This defense deserved a win. The Jaguars have a good offense, and they were always going to make some plays. But the Eagles repeatedly gave themselves a chance with outstanding individual performances, physical run defense, and some ridiculous goal-line stops. Once again, the other side of the ball let them down.
Being at this game was awesome. The goal-line stand in the first half happened right in front of where I was sitting, and it was easily my favorite moment of the afternoon. You could feel the intensity. There has been criticism of this defense for being a little soft this season, and some of that criticism has been fair. There was nothing soft about those reps. This group came to fight. It was so cool to see.
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This was not a flawless performance. But when your offense produces 10 yards over 15 plays across four consecutive second-half punts, you are asking an awful lot of the defense. They kept coming up with stops anyway. Let's get into it.
Defense
Jalyx Hunt was outstanding against the run in the first half. He was a big loss when he went down. The Jaguars use their tight ends heavily in the run game, which makes the edge defenders' ability to handle those blocks particularly important. Hunt does not just hold his ground here. He knocks the tight end backward and disrupts the play before the runner has a chance to get going.
This was not a one-off, either. Hunt did this multiple times before his injury, and the Jaguars struggled to establish their run game. The Jaguars finished with 36 yards on nine outside zone attempts, which is impressive considering this is a big part of the Jags' offense, and the Eagles have struggled with outside zone runs at times this year. Hunt's ability to defeat tight end blocks was a big part of that.
Jalen Carter. My word. When he is healthy and moving like this, he is as good as nearly any defensive player in the league. The frustrating part is getting this version of him consistently, because health has been such an issue. Here, the quickness and violence were back, and the Jaguars had very few answers in the first half.
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His club move is such a weapon. He can knock a blocker off balance and get past him before the protection can recover. But what I particularly loved was the finish. Carter was not content to just sack Trevor Lawrence. He went after the football. Carter was wrecking the offense.
Unfortunately, there were still some mistakes, and this was a really disappointing one. Both safeties came downhill, which left the Eagles without a deep defender to chase down Parker Washington. My assumption is that Michael Carter II should be playing as the single-high safety here, but I cannot be certain of the coverage. What we can say is that the defense ends up without the protection it needs behind the play.
Andrew Mukuba's aggression is also part of the issue. I have mentioned this repeatedly: he is very eager to come downhill, and play action is catching him out. Some of that comes from what the scheme asks him to do against the run. This scheme does ask safeties to fly downhill from depth vs. the run. But there has to be a balance, and I think Mukuba is too aggressive at times.
Despite that rep, I thought the secondary's communication was much better overall. The Jaguars used plenty of motion and switch releases to test how the Eagles pass routes off, and we didn't see the same frequency of coverage busts that have hurt this defense in recent weeks. This third-down stop by Quinyon Mitchell is a fantastic example of playing the situation.
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One of the biggest changes was the use of dime personnel on third-and-long. That means six defensive backs, with Jihaad Campbell coming off, Kenny Moore II entering at safety, and Carter II moving to the slot. I liked it. I generally like getting more defensive backs on the field in obvious passing situations, provided they can communicate and play together. There is no point adding coverage players if everyone ends up confused about their assignments. Here, the group looked comfortable, and I thought the package worked well until Carter II got injured.
How often do you see a defensive tackle loop all the way around the offensive tackle on a stunt and finish with a sack? Barely ever! The Jaguars actually pass this stunt off well. They do not leave Carter unblocked. He still gets around the corner because his athleticism and bend are ridiculous for an interior defensive lineman.
That is what makes this rep so special. The protection can handle the exchange and still lose because Carter can turn the corner like an edge defender. Then he attacks the ball again and forces another fumble. This is an individual player producing something beyond what the design alone creates. Phew.
Cooper DeJean's work against the run remains one of the biggest reasons I like him at nickel. DeJean's ability to get involved physically gives the Eagles something valuable there. I thought he was excellent in that part of the game.
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But I cannot move past Carter's club move on this rep. Look at how quickly he defeats the block and gets himself into the backfield. Defensive linemen that size are not supposed to move like that. When he is playing at this level, he changes what the entire front can accomplish. He was a joy to watch in the first half.
Alright, one more Carter play. I have to. This goal-line stand was right in front of me, and the intensity of this rep was absurd. He attacks the double team and breaks through it with such aggression that the offense cannot establish the push it needs. This is a dominant defensive lineman at his very best. He took off his helmet after the play and smiled at the fans. He knew he was playing unbelievably well! I could see it in his demeanor.
Hunt deserves a lot of credit, too. He crashes down and blows up the run, helping turn the backfield into a mess rather than allowing the Jaguars to build a clean path to the end zone. When the offense needs only a yard, that kind of immediate disruption is everything. This was an outstanding combination of interior penetration and edge play. This defense came to fight. Watching it happen live was so cool.
