Well this is certainly not a surprise to most Eagles fans. This will be an article that boils my blood, mainly because it’s the same thing we were dealing with last year -- an injury plagued secondary. It’s hard when I love and respect all our corners. However, if any teams have a speedy wide receiver, our cornerbacks get beaten every time (though granted a lot of our starters aren't playing).
When Ronald Darby was playing he was getting beaten to a crisp by Julio Jones. Jalen Mills has gotten some love and some hate from the Eagles fan base. I am on the Mills bandwagon myself, but to keep that separate he gets easily beaten plenty of times as well but for now he is on the PUP list. Cre'Von LeBlanc is on injured reserve so he will miss at least the first eight weeks worth of games, but he was solid in his role last year. Both Avonte Maddox and Sidney Jones are now hurt as well. The depth we added at safety this offseason has helped a lot because Malcolm Jenkins has the ability to move to nickel or pretty much where ever he is needed, but we can’t rely on them to fix mistakes all the time like last year.
As we stand the Eagles are on their way to set a record no team wants to set. We are on pace to allow most passing yards in a season, with an amount of 5,180 yards. The team who holds that right now is the 2011 Packers who gave up 4,796 yards through the air. Some interesting numbers as well right now are the allowed passing yards which we rank at 31. The only team behind us is the New York Giants. However the amount of yards allowed all together we rank at 22. That's because we have a strong run defense and we are not giving up a lot of yards on the ground. I do believe another thing we need to work on is tackling. We have given up some pretty easy touchdowns because how atrocious our tackling can be.
I know a lot of fans are calling for Jalen Ramsey. It is going to be a gamble that's for sure. We know we could only afford him for the rest of this year and next year because he'll want to break the bank when he is eligible to become a free agent in 2021. Let’s say we do get him, then we’re giving up a lot to hope that he can fit in the grand scheme of things. Trust me, I know he's a great player but look at all the great cornerbacks: Malcolm Butler, Richard Sherman, and our hero Patrick Robinson. I have not heard a single word on Robinson since he returned to his old team the New Orleans Saints. Knock on wood if we do get Jalen Ramsey that he does not get hurt. Something is wrong with all the injuries. Are we cursed? Did any of you superstitious fans wash your jersey because you spilled nacho cheese on it? We did re-sign Orlando Scandrick this week though. That will be a nice veteran to help with the younger guys on the team. Looking at the free agency or trade, a name I haven't heard called out as much is Xavien Howard. He would be a lot less expensive and since the Miami Dolphins are rebuilding their team I'm sure there's something we could work out.
Recently it’s been feeling like the league is turning into a pass heavy game. This is not an excuse for the Eagles, but a lot of teams are giving up yards to great franchise quarterbacks and wide receivers. It seems we still have some great running backs although teams are learning how to stop them. In Week 1 the Eagles allowed Case Keenum to throw for 313 passing yards, Week 2 against a struggling Falcons offense we allowed Matt Ryan to throw for 310 yards, and in Week 3 against the Lions it was not the offense that won but special teams. Matt Stafford threw for just 201 yards. Week 4 Aaron Rodgers put up 414 yards, their offense was also struggling coming into the game much like the Falcons. We often give away yards but our defensive strength is in the red zone. However, we can not only show up in the red zone. The plus side of this is that we can stop them on the ground like last year. We do not want the Cowboys to be bragging about how Dak Prescott was able to throw 400 yards against a depleted Eagles defense later this season. We will not allow them to claim NFC East!
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