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The 2025 Philadelphia Eagles have 5 loses through 14 games. They recently lost 3 games in a row, and during that span some fans started feeling deja vu of the 2023 collapse all over again. In 2023 the Eagles were white hot with a 10-1 record. Then a quality organization named the San Francisco 49ers came to Philly looking for revenge from the previous years NFC Championship game. San Fran got their revenge and than some handing the Eagles their second loss of the season in a dominant 42-19 win. This loss exposed a vulnerable and weak Eagles defense to the rest of the NFL. The next week the Eagles traveled to Dallas, but the defense lost their balls in baggage claim. Philly lost to Dallas 33-13, and this L would cost someone their job. That someone was Defensive Coordinator Sean Desai who was demoted and Matt Patricia took over the defense. Things did not get much better as Philly lost 4 out of their last 5 games(including the playoffs). In total the Eagles lost 6 out of 7 games down the stretch by a combined 90 points! This epic collapse resulted in Desai and Patricia being fired in the off-season.
During the off-season, HC Nick Sirianni and GM Howie Roseman made the decision to hire Coach Vic Fangio as the new Defensive Coordinator. This change of defensive scheme would be the start of something very special, which would culminate in the Eagles beating the (back to back) defending champs(KC Chiefs) in Super Bowl 59 by a score of 40-22. A game in which the Eagles dominated on the defensive side of the pill. In the 3rd quarter the Eagles were up on KC 34-0. Fangio orchestrated a defense with a mixture of rookies(CB’s Q. Mitchell, C. DeJean, & DE J. Hunt), unproven guys(LB Z. Baun, & DT’s J. Davis, M.Williams), a young star in DT Jalen Carter, and vets(CB D. Slay, S C.J. Gardner-Johnson, & DE’s B. Graham, J. Sweat) to formulate a group that ended the year as the #1 defense and when the final whistle blew they were on the mountain top as Super Bowl Champs. DeJean and Baun both picked off Mahomes (DeJean’s was a pick-6 on his birthday! and Baun’s resulted in a TD on the next play). Sweat, Williams, J. Davis, and Hunt combined to sack Mahomes 6 times and the defense didn’t blitz a single time only rushing 4!
Heading into the 2025 NFL season the Eagles defense saw their share of turnover. Sweat, Williams, and Slay left via free agency, CJGJ was traded away, and BG retired. Now this would have been hard for a less seasoned Defensive Coordinator to deal with, but not for Fangio who has almost 50 years of coaching experience under his belt. Now, Philly still had a plethora of talented youth on D with the likes of Nolan Smith, Jalyx Hunt, Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter, Nakobe Dean, Reid Blakenship, Quinyon Mitchell, & Cooper DeJean. GM Howie Roseman signed veteran CB Adoree Jackson and then Howie drafted LB Jihaad Campbell, who filled in nicely before Dean returned from injury. S Andrew Mukuba, who was also drafted this year and has done a nice job replacing CJGJ. Mukuba got hurt in the 2nd Dallas game, but has since been replaced by Marcus Epps. Before the trade deadline Howie made moves for Slot CB Michael Carter III from the Jets, and more importantly DE Jaelan Phillips from the Dolphins who has had a very strong impact since coming to Philly. JP may only have on sack since being traded but he’s continued to make his presence be felt on the gridiron.
The defense has kept this 2025 Eagles team in a lot of games this season. The D has only played poorly on short weeks (Thurday night vs the Giants, and on Black Friday vs the Bears). And even in those two loses the team still had chances to climb back into those games. Fangio is the type of coach who formulates his game plans thinking outside the box and towards his players strengths. Vic is open to make adjustments when it comes to the team his unit is facing. Fangio is so smart from all his years of coaching and has become a very crafty DC. “He stays relevant because he’s good at his job (and) how he’s able to adapt with the times. He has a way he likes to play defense, but he doesn’t force players to convert their playing styles. He just uses our playing styles to the benefit of the entire defense” said DE Jalyx Hunt earlier this week.
CB Jackson was quoted saying “One reason Vic is still successful is that he’s been through a lot of different eras of football and coached a lot of great players and when you have that as well as the willingness to want to learn and the humility to put the right pieces around you that may be opposite of how you coach, you’re going to have success”. Fangio’s players have lots of good things to say about their leader. “The biggest thing with him(Fangio) is he listens. He listens to us and our input on the defense and certain calls and what we like, what we don’t like. And I think that’s a big thing. And he’s always making sure everybody’s on top of their stuff, giving reminders in the meeting rooms. It seems like he’s having fun coaching us” said stud Slot CB DeJean. So basically when asked “Is this team going to be a repeat of 2023?” the response(with words, coaching, and production) is No, No, No says the D!
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