The coverage during these goal-line sequences was just as impressive as the work up front. The Eagles played some outstanding man coverage in the red zone, and the Jaguars repeatedly had nowhere to go with the football. Near the goal line, the offense has little space to work with, but the defense also has little room to recover from a mistake.
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These stats are a little skewed because the Eagles played man coverage heavily in the red zone, but against Cover 0 and Cover 1 combined, the Jaguars completed only one of 10 passes for 27 yards. That doesn't mean the Eagles should only play man coverage, of course. But in these situations, the execution was excellent. You cannot ask for much better coverage than this.
I had to include the fourth-down stop that finished this stand. Hunt again disrupts the run and forces the back outside, which gives Zack Baun the opportunity to make the play. Baun is ready for it. He breaks inside unblocked and gets into the backfield before the runner can escape. His quick reaction makes this look easy, but that is exactly what I like about it. He sees the play and goes.
After the criticism this group has received for its physicality, this sequence was a pretty emphatic response.
The use of dime personnel became more difficult in the second half when Carter II went off injured. Vic Fangio wanted to keep using dime, so Jonathan Jones came in instead. I understand wanting to retain a package that had worked, but the replacement still has to execute the assignment. Here, Brenton Strange badly beats Jones on third down.
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This is a difficult route to cover because Jones has no help. The Jaguars create a demanding individual matchup, and they deserve credit for exploiting it. Even so, you want your veteran defensive back to make this more competitive. Injuries have repeatedly forced the Eagles to change their personnel this season, and this was another example of a good idea becoming harder to execute when a player went down.
What a fantastic interception by Quinyon Mitchell. I have said that the thing holding him back from being recognized as a top-tier cornerback is his ball production, so it was awesome to see him finish this one. Lawrence underthrows it, and Mitchell takes advantage. You still have to locate the ball and catch it. He does both.
He was outrageously good again. He was consistently doing his job at a very high level against a strong receiving corps, including Parker Washington, who is excellent.
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Arnold Ebiketie also deserves some credit here. He had to play more in the second half after Hunt's injury, and I thought he showed up. Yes, he should beat a tight end as a pass rusher, but he did it here, and he had other impressive rushes later in the game.
Here is the coverage issue I still want to see fixed. Crossing routes against Cover 3 have been a problem for Fangio's defense for a while, and the Jaguars had a lot of success attacking it in this game. They had a ton of success against the Eagles' Cover 3 defense this week, and it was obvious on film.
I am not blaming Campbell for this particular play. This one is not his fault. More generally, though, I don't think he is especially effective as the middle hole defender because he doesn't consistently anticipate what is developing behind him.
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I prefer this pass defense in split-safety coverages. I think the Eagles were too worried about the run and played too much single-high. The Jaguars found success there, and the Eagles need a better answer to those crossing routes. They happened on more than one occasion.
Another outstanding goal-line coverage rep. This was such a big part of why the Eagles stayed in the game. The Jaguars could move the ball at times, but getting it into the end zone was a very different challenge. The coverage held up under pressure in the moments when there was no margin left.
And look at Ebiketie's rush. He fights through the chip and then works against the left tackle, rather than allowing that initial contact to take him out of the play. I thought this was one of his most impressive reps. The defense needed someone to contribute off the edge in the second half, and he gave them some good rushes.
Unfortunately, we have to end here. Sometimes a good offensive player makes an exceptional play. Washington is a stud, and this one-handed catch downfield against Tariq Woolen is unbelievable. Woolen's technique isn't great, so I don't want to pretend this is a perfect coverage rep. But he does recover into a decent position. Washington still makes the catch. This might be a touch harsh, but after the first 2 weeks of the season, when I was glowing with praise, I think Woolen has been a little underwhelming over the past 3 weeks. He has had mental and technical errors every week, which has resulted in good receivers beating him.
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That is part of playing a good offense. You can get close enough to contest the throw and still lose to an outstanding individual finish. The Eagles had things to clean up in this game, but I thought they played really well overall against a good offense. Washington makes a fantastic play in a huge moment. Sometimes you have to acknowledge that.
Final Thoughts
I came away from this game feeling much better about the defense. Both Jalen Carter and Quinyon Mitchell were dominant, and the goal-line stands were some of the most physical football this group has played all season. I liked the dime package, too, particularly the improved communication before the injuries forced more changes. There was plenty here to build on. It looked way more like a 'Fangio defense' than we have seen the past two weeks.
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This was a defense fighting hard against a good offense, losing players, and repeatedly being sent back onto the field because its own offense could not sustain anything. The Eagles cannot keep expecting this group to produce another goal-line stand or another turnover every time the game starts slipping away. They gave the offense enough chances to win. The offense wasted them. That is the theme of this one. Again.
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