The 2025 Philadelphia Eagles have 5 losses through 14 games.
They recently lost 3 games in a row, and during that span, some fans started feeling deja vu of the 2023 collapse all over again.
In 2023, the Eagles were white hot with a 10-1 record. Then, a quality organization, the San Francisco 49ers, came to Philly looking for revenge for the previous year’s NFC Championship game. San Fran got their revenge and then some, handing the Eagles their second loss of the season in a dominant 42-19 win.
This loss exposed the Eagles’ vulnerable, weak defense to the rest of the NFL. The following week, the Eagles traveled to Dallas, but the defense lost their balls in baggage claim. Philly lost to Dallas 33-13, and this L would cost someone their job. That someone was Defensive Coordinator Sean Desai, who was demoted, and Matt Patricia took over the defense.
Things did not get much better as Philly lost 4 of their last 5 games (including the playoffs). In total, the Eagles lost 6 out of 7 games down the stretch by a combined 90 points! This epic collapse resulted in Desai and Patricia being fired in the off-season.
During the off-season, HC Nick Sirianni and GM Howie Roseman made the decision to hire Coach Vic Fangio as the new Defensive Coordinator.
This change of defensive scheme would be the start of something very special, culminating in the Eagles beating the (back-to-back) defending champs (KC Chiefs) in Super Bowl 59 by a score of 40-22—a game in which the Eagles dominated on the defensive side of the ball.
In the 3rd quarter, the Eagles were up on KC 34-0. Fangio orchestrated a defense with a mixture of rookies (CB’s Q. Mitchell, C. DeJean, & DE J. Hunt), unproven guys (LB Z. Baun, & DT’s J. Davis, M.Williams), a young star in DT Jalen Carter, and vets (CB D. Slay, S C.J. Gardner-Johnson, & DE’s B. Graham, J. Sweat) to formulate a group that ended the year as the #1 defense. When the final whistle blew, they were on the mountain top as Super Bowl Champs. DeJean and Baun both picked off Mahomes (DeJean’s was a pick-6 on his birthday! and Baun’s resulted in a TD on the next play). Sweat, Williams, J. Davis, and Hunt combined to sack Mahomes 6 times, and the defense didn’t blitz a single time, only rushing 4!
Heading into the 2025 NFL season, the Eagles’ defense saw their share of turnover.
Sweat, Williams, and Slay left via free agency, CJGJ was traded away, and BG retired. Now this would have been hard for a less-seasoned Defensive Coordinator to handle, but not for Fangio, who has almost 50 years of coaching experience under his belt. Now, Philly still had a plethora of talented youth on D with the likes of Nolan Smith, Jalyx Hunt, Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter, Nakobe Dean, Reid Blankenship, Quinyon Mitchell, & Cooper DeJean. GM Howie Roseman signed veteran CB Adoree Jackso,n and then Howie drafted LB Jihaad Campbell, who filled in nicely before Dean returned from injury. S Andrew Mukuba, who was also drafted this year and has done a nice job replacing CJGJ. Mukuba got hurt in the 2nd Dallas game, but has since been replaced by Marcus Epps.
Before the trade deadline, Howie made moves for Slot CB Michael Carter III from the Jets, and more importantly, DE Jaelan Phillips from the Dolphins, who has had a very strong impact since coming to Philly. JP may only have one sack since being traded, but he’s continued to make his presence felt on the gridiron.
The defense has kept this 2025 Eagles team in a lot of games this season. The D has only played poorly on short weeks (Thursday night vs. the Giants and on Black Friday vs. the Bears).
And even in those two loses the team still had chances to climb back into those games.
Fangio is the type of coach who formulates his game plans, thinking outside the box and towards his players’ strengths.
Vic is open to making adjustments when it comes to the team his unit is facing. Fangio is so smart, given all his years of coaching, and has become a very crafty DC.
DE Jalyx Hunt earlier this week:
“He stays relevant because he’s good at his job (and) how he’s able to adapt with the times. He has a way he likes to play defense, but he doesn’t force players to convert their playing styles. He just uses our playing styles to the benefit of the entire defense.”
CB Jackson was quoted as saying:
“One reason Vic is still successful is that he’s been through a lot of different eras of football and coached a lot of great players, and when you have that, as well as the willingness to want to learn and the humility to put the right pieces around you that may be opposite of how you coach, you’re going to have success.”
Fangio’s players have lots of good things to say about their leader.
Cooper DeJean recently:
“The biggest thing with him (Fangio) is he listens. He listens to us and our input on the defense, certain calls, and what we like and what we don’t like. And I think that’s a big thing. And he’s always making sure everybody’s on top of their stuff, giving reminders in the meeting rooms. It seems like he’s having fun coaching us.”
So basically, when asked, “Is this team going to be a repeat of 2023?” the response (with words, coaching, and production) is No, No, No says the D!
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