Eagles Win Has Many Heroes, But 1 Villian

Sitting at 2-1 after their victory over the Saints on Sunday, the Eagles find themselves very beaten up (but not broken) as they prepare for one last game in Tampa Bay before the early bye week. The positives far outweigh the negative, but a looming presence may actually be holding them back. Let’s start with all the positive thoughts!

All summer when discussing the Vic Fangio defense I was convinced of just one thing. They would be much better in November than they would be in September. Wins over the Packers and the Saints, two potential division winners in the NFC, could prove huge come January in the playoff seeding race.

What is clear is that the defense is solid enough to give this team a chance to win every week. They won’t be a Top 5 type dominant unit that thrills a fan base, but they haven’t been the reason the Eagles lost yet. Remember, if Nick Sirianni chooses to kick a field goal in two different opportunities vs Atlanta they probably give up just 15 points. The defense is at the very least intriguing!

Jalen Carter was unblockable for the majority of the afternoon. He was shedding double teams, disrupting Derek Carr and dominating the Vikings offensive line.

Jordan Davis looked like the guy he has been from September through November the last two seasons. He was instinctive and physical. His gas tank didn’t drop off either. Nakobe Dean was better than solid and only had a few rocky plays. Those three becoming impact starters is a must if you have dreams of a playoff run.

Quinyon Mitchell can’t be crowned a prince just yet, but he certainly looks like he belongs. Reed Blankenship comes up with another interception at a critical moment to seal the victory. Darius Slay might be your MVP though. He continues to play some of his best ball as an Eagle even at his advanced age, but his leadership is evident. The other players talk about it and Slay continues to impress.

He followed the script of the Eagles first game victory vs Green Bay, look rough early and deliver big plays down the stretch. Hurts continues to make poor decisions. His ball protection is the worst in the NFL since the beginning of 2023. The Super Bowl 57 performance is a distant memory. It doesn’t even seem like he’s the same player. When you don’t have confidence that your quarterback is smart under pressure, that’s a problem. You can compliment the good and point out that the bad is just as prominent.

Winning despite your Head Coach is the headline that defines the start of this season. Nick Sirianni cost them a game vs the Falcons with his over aggressiveness and it continued in the Saints game. His inability to realize that the defense needs a reward of taking the easy points escapes him.

For the second consecutive week, he stresses his own defense by not supporting them. He passes on easy field goals just to attempt 60-yarders. Worst of all, he spiked the football. Nick can’t read the room. It’s not the time for him to brag, especially on himself. He claims that he listens, but unfortunately, he never learns.

In terms of All-Time Great Philadelphia Eagles, we can all run down the list of who we like at each position. Donovan McNabb, Brian Dawkins, Reggie White, Chuck Bednarik. The Eagles have 25 Hall Of Famers, so if you just put them all on a team it would make up almost half a All-Time Roster. Those names are easy to come up with. But what about guys who don't get that level of love? Guys who maybe got forgotten or overlooked in their time here. Guys like Jeremy Maclin, Andy Harmon, and Chad Lewis. The players where if someone brings them up, we will all go, "Oh yea, that guy was great."

Some just got overshadowed because they played next to guys like Reggie White or Brian Dawkins. Others may have played positions that just don't get enough love to begin with. And some are just guys who just did their job, but never got the love. But all of them are guys we tend to overlook. So I figured it is time to give those guys some love for once.

I did my best to build out a roster on both offense, defense, and special teams of these guys who deserve more love. What QB did we not appreciate enough? Which WR deserves more love? What CB do Eagles fans overlook? I picked who I think are the most underappreciated at every position.

You'll notice they are all from the 90s and 2000s because that is what I know. Bill Bradley may be a great CB we underrate, but his career began and ended way before I was born. So I apologize for leaving him and other guys from that era, or earlier eras, off the list. And obviously, some of them are actually great players. Underrated is a vague term, but in one way or the other, all of these are underappreciated.

