The 2023 season started with a roar.
A 10-1 roar and the echoes of a Super Bowl Revenge. It finished with a whimper.
The Eagles produced a 1-6 monumental collapse that rivaled any poor finish in Eagles history.
Lots of reasons for their collapse that ended unceremoniously in Tampa in a playoff whipping by the Bucs
The questions that followed that ugly defeat, moments after the sudden death loss have travelled and were heard for seven straight months.
Like a stench that would never go away. The dogged questions could be summed up in one word; WHY??
As much as the offense could never find a rhythm or a consistency during the 1-6 spirals, the defense was worse. And it needed to be fixed.
To me the biggest reason for the second half flop was the play of the secondary. I have often been reminded that when the secondary blows assignments and or misses tackles it leads to touchdowns.
The Eagles surrendered 35 passing TD's in 2023; second worse only to the Commanders 39. It was a stain that can never be removed.
The tackling or lack thereof is strictly a mindset and has to be drilled everyday by every member of the defense. One can easily just put it on a first year defensive coordinator, Sean Desai. But that’s not fair. Every member of the defense has had to look in the mirror and see how they very much contributed to the touchdowns surrendered.
Many of those players are no longer here.
So Howie Roseman went on a free agent spending spree to shore up weak spots and strengthen their depth. I followed in the draft when somehow they had a crack at the very first defensive back to be chosen.
Toledo's Quinyon Mitchell was drafted in late April to begin the rebuilding of the Birds secondary.
After that pick was celebrated, the Eagles traded assets to move up and select Iowa's, Cooper DeJean. A big skilled all around secondary player that tackled well, took the ball away and showed real promise to help out the offense with his punt return skills.
They also added a former starting CB of the Colts, Isaiah Rodgers. These are a huge upgrade in talent to help out the ailing secondary.
But talent is never enough.
The addition of the always feisty and never satisfied, Vic Fangio to come aboard and coordinate all these pieces
Vic was here with the Birds as a consultant in 2022 when the Birds defense stifled opponents and harassed QB's as they set a team record with 70 sacks.
When DC Jonathan Gannon departed after the SB57 loss to become the head coach of the Cardinals, many assumed that Vic would slide into the role left by the void of Gannon's departure. For some reason Vic headed to Miami to work with the Dolphins.
The injury bug crushed the Phins in the season's second half and Fangio became expendable
I first knew about Fangio when I was playing LG for the Birds in 1992. We went to New Orleans to play the Saints in a Wildcard Showdown on January 3rd, 1993. He was the linebackers coach of the FAMED Dome Patrol.
They were very good. It included HOFer Ricky Jackson, Patrick Swilling and Sam Mills. They got beat by Randle Cunningham and CO. that day but I have been following Vic ever since.
On two different occasions his defenses have led the NFL in takeaways. A stat that could propel the Birds into a deep playoff run if they could do that for a 3rd time in Vic’s long career.
He is a northeast Pennsylvania guy who has his children and grandkids nearby. He has said that this is his last coaching stop. He has never been able to coach a team and feel that feeling of watching confetti falling after a Super Bowl Win.
Nothing could make Vic feel more successful than finishing his career with a Lombardi Trophy. The time is now. For Fangio, the Birds and their crazy fan base. It is all possible.
Especially that includes one of the most talented rosters the Birds have ever assembled. *
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