The Eagles had no answers for the Cardinals’ rushing attack on Sunday, giving up 221 yards on the ground in the shocking 35-31 loss.
Want to figure out why the Eagles lost this game?
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“Obviously the run game is going to be the first and foremost place where we've got to start,” de facto defensive coordinator Matt Patricia said. “I think they did a good job of using a lot of runs that have caused issues for us that we're going back and making sure that we have those tightened up and fixed from that standpoint. Run fits are a big part of defense and really some place you want to start from a defensive philosophy standpoint to make sure you can stop the run.
“I think that's critical this time of the year. No different than the other side of the ball is trying to run the ball. We have to be able to stop it on defense and that's got to be our focus on that end to get it handled, and they did a good job. There was some good scheme stuff they hit good for us, that was good to see now, and that we can go forward and make sure that we have it tightened up as we move forward here.”
Those 221 yards on the ground are the most the Eagles have given up all season long. And it’s the most rushing yards the Eagles have given up in a game since the 2016 season in a 27-20 loss in Washington.
It was a disaster against the Cardinals as the Eagles failed to bring down James Conner but also let Michael Carter go for 61 yards and Kyler Murray for 24 and Rondale Moore for 8.
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On Tuesday, Patricia was asked if the run fits being an issue in Week 17 is more coaching or personnel related.
“It's going to start with me from that standpoint,” Patricia said. “Making sure that we have everybody understanding of how we want to get it fit, and taking care of when we see those different looks.”
Patricia took the blame, but this run defense was in a tailspin before he took over in Week 15. In fact, run defense has gone from a clear strength to a glaring weakness for the Eagles defense.
It just finally hit rock bottom on Sunday.
The Eagles are a completely different run defense team since their Week 10 bye. Because in the first-half of the season, no one was running on them.
Weeks 1-9
597 yards allowed — 1st in the NFL
66.3 per game — 1st in the NFL
3.7 yards per carry — t-5th in NFL
Weeks 11-17
1,052 yards allowed — 31st in the NFL
150.3 per game — 30th in the NFL
4.8 yards per carry — t-27th in the NFL
The Eagles have given up 455 more yards in two fewer games since the bye week than they did before the bye week. That’s such a massive shift.
Before the bye week, the Eagles allowed over 100 yards rushing in just one game. They’ve allowed over 100 in every single game since coming back from the break.
So what’s wrong with the run defense?
It’s not just one issue. If that was the case, it would be a lot easier to fix. The run fits haven’t been good. The Eagles’ tackling has been suspect. The defensive line isn’t playing as well as it needs to. And the back seven (starting with the linebackers) might just not be good enough.
“We're just obviously working to improve the defense as we go through the season, and different problems present themselves at different times of the year,” Patricia said. “That is definitely true. Some of the runs that we saw early in the year are different than we see later in the year. Sometimes that moves or something may happen through the course of a season or a game or a particular week that new ideas come up that a team that we haven't maybe seen twice like we are seeing the Giants twice, and that comes up and that's a little bit of a different look.
“That is all on me. I have to make sure that we are good in the run game every single week based on the different runs that we are getting that week and what we have seen on tape from them. Like I said, give Coach Gannon credit, he has got good knowledge of the defense and things that are hard or difficult for us, and we've got to tighten those back up.”
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