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Players win, coaches lose. That was the real story of last season for the Eagles, lost as that may be on haters of Nick Sirianni and his staff.
Disorganized as the Eagles were in rolling over in six of their last seven games after the promising 10-1 start, you would be hard pressed to find a team interested in trading for any player on that defense except for some of the pass rushers and maybe a defensive tackle or two. That cost coordinators Sean Desai and Matt Patricia their jobs.
Newly added defensive coordinator Vic Fangio looks like a terrific start in resetting the culture on that side of the ball, although the 65-year-old master of the 3-4 scheme needs at least three solid starters in a secondary that has zero, and a couple of linebackers who can not only tackle but get their teammates lined up properly.
In the recent Wild Card playoff, Fangio’s defense, minus six starters no less, harassed Patrick Mahomes often enough to keep the Miami Dolphins alive late in the second half against the Kansas City Chiefs. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and the offense let the team down on a brutally cold day.
It’s a myth that Fangio doesn’t blitz or adapt to his personnel, for he sent cornerbacks, linebackers, and guys right off the street at Mahomes, who ultimately put on his Superman cape to move the Chiefs forward and, eventually, to a fourth Super Bowl in five years.
Fangio’s defenses have ranked among the NFL leaders in scoring and total yards allowed. This is a guy who learned under Jim Mora Sr. and Dom Capers, the guy on the staff of probably the greatest collection of linebackers/pass rushers ever, the aptly named Dome Patrol of Rickey Jackson, Pat Swilling, Vaughan Johnson, and Sam Mills in New Orleans. All of them went to the Pro Bowl in 1992.
Fangio grew up near Scranton and was the guy the Eagles wanted to succeed Jonathan Gannon after his stint as a consultant in Philly. He relates to younger players by appealing to their pride, much as the late Jim Johnson did. From everything I’ve heard and read about Fangio, he uses the old school, individual and transparent plea that we need you to do this to win games; can we count on you?
Kellen Moore, the offensive coordinator replacing Brian Johnson, I’m not as sure of. And not solely because the Eagles never seem to get anything of value from players with roots in Dallas. All apologies to, among others, Chris Boniol, Herschel Walker, DeMarco Murray, George Hegamin and Mat McBriar, good guys all.
What’s concerning is what happens to quarterbacks running the plays of Moore, who started two games for the Cowboys in 2015 and later was their offensive coordinator for four season before a year as the offensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Chargers. They tend to get hurt.
In Dallas, Dak Prescott didn’t miss a game due to injury in his first six seasons, including the 2019 campaign, Moore’s first as offensive coordinator. Prescott missed 15 games with injury the next three seasons. This past season was his first complete season since 2021.
With head coach Mike McCarthy calling the plays, Prescott threw a career- and league-high 36 touchdown passes against nine interceptions with a career-best 69.5 completion percentage and a 105.9 passer rating, figures that ranked in the top two in the league. McCarthy did a much better job of tailoring the offense to Prescott, as well as protecting him.
In Los Angeles last season, Justin Herbert played in 13 games before exiting with a broken index finger on his throwing hand. It was the first injury knocking him out of a start in a career that began in 2020. Herbert also played through a broken finger on his non-throwing hand in 2023.
Sure, the Chargers were a circus under head coach Brandon Staley, who was canned with three games remaining. But Herbert completed a career-low 65.1 percent of his passes with 20 TDs, seven interceptions and a 93.2 rating, the worst of his four-year career.
The offense that Moore ran last season in Los Angeles will require adjustments for Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts. He’ll need to get rid of the ball a lot faster and more accurately to make it work. He’ll probably need a sidearm delivery to complement his standard throwing motion and may be on the move much more than last season, when he sustained a couple of injuries, including a knee issue that hampered his mobility. .
If you despised the screen passes the Eagles threw last season, you’re not going to like the Moore offense that heavily features them. At the same time, at least one Eagles player will love the Moore system, albeit at the expense of the other playmakers.
The Chargers featured receiver Keenan Allen, who caught a career-high 108 passes for 1,243 yards (11.5 average) and seven TDs in 13 games. Think A.J. “Alway Open” Brown will appreciate that?
To contact Bob Grotz, email rgrotz@delcotimes.com
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