The Eagles defense has been subject to plenty of criticism this year and much of it has been warranted. Flushed out with injuries, the unit hasn’t exactly been firing with a full arsenal, but that’s no excuse for the questionable playcalls and poor execution across the board. From woeful tackling and a lack of turnovers, to the dreaded ‘picket defense’, it’s not been an easy year for Jim Schwartz. Coming off of a 48-7 blowout to the Saints, surrendering 346 yards and 19 points in the first half to the Giants was less than ideal and the pressure was at an all-time high. But it’s in those moments of true adversity that you find out the true character of the men inside the locker room and who’s going to step up.
In the second half, the Eagles gave up just 56 total yards…which in comparison to the flooding they suffered in the first half is a night/day improvement. The man who sparked it all? Malcolm Jenkins. After constantly making calls at the line of scrimmage to get his teammates lined up and communicate the wrinkles of the defense, he entered halftime with a motive.
“The biggest thing is, we were kind of on our heels the whole first half.” The veteran safety said. “We got to a point where we said look, ‘We know we have guys in the back end scrambling a little bit because the Giants are in their hurry-up offense.’ It put us in a little bit of a bind in terms of communicating. It’s loud. So, give us something simple and we’ll put the pressure on our D-line to take over. And once we did that we were able to settle down the outside and stop the run a little bit and allowed for the pass rush – they start hitting the quarterback. All of a sudden, those third-and-3’s start turning to third-and-7 pluses and we get off the field. The momentum starts to change and then we get the ball rolling.
“The biggest thing we were just having — we had so many new guys on the field and we were having some issues with communication and execution.” Jim Schwartz explained on Wednesday.
“We just simplified some things. They were trying to use — not hurry-up tempo like you would think, like no-huddle, but they were trying to get out of the huddle and snap the ball quick and things like that.
Like I said, we had some new guys and a lot of different layers to a lot of our calls, but we sort of eliminated those, and it worked out pretty well for us.”
It wasn’t just the vocal leadership. Jenkins made a key pass breakup on a two-point conversion that shifted momentum back in favor of the home team before making a clutch interception to close out the first half and light a fire in the belly of the team around him. Jenkins, who has been with the Eagles since 2014, has become one of the most inspirational leaders in the locker room, for his attitude on a and off the field. With such a young secondary around him who lacked experience, the courage to see the struggles and approach his coordinator with a suggestion to change just highlights the kind of leader Jenkins truly is.
He wasn’t the only vet that the Eagles leaned on however. On the defensive line, Fletcher Cox and Michael Bennett feasted in the second half. Bennett, who now leads the Eagles in sacks and has racked up 6.5 in the last 8 games, blasted through the offensive line to bring down Eli Manning in the third quarter, eventually leading to a punt. Not only that, but he actually went out in the first half with an injury. The team didn’t know if he was going to return, but to come back into the game and make an impact like that, again, really intensified the play defensively.
As for Cox, he was as dominant as we’ve come to expect. Something Schwartz was quick to acknowledge during his Tuesday presser.
“Fletch played an outstanding game. It didn’t show up maybe on the stat sheet the way that other people do, but probably the two biggest keys in that game were Fletch and Malcolm. When you’re faced with the adversity we were face with, you always want to rely on your veteran marquee players, and those two guys came through for us.”
In a game where the Eagles cornerbacks were comprised of former practice squad members and players with minimal league experience who were struggling with what the Giants were throwing at them, the Birds turned to their most vocal leaders. The vets who have been in that same position and who lead by example each and every week had to pick that defense up and light a fire because if they didn’t, it was game over. Down 19-3 at the half, there was a long road to redemption…but through the play and leadership of cornerstones in the locker room, the Eagles came out swinging and were able to beat it all.
Imagine the confidence flowing through the veins of Cre’Von LeBlanc right now, or how proud Chandon Sullivan’s family are going to be. That game, that half, changed everything for the Eagles.
They’re going to need to see more of the same from the most important figures in the locker room moving forward. One more mistake and the season could be all but over. The Eagles have walked themselves onto a very thin tightrope, but if there are ever people to guide them safely over it, it’s this group of defensive leaders who raise the bar with every game they play.
Mandatory Credit: James Lang-USA TODAY Sports