In the era between Randall Cunningham and Donovan McNabb there was a lot of bad QB play in Philly. Only one guy, Rodney Peete, stands out as doing anything special. Peete was by no means great, but compared to what the Eagles were dealing with outside of him, he was a Star. Peete went 9-3 with the eagles in 1995 after replacing Randall Cunningham, and even beat the Lions in the playoffs in a game where he put up over 450 total yards.

Playing with Desean Jackson took some of the shine away from Maclin. But 4,771 yards, 36 TDs, and 343 catches in 5 seasons is pretty damn good. And the one year he had a chance to be the WR1 with the Eagles he put up 1,381 yards. He showed up in the playoffs too, even if the team around him didn’t. In his 2 playoff games here he had 219 yards, a TD, and 9 First Downs. Maclin was very good for the Eagles.

Fryar’s time with the Eagles was short, and came at the end of his career. But he was great those first two years. 1,195 yards the first season, and then 1,316 the second, with 18 TDs between them. What makes it more impressive is who he had throwing to him. Mark Rypien, Rodney Peete, Bobby Hoying, Ty Detmer, and Koy Detmer. Peete is the only one of the bunch with any talent.

Buck lived in the shadow of Duce Staley and then B West. Which is a trend you will see a lot on this list. But Buck was as good of a backup RB as you could ask for. In 5 seasons, he averaged 4.5 yards a carry. He unfortunately missed a lot of time, 3 out of 4 years in the mid 2000s. But when he was healthy he was the perfect complement to B West. 2,155 yards and 21 TDs from a backup across 5 seasons is nothing to sneeze at.

FB barely exists in the NFL anymore. But I had to give some love to Leonard Weaver. I am the only person I know who still has a Leonard Weaver Jersey, or even had one to begin with. He only spent one year here, but in that year he was an All-Pro. He was very effective as a second back behind LeSean McCoy. Maybe he could have repeated it a second year if it wasn't for a career ending injury in the first game of the following season.

The Eagles have had a lot of great Tight Ends. Dallas Goedert, Zach Ertz, Keith Jackson. You can even throw Brent Celek in there who was maybe not as great as those 3 but was an exceptional Tight End for years. But Chad Lewis is one name that goes under the radar a bit. He was a Pro Bowler for 3 straight seasons at one point. Was he a Super Star? No. But he was a solid and reliable target for Donovan McNabb.

Big V! Nick Foles gets all the credit for filling in as a backup and playing great in the Super Bowl, but Big V fits that bill too. Jason Peters was a Hall of Fame LT. And him going down to be replaced by a backup was a big issue at the time. Thankfully Big V filled his shoes near perfectly. Great enough to get himself a big deal elsewhere. And he is still playing well for the Lions after moving inside.

Mathis was sneakily great during his time here. Almost every Offensive Guard is under appreciated, just because it’s a position that rarely ever gets any shine. But Mathis played at an All-Pro Level for his 4 seasons here. Playing in between Jason Kelce and Jason Peters helps a lot. But Mathis was great in his own right.

Jackson was a mainstay at Center for the Eagles for several years before Jason Kelce came onto the scene. You can tell when an O-Lineman does their job well when you don’t hear much about them. And we did not hear from Jackson much at all during that time. He was no Jason Kelce, but few are. Still, he was reliable for a long period of time.

Herremans also spent time at RT, but for most of his 10-year career with the Eagles, he played either Right or Left Guard. You don’t keep a job for 10 years not playing well. But like we said with Mathis, Guards just don’t get much love. Herremans does deserve lots of love though.

Picking an underrated Tackle for the Eagles is hard, because for so long they have had long term stability there. And we can’t exactly call Runyan, Peters, or Johnson underrated. Brooks fits the bill though. Was he a Hall of Famer like some of the others guys who have played Tackle here? No. But he was a solid reliable tackle.

Playing on the same team as Reggie White can make it hard to get noticed as a pass rusher. And while Clyde was not as great as Reggie, few are, he is still a borderline Hall of Famer. Clyde is currently 3rd on the Eagles All-Time Sack list, behind Reggie White and Trent Cole. Brandon Graham has a chance to pass him with 4 more sacks, but no other active player is even close. He is 31st on the All-Time Sack list with 121.5. Ahead of JJ Watt and Aaron Donald.

