Is Eagles Defense Better Equipped Against Patrick Mahomes in Super Bowl LIX?
Red and yellow confetti fell to the ground as the Philadelphia Eagles walked off the field at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs had moved the ball at will on the Eagles defense during the second half to spoil a potential parade on Broad Street.
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Jonathan Gannon led the Eagles to a third-place finish in total defense during the 2022 season. His scheme, however, was no match against Andy Reid sending the signals to the best quarterback in the NFL.
The Chiefs and the Eagles will clash again two years later in Super Bowl LIX. Can Vic Fangio and the Eagles defense put up a better fight against Patrick Mahomes?
Eagles Defense Under Vic Fangio
Howie Roseman hired Gannon and Sean Desai to run variations of the Fangio scheme during the first three seasons of Nick Sirianni’s tenure as head coach. The originator of the scheme finally ended up with the Eagles in 2024.
The long-time NFL defensive coordinator returned to the city where he first coached professionally at Veterans Stadium with the Philadelphia Stars of the USFL during the 1980s.
Fangio pleased the football traditionalists this season by leading the Eagles defense to the NFL’s top spot in yards per game and the second rank in scoring defense. He pleased the stat crunchers by helping the unit to a number one finish in expected points added (EPA) and DVOA and just miniscule percentage points away from the lowest opponent offensive success rate.
The Eagles limited explosive plays as well as any team in 2024, a key goal of the Fangio scheme. They allowed fewer pass plays of 20+ yards than any other NFL defense and the third fewest rushes of 20+ yards.
Fangio’s deployment of safeties Reed Blankenship and C.J. Gardner-Johnson has helped keep opposing offenses from taking the top off the defense.
His pass rushing schemes confused quarterbacks just as they have throughout his 24 seasons as an NFL coordinator and head coach. He has successfully disguised coverages before the snap with seemingly simple formations of four linemen and a back seven that turn complicated when edge rushers drop into coverage.
Fangio is able to adjust some of the same concepts with varying personnel packages. The Eagles have used three tackles and two edge rushers as a five-man front frequently this season.
The East Stroudsburg University alum also instilled an attitude to a defense that struggled in 2023. He pushed Jalen Carter and other key contributors to practice harder and carry a heavier workload with a higher percentage of defensive snaps.
He utilized extra practice time, especially in pads, to implement his complex terminology to help the Eagles progress on defense throughout the season.
Eagles Defense Under Jonathan Gannon
Mahomes torched the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII after the 2022 season, especially in the second half.
While he finished with only 182 passing yards, he led three touchdown drives against a defense that finished third in yards allowed and seventh in points per game allowed during the regular season.
A fourth would’ve actually been a favorable alternative for Philadelphia, but the Chiefs instead eliminated time for a legitimate final possession for Jalen Hurts by milking the clock and kicking a game-winning field goal.
Why was Gannon’s unit so ineffective in the second half of the biggest game of his tenure with Philadelphia?
Their game plans during the regular season exploited teams who made critical mistakes. They finished tied for fourth in the NFL in takeaways and set a franchise record with 70 sacks. The splash plays accentuated a key part of the Vic Fangio scheme, but the unit ultimately wasn’t equipped to stop an elite quarterback.
Most NFL defenses aren’t good enough to stop the quarterback who could very well retire as the greatest football player in history. Is that an explanation for the hapless second half performance?
Sheil Kapadia dug up the numbers after the devastating loss. Mahomes executed in Super Bowl LVII with a higher success rate than 93% of his previous career starts. Kansas City’s EPA per drive ranked in the 97th percentile of offensive games for the entire 2022 season (including playoff games).
Drawing from the previous 400 Eagles games dating back to the 2000 season, the defensive performance ranked 395th in opponent success rate and 391st in opponent EPA per drive.
It doesn’t sound like a Super Bowl unit that finished third in the league during the regular season.
The uninspiring performance reflected poorly on a defense that benefitted from a strong offense that controlled the ball well and enabled a talented pass rush to tee off on opposing quarterbacks in favorable game situations on their way to a 14-3 record.
After two playoff victories against unthreatening opposing quarterbacks, the inefficiencies of Gannon’s defense against top quarterbacks capable of exploiting soft coverage caught up to them at the worst possible time.
Will the same problem rear its ugly head two years later against a defensive unit looking to limit explosive plays before pouncing on an opponent’s mistakes?
Patrick Mahomes in Another Super Bowl
The Eagles-Chiefs matchup will reveal a lot about the modern NFL. The analysts praise Patrick Mahomes as the Michael Jordan of the NFL, but can the Eagles defense stop him from winning his fourth Super Bowl ring?
NFL rules unquestionably favor offensive units (especially the ones with high-profile quarterbacks). Vic Fangio has coached against the Chiefs eight times with Mahomes starting under center. His teams are 0-8.
However, the 2024 Eagles might be Fangio’s best defense in 21 seasons as a defensive coordinator and three more as a head coach.
Standout performances in the secondary from Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean present an alternative to a major weakness of Gannon’s approach. The two rookie cornerbacks, along with veteran Darius Slay, play much tighter and more effective coverage than the secondary that couldn’t find a way to make a game-changing stop against the Chiefs two years ago.
Arguably the most influential defensive coordinator of the modern NFL has a chance to prove his scheme can hold up against a seemingly inevitable outcome of another Lombardi Trophy in Mahomes’ hands.
Does the top-ranked Eagles defense have enough fire to reverse the heartbreaking outcome two years later?
