Eagles Defensive Player of the Week? Good Question.

Wow. This is getting old very quickly. On a weekly basis, the contributors at Full Press Coverage are asked to come up with a player of the week for the Philadelphia Eagles on both offense and defense. Last week was a rough battle, and here we are again, back on the struggle bus. It shouldn’t be this hard to single out a player having a solid game for the Birds. Each week, the task gets harder and harder. So, who do I honor as Eagles defensive player of the week ? Does anyone even deserve it in a blowout loss of 37-19 to the Rams?

Swiss Cheese

Before I get to the defensive player of the week (If there is one), I want to address the defense for a second. What is going on in Jim Schwartz’s defense? They have more holes in it than swiss cheese. They’ve allowed 64 points in 2 games to start the season. The Rams bull-rushed the Eagles en route to 449 yards of total offense. 191 of those yards came on the ground, and 37 points were put on the scoreboard. Every time the offense started surging with momentum, the defense would trot back on the field and let up another big play. The times are bad in Jim Schwartz’s defense. The worst part of this defensive debacle is the response from players like Rodney McLeod on if they expected the hand they were dealt by the Rams.

The #Eagles defense was not surprised with anything the #Rams offense ran. Rodney McLeod “they ran exactly what we practiced”. That’s not a good sign. @SportsRadioWIP

— Howard Eskin (@howardeskin) September 20, 2020

Yikes…..

Defensive Player of the Week?

I bet you’re wondering who the player of the week was on the defensive side of the ball. I’m still wondering the same thing. It might come to me by the end of this article. Let’s breakdown the defense, and see if I can find a winner.

Defensive Line

The Eagles have the highest-paid D-Line group in the league. They should be causing havoc upfront. However, you’re more likely to find the Eagles defensive line on the side of a milk carton than on an NFL field these days. You would think getting Javon Hargrave back to make his Eagles debut would terrorize the Rams widely inept offensive line, but those hogs from LA held their own and dominated the Philly front four group. The only noise heard was from Brandon Graham, who got to the QB for a weak sack and caught Goff’s arm on a key play in the red zone. I guess we’ll throw his name in the hat for this week’s honor.

Linebacker

I have nothing to say here. Special teams journeymen shouldn’t be filling this position. See the picture below.

Defensive Backs

What can we say about this group? I’ll start by saying that Schwartz’s defensive schemes aren’t doing the cornerbacks any favors. I’ll never understand why Schwartz has the CB’s 10 yards off the ball. Jared Goff picked them apart all day long underneath with slants and quick outs. This is an ongoing issue that you can trace all the way back to the 2018 overtime loss to the Titans in Nashville. I wish Schwartz would get aggressive on the outside defensively.

The safeties were a non-factor. I didn’t even notice Rodney McLeod was on the field. Also, let’s say the Jalen Mills experiment at safety is off to a rocky start. He missed a sure tackle on Darrell Henderson’s 40-yard burst in the 4th quarter. Now, if we’re throwing a name into the hat, I’ll select Avonte Maddox. He did very well tackling on Sunday, as he registered eight solo tackles.

And the Winner is…

Do I have to pick a player of the week? In my honest opinion, the defense never showed up on Sunday, and NOBODY deserves to be graced with this honor. Will it be Nate Gerry? HAHA, No shot. Fletcher Cox? Rodney McLeod? Not a chance. You have to show up and PLAY on Sunday. So, if I must pick a defender for the Defensive Player of the week (Drumroll Please), the award goes to Avonte Maddox!

See ya next week, Eagles fans! Hopefully, we’ll be in much better spirits celebrating a win. Go Birds!