Eagles Defense Lacks An Identity

Would Assante Samuel even think about doing this?

Last week, Ndamukong Suh, a defensive tackle for the Detroit Lions, displayed a terrible act of sportsmanship when he bashed the head of his opponent into the ground, and then proceeded to stomp on his arm.  While the act was terrible on every level and Suh was eventually suspended for two games, one thing you have to admire about Suh is that he plays the game with an unbelievable amount of intensity.  Suh is like Chase Utley in that he only knows how to play the game at a 110% full motor on every play.  Again I'm not condoning Suh's actions, I'm merely high lighting how his intensity gives his team mates an identity on defense, and his full motor mentality is something that guys can easily rally around.

Another guy that plays the game of football with an extreme amount of intensity is former Eagle Brian Dawkins.  When the Eagles didn't resign Dawkins, they were left with a big void not only in terms of X's and O's, but they were also left without a real sense of direction on defense.  For years Dawkins loomed in the secondary, ready to "pop" anyone that dared to make a catch.  He also was relentless in getting after the quarterback and making key fumbles and interceptions.  He gave the Eagles a very intimidating, hard hitting identity that everybody on the team and around the league knew about.  Dawkins was also a terrific leader and he gave the guys around him a physical identity with which to play by, and anyone that failed to play up to Dawkins' standards would be force to answer directly to number 20 himself.  The Eagles management is usually pretty spot on in terms of determining when a player is done.  The Eagles were right with guys like Westbrook, McNabb, and even Jeremiah Trotter.  But the Eagles made a crucial mistake when they didn't resign Dawkins because they were left with a defense that is still to this day searching for an identity.

There is no getting around the fact that this current Eagles defense is extremely soft.  They don't tackle well, they don't blitz, and they certainly don't come through with bone jarring hits that can change the overall momentum of a football game.  The Eagles defense doesn't have a leader that they can turn to like a Brian Dawkins or a Ndamukong Suh that in affect remind the players of how they should be representing their football team.  Who on this current Eagles defense is a leader?  One could make the case that Cullen Jenkins gets it in terms of playing physical, but he is clearly not the overall "captain" of this defense.  And it's certainly not Assante Samuel because he doesn't know how to tackle.  The truth is the Eagles don't have that leader that guys can turn to for direction.  The Eagles don't have that leader with which other guys can model their game after.  The Eagles defense is just a bunch of guys doing their own thing, following the defensive scheme of a guy who clearly knows nothing about being a defensive coordinator in the NFL.

For next season it won't be enough to simply add a linebacker here or plug in another guy there and in a sense "patch" up the holes on this defense.  The Eagles tried that this past off season and it clearly failed miserably.  For the Eagles to be successful defensively in 2012 they will need massive changes.  First off they need to get rid of defensive coordinator Juan Castillo.  Under normal circumstances I would like to give a guy more than just a year to prove what he can do.  But these aren't normal circumstances and the window of opportunity that the Eagles currently have is fading fast.  The Eagles need to bring in a defensive coordinator that has a solid reputation as being a defensive coordinator at the NFL level.  The Eagles need a guy that players aren't going to second guess.  The Eagles need a defensive coordinator that brings with him a scheme that the players will fully buy into.  Some possibilities could include former Eagles defensive assistants Leslie Frazier and Steve Spagnuolo.  Both are currently head coaches for the Minnesota Vikings and St. Louis Rams respectively, but due to terrible seasons, they could find themselves unemployed at the end of the year.

In addition to adding a new defensive coordinator, the Eagles need to bring in a player who has intensity, character, and the ability to give the Eagles an identity.  Whether or not that player exists or is available via free agency, the draft, or a trade remains to be seen.

This defense is truly lost in every sense of the word.  They don't have a leader, they don't believe in the defensive scheme, and they overall don't know who they are.  In my mind the Eagles still have a very potent offense, so this off season is going to be crucial for the Eagles to make the necessary changes on defense.