Desai explains why he's confident defense will fix issues

Desai explains why he's confident defense will fix issues originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Eagles’ defense has not been good recently but defensive coordinator Sean Desai is confident they will be able to turn things around.

On Wednesday, the Eagles’ somewhat embattled first-year coordinator was asked why he’s confident his unit will be able to fix some of the issues that have plagued them in recent weeks.

“I know the people in the building,” Desai said. “I know the culture we have, the staff that we have, the leaders we have on defense. Everybody is excited about the opportunity that we have ahead of us.

“The cool thing is we have every goal still to be reached ahead of us. We have to really lean into that. We learn from our past. The good and the bad in the past. Then we have to move forward and own all of our responsibilities and roles and go master them.”

While the Eagles were able to keep pace and beat the Bills in late November, the Eagles’ defense is coming off a rough three-game stretch. The Eagles in the last three weeks have given up 109 points (36.3) and 1,355 scrimmage yards (451.7).

That’s not great.

And if you break down their performances even further, there are some specific areas of concern:

Situational struggles

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni is always harping on situational football and his defense has been awful in a couple of key areas.

“I think it's just we have been inopportune,” Desai said. “We have not been able to get off the field when we need to get off the field. Yeah, in third down and situational football we got to be better, third down, red zone. Those have been our bugaboos. Not going to lie to you. That's been our Achilles' heel right now.”

The most obvious area the Eagles need to improve is on third downs. They have the worst third-down defense in the NFL, giving up conversions on 48.1% of their third-down snaps during the season. But it’s been way worse over the last three games, when they’ve given up conversions on 61.2% of their third-down snaps.

The Eagles have also been awful in the red zone. They have the NFL’s third-worst red zone defense, giving up touchdowns on 70.5% on trips inside their 20-yard line. In the last three weeks, the Eagles have given up touchdowns on 11 of 12 times they’ve let teams get into the red zone.

“I feel really good about where we're going with it,” Desai said. “Feel really good about our planning process towards it, and our players' mentality in approaching that situation, being able to put guys in spots to go win those.

“Again, we won a lot of third downs early in the year. We just haven't been able to do that this year. That's hurting us as defense. Increases our play counts. But it hurts us as a team. Our job as a defense is to get the ball back to the offense as fast as we can, and we haven't been able to do that effectively enough.”

Missing takeaways

Not only have the Eagles not forced punts but they haven’t forced any turnovers either, which means they’ve given up a ton of long drives.

The Eagles are 21st in the NFL in takeaways and 29th in interceptions. They have just six interceptions all season. The Eagles finally got a huge fumble recovery touchdown against the Cowboys but haven’t had an interception in the last two losses.

This season, Darius Slay and Reed Blankenship have 2 interceptions apiece, while James Bradberry and Kevin Byard each have 1. That’s it.

On Tuesday, Desai was asked if interceptions are a stat that luck plays into or if it’s a function of scheme.

“Probably a little bit of all of that,” Desai said. “In my experience, it’s probably a little bit of all of that. I think we've had some opportunities where we didn't capitalize, and some for sure scheme-related things where guys can be in better spots to go see the ball and make a play on the ball. Some balls have to tip your way and do that.

“So, I think it's a combination of all that and we have to keep leaning in and find ways to go pluck that ball in the air. We have done a good job in terms of tackling and forcing fumbles, and so we have been able to compensate that way. Obviously [Fletcher Cox] had a huge one in the game as wells. Been really good there. In terms of the interceptions, we have to keep learning in and finding ways to put our guys in positions to make plays.”

Last season, the Eagles were fifth