Eagles' Defensive Scheme is Battle-Tested; Variables Will Determine Success

Double-digit NFL teams are using the same defensive philosophy as Philadelphia for good reason - it works

PHILADELPHIA - The scheme, the scheme, the scheme.

The defensive scheme particularly is the bane of a lot of Eagles fans' existences right now after an expected blowout in Detroit turned into a 38-35 nailbiter in which Jalen Hurts was playing bail bondsman for his teammates.

Jason Kelce has acknowledged Hurts’ mobility served as a TARP-like bailout for an offensive line that didn’t communicate as well as it could in an unexpectedly raucous environment.

“We have to do a better job and that starts with me,” the veteran All-Pro center said. “I gotta be loud. We have different ways of communicating in environments like that and I didn't take advantage of the different tools to do that which led to some problems especially early on.

"So it's an emphasis for us. … For the most part, guys were able to do their jobs physically. It was really just the communication aspect and that's mostly my job."

The offense as a whole, though, scored 31 points on the road in a crazy atmosphere and enter Week 2 ranked third in the NFL so complaining about it feels like nitpicking a bit.

On the other hand, Jonathan Gannon’s defense needed the hefty Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac-style bailout against the Lions thanks to 14 missed tackles.

In the ultra-small sample size of 60 minutes, the Eagles are 22nd in the NFL in defense and worse than that when it comes to run defense (No. 28), third-down defense (No. 30), and points per game (No. 29).

The parroted narrative in Philadelphia, of course, is always aggression and one sack, which was helped along by a poor Lions shotgun snap, had many seeing red when it comes to second-year defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon.

Couple that with “soft coverage” and social media was filled with torches and pitchforks for the young DC, who clearly doesn’t understand football like the average blitz-crazy Madden devotee.

To believe that, you might have to ignore that Gannon has spent 15 of his 39 years on earth in the NFL and there are at least 12 other current defensive coordinators who evidently don’t understand football either because they’ve also based their schemes on the foundation of Vic Fangio’s defensive philosophies.

One of them will be arriving in Philadelphia for Monday Night Football, Minnesota DC Ed Donatell, a long-time Fangio lieutenant who has spent almost 40 years in coaching.

Running essentially the same scheme based on variable stunts and umbrella coverage on the back end, Minnesota's defense is No. 8 in defense after 60 minutes.

"They do a lotta stuff,” Kelce said. “... They're similar to our defense in that way in that you're gonna get a bunch of different looks so we've seen a lot of this stuff from Jonathan Gannon all through training camp but you gotta be ready for all the varieties, the personnel, front looks.”

Nick Sirianni also let fans it on the open secret when asked about the similarities between the two defenses and if that’s a luxury when it comes to prepping this week by Eagles Today on Saturday.

“Of course, it is because you can ask questions, ‘Hey, what are they actually doing right here?’ You can get some inside information as far as the questions you ask the defensive coordinator,” the head coach said.

… So that's always an advantage that you have, and that's something that we definitely -- again, we'll leave no stone unturned, and definitely have had a lot of communication with the defensive guys this week.”

The Eagles’ scheme is battle-tested and so highly regarded it's the cat a copycat league has latched onto and Fangio himself put together a training camp-lecture tour around the league providing insight into his creation.

At one point Tony Dungy's Tampa-2 and Seattle's Cover-3 defenses were all the rage right up they weren't. Minnesota just shifted from Mike Zimmer's once-revered double A-gap pressure looks into Fangio's wheelhouse.

"I think this scheme is more diverse," a former NFL personnel executive told SI Eagles Today. "... It’s more of a philosophy than a scheme that I hear everyone describe at the podium. If they explained the nuances of it, I don’t think it’d sound as similar from the teams who do run it. 

"[Brandon] Staley’s version is pretty different to Fangio’s and presumably Donatell’s. Joe Barry’s version is far different to Gannon’s. While I think it’s fair to say they’re similar in structure, they’re conceptually more unique."

The variables come with things like teaching, personnel, and execution.

This is Philadelphia, though, so if you really want to complain maybe focus on the organization playing follower in the world of defensive football.

It's always better to have the innovator than the Xerox copy.

"There will eventually come a point when the fad fades and becomes less effective," the exec said. "I don’t know how soon that’ll be because of how multiple is in on the front and back ends, but a day will come."

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Sports. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talker Jody McDonald, every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube.com and JAKIBSports.com. You can reach John at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen