With the Philadelphia Phillies doing absolutely nothing for the city of Philadelphia, it’s time all sports fans turn their heads to the Philadelphia Eagles as football is starting early for yet another year.
Every Eagles fan is expecting an up-tempo high paced explosive offense in 2014. Eagles fans have not a worry in the world about their offense; their defense is another story. To start the season off, the Eagles poor defense allowed 159 total points in the first 5 games (an average of 31.8 points per game) as Defensive Coordinator, Bill Davis, was next in line for a list of failed defensive coordinators for the Eagles.
Davis introduced a new 3-4 Defense last year which was difficult for players to learn. Inside Linebacker Mychal Kendricks said it wasn’t until about the middle of the season until everything started to come together. Kendricks told the Philadelphia Inquirer “Once you learn the language, the schemes, and the concepts, and you have that down, you can focus on the little things that make you better.” The same went for slot-corner Brandon Boykin, “Once you get settled and calmed down on the field, you are able to home in on the fundamentals and the techniques, and that’s kind of what I did in the offseason going into my second year. That’s why I got better.” It’s evident it took the players until the middle of the season to learn the new 3-4 scheme. After Week 5 in 2014, the Eagles D only allowed teams to score 21+ points in 3 of their final 11 games, which includes a streak of 6 straight weeks under 21 points.
A 2012 Draft Class dominated by the Eagles may become one of the best ever orchestrated by Andy Reid. Fletcher Cox, Mychal Kendricks, Vinny Curry and Brandon Boykin are experienced defenders in a defense they now understand. The Eagles only have one new starter in FS Michael Jenkins who is a major upgrade from last years Brian Dawkins. Brandon Boykin, an emerging star and potentially the best slot corner in the league, tied for 2nd with the most INT’s last season. “Everybody who is still here from that class is really legitimately contributing to us winning games,” Boykin said to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
We compared Boykin to the Top Corners in the NFL in their 2nd year stats. He’s in good company and his stats give us evidence.
| 2nd Year in the NFL | ||||
| Boykin | Sherman | Peterson | Revis | |
| INT | 6 | 8 | 7 | 5 |
| Total Tackles | 42 | 53 | 52 | 45 |
| Assists | 5 | 11 | 3 | 13 |
| Forced Fumbles | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Passes Defended | 16 | 24 | 16 | 16 |
The Eagles Defense gave up the most passing yards last year with 4,633 yards, the 4th most yards allowed at 6,304 yards, and the 16th most points allowed while only sacking the QB 37 times with 19 INT’s.
An average defense at best last season looks to become a Top 10 Defense in the NFL within the next 1-2 years. With another year of experience under their belt, look for the members of the 2012 Draft Class lead by a Philly Defense orchestrated by a specifically tailored scheme of Bill Davis and Chip Kelly.