamentals as opposed to scheming his way out of a potential spiral:
When things aren’t going good, you need to go back to basics. I’ll tell the players early in camp that if we’re struggling, don’t expect me to magically scheme our way out of it during a game. We’re going back to basics and we’re going to call the things that we’ve been practicing since Day 1 and we’re going to fight our way out of it. If you don’t have that foundation and you’re always grabbing for the perfect call, it’ll be OK for a little bit, but eventually you’re going to get gashed.
Whatever Fangio plans for 2024, Eagles fans can rest easy knowing it will be better than the pencil scratching of Patricia.
Source: Philadelphia Eagles Youtube Page
All statistics courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless stated otherwise.
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