There’s no defense (again) for the Eagles in very costly loss to Cardinals

Ralph Vacchiano

NFC East Reporter

Jonathan Gannon wasn’t exactly a beloved defensive coordinator in Philadelphia, but he helped build a championship-caliber defense in his two seasons with the Eagles. They were the second-best defense in the NFL when he left after last year.

Surely he couldn’t recognize the mess he left behind.

That Eagles’ once-proud defense showed once again how much of a liability they are — and are going to be in the playoffs — when they were steamrolled by Gannon’s Arizona Cardinals in Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon. The Cards put up 449 yards, 221 on the ground, and scored touchdowns on all four of their second-half possessions. That included a 2-yard run by Cardinals running back James Conner with 32 seconds remaining, giving the Eagles a shocking, catastrophic 35-31 loss that probably cost them the NFC East.

It was the culmination of a month-long slide in which they ruined a 10-1 start by losing four of their last five games.

“We got to get things fixed,” said Eagles coach Nick Sirianni. “We’ve got to get them fixed fast.”

It feels like the Eagles have been saying that for a while — especially about their defense. But here’s even more urgency now after what is no doubt the worst loss of the Sirianni Era. All the Eagles (11-5) had to do was win their last three games against two awful opponents to clinch the NFC East and maybe even get the No. 1 overall seed. Instead, the loss to the 4-12 Cardinals handed the Dallas Cowboys (11-5) control of their destiny in the division.

And it very likely means the Eagles are going to have to play all their playoff games on the road.

Not that their stay in the postseason is going to be very long with the way their defense is playing right now. Their tackling has been atrocious, especially in the second half of the season. Even Sirianni’s decision to demote defensive coordinator Sean Desai two weeks ago and turn the play-calling over to Matt Patricia…

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Publish date : 2023-12-31 22:39:27

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