On Sunday afternoon down at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, it appeared as if the clock struck midnight on the Philadelphia Eagles’ Cinderella secondary.
After keeping star quarterbacks Tom Brady and Russell Wilson in check over the previous two games, the Eagles’ defense was torched by Dolphins journeyman quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.
The 15-year vet, who also had success against this same Eagles’ secondary last season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, completed 69-percent of his passes for 365 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception.
The Eagles’ defense also allowed the Dolphins to score a touchdown on five-straight possessions.
Fitzpatrick was picking apart an improving Eagles pass defense with the likes of wide receiver DeVante Parker and tight end Mike Giescki.
Parker had a career day with seven receptions (10 targets) for 159 yards and two touchdowns. The former first-round pick made a leaping touchdown reception over Eagles cornerback Ronald Darby in the first quarter and was an overall matchup problem for Philadelphia.
Gesicki, however, gave Eagles cornerback Jalen Mills issues en route to a five-reception, 79-yard, and a touchdown performance.
According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Mills allowed six receptions for 102 yards, two touchdowns, and 144.4 passer rating against Dolphins wide receiver.
Darby struggled too, giving up four receptions for 101 yards, a touchdown, and a 109.7 passer rating. The former Florida State defensive back also had an interception to begin the game, but that did not matter in the grand scheme of things.
That being said, it seemed as if the Eagles’ pass defense saw their shadow-like Punxsutawney Phil and decided to play six weeks of bad defense.
If you do not remember, the Philadelphia Eagles defense was in bad shape throughout the first six weeks of the season. Despite the run defense shutting down opposing teams’ running backs, sometimes holding them to under 50 rushing yards. It was the pass defense, which was getting lit up by opposing wide receivers weekly.
In their first six games, Philadelphia’s pass defense allowed six wide receivers to surpass the 100-yard receiving mark. Also, during that same time, opposing quarterbacks were completing 64.2 percent of their passes.
However, there was only so much that Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz could do without Ronald Darby and Jalen Mills. Schwartz tried blitzing more in certain situations to give his secondary some help, but that did not work most times.
Without Mills and Darby, the Eagles leaned on the cornerback combination of Rasul Douglas, Avonte Maddox, Sidney Jones, Orlando Scandrick, and Craig James.
Douglas and Jones, in particular, tried to hold down things on the outside. But they were outmatched by the wide receivers they were covering and also not put in great situations to succeed.
With all that being said, where does the Eagles’ pass defense go from here?
Will play like how they did against the Seahawks and Patriots over these last four games? Or will they return to their old form, which reared its ugly head last Sunday?
It’s tough to say, but if they do not improve, then the Eagles’ chances to make the playoffs will be a long-forgotten afterthought.
