Eagles' Tacking Circuits Pay Dividends: 'If You Emphasize Something, You've Got a Chance To Get It'

PHILADELPHIA – The Eagles have taken off defensively during a five-game winning streak that has the team atop the NFC East pending Thursday night’s marquee matchup with rookie star Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders.

Over the past five games, Vic Fangio’s unit has allowed only 1,004 total yards, a paltry 200.8 per game.

The Philadelphia defense has held the offensively challenged New York Giants to a minuscule 119 yards on Oct. 20 during a dominating 28-3 victory at MetLife Stadium and Dallas to 146 yards in 1 34-6 rout this past Sunday as the Eagles halted a six-year skid at AT&T Stadium.

That Giants game was the first time an NFL team had ever completed 17 or more passes and generated less than 50 net passing yards in NFL history and Week 10 against Dallas was No. 2.

Even acknowledging the context of modern teams throwing short so often and the randomness of 17 passes vs. 16, 18, or 19, it can be stipulated that Fangio’s defense has been locking people down to the tune of a No. 2 ranking in overall defense, No. 7 in DVOA, No. 5 in rushing defense, No. 3 in passing defense, No. 5 in points per game, and No. 3 in red-zone defense.

One of the main pistons that has begun firing is the unit’s tackling which has quickly ascended from bottom third in the league to No. 7 overall, according to Pro Football Focus.

That ascent began with an attentional to detail at practice when more emphasis was put into the tackling circuits post bye-week after a 2-2 start by Philadelphia.

“We’ve emphasized it in practice, which is always good,” Fangio said. “I had an old coach when I first started in pro ball who said, ‘If you emphasize something, you’ve got a chance to get it.’

“That’s what happened there. Plus we’ve played better overall, and the ball hasn’t been in the open field as much.”

Fangio was asked who the old coach was by Philadelphia Eagles on SI. It was his first pro coach Jim Mora Sr., who started Fangio as a quality control coach for USFL’s Philadelphia Stars 40 years ago.

Fangio ultimately followed Mora in the latter’s move to the NFL with the New Orleans Saints where the two spent nine years together. Fangio was also Mora’s defensive coordinator with the Indianapolis Colts.

“A lot,” is how Fangio described Mora’s influence on how he coaches.

“Jim is, to me, one of the most underrated great coaches in the league because he just never did much in the playoffs. Never quite had the overall team to go far, but a damn good coach and a guy that I’ve always looked up to,” Fangio said.

And a guy whose wisdom is still being used by Fangio, perhaps the NFL’s most well-regarded defensive mind, four decades after the seed was planted.

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