Being A DT who is not a pass rusher tends to get you a bit overlooked. But every team needs a run stuffing DT. Patterson fit that role for 8 years with the Eagles. While he did not rack up a lot sacks, he still found ways to be disruptive, slow down the run, and help other guys pile up stats.

Like Clyde, Harmon gets overshadowed by what Reggie White was doing. But 39.5 sacks in 4 seasons as a starter is fantastic. Especially for a Defensive tackle. That isn’t even taking into account how great he was against the run.

Yes I know. He was not a good draft pick. Mamula never lived up to his draft status, especially considering Warren Sapp went after him. But Mamula was still a decent player. 31.5 sacks in 5 seasons is not bad. People call him a bust because of where he was picked. But he was still a decent player and not worthy of the hate he gets. People put him among the worst busts in Eagles history. But there are waaaay worse busts. Look no further than Danny Watkins to see what a real bust looks like.

I think we are all learning this year how underrated TJ Edwards is. He was no star, but the downgrade from him to what they have this year is clear. He was solid in coverage, a good tackler, and always seemed to be in the right place. Linebacker has been a big issue for them this year, but it never was with TJ Edwards on the field. I myself am guilty of overlooking his loss and saying it wouldn’t be a big deal.

There are only two linebackers in NFL history with 25 interceptions and 35 sacks. Ray Lewis, and William Thomas. Thomas never gets talked about here. But he played Linebacker for the Eagles for 9 years and put up great production for a LB in almost every one of them. There were so many great players on that early 90s defense that Thomas gets overlooked. But he was a genuinely great player.

We were spoiled with Secondary talent in the Jim Johnson era. Brian Dawkins at Safety, Lito Sheppard at corner. Sheldon Brown almost gets over looked. But in terms of being a shutdown corner, Brown may have been better than Lito. And of course who could forget the big hit he put on Reggie Bush.

Okay, Eagles fans don’t underrate Allen. But I put him here for one reason, because he is somehow not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He is 21st all time in interceptions, more than Deion Sanders and Champ Bailey. Allen was a force, and part of one of the best defenses ever. He 100% deserves a spot in the Hall of Fame. And until he is in there, he is underrated and eligible for this list.

Like Sheldon Brown, Bobby Taylor gets overshadowed by who he played with. He also had Brian Dawkins at Safety, and then he had Troy Vincent across the field at the other CB spot. You could argue that 2002 CB tandem of Vincent and Taylor was better than Lito and Brown. Both are great. Taylor had 19 interceptions in 109 games for the Eagles.

Like with Clyde Simmons, Mikkel was overshadowed by Brian Dawkins. No one is going to notice the other Safety when one of the best of all time is lined up next to you. He spent two years playing alongside Dawkins before Joe Banner let one of the best players in franchise history leave for no reason. And he was as solid as they come in that role, and continued to play at a high level even after Dawkins was allowed to leave.

Malcolm Jenkins gets all the attention as the Safety on that Super Bowl team, But McLeod was very good as well. 11 interceptions, and 4 forced fumbles is solid production And outside of making those plays, he quietly was very reliable in coverage, holding opposing QBs to a QB Rating under 60 in multiple seasons during his time here.

Cody Parkey is not on this list just because of what he did with the Eagles. Though he was great his rookie year, and set a record for most points scored by a rookie. But then he was bad his 2nd year and got replaced. Why I put him on the list is for what he did against the Eagles. The double-doink FG. Thank you Cody.

Almost every good punter is under rated, because no one ever gives punters much credit. But in terms of just not getting enough credit for being a good punter, I went with Jeff Feagles. Feagles could boot the ball. He punted a ball 77 yards once. But he also had finesse, pinning teams behind the 20 32.4% of the time with the Eagles. Oh, and like Parkey, he was also part of a play that benefited the Eagles when he was on a different team. Thank you for punting it to Brian Westbrook Jeff.