PHILADELPHIA – You look at the numbers and the players attached to them, and you ask yourself how in the world can a Philadelphia Eagles defense, mired in crisis, stop them?
The simple answer is they cannot, though the defense will try when they travel to Tampa to play the Buccaneers in the wild-card game on Monday night.
Tampa receiver Mike Evans has had yet another 1,000-yard season, giving him that milestone in each of his first 10 seasons in the league, and fellow receiver Chris Godwin just posted his third straight 1,000-yard and fifth overall.
Running back Rachaad White ranked fourth among those at his position with a career-high 1,539 scrimmage yards and a career-high 64 catches.
Then there’s quarterback Baker Mayfield who had a career-high in completions (364), passing yards (4,044), and touchdown passes (28).
The Eagles’ defense did a nice job holding all of the above in check in what was probably their best win of the season, beating these same Bucs, 25-11, in Week 3. It was the team’s largest margin of victory all year.
So much has changed, starting with Nick Sirianni’s decision to Matt Patricia as the defensive play-caller, a move announced on the same day, Dec. 10, that the Eagles qualified for the playoffs.
Since then the defense has hit the skids. The Eagles are 1-3 since Patricia relieved Sean Desai of his play-calling duties, and none of it has been pretty.
Generally, though, the defense took a big step backward this year.
Take a look at how far it tumbled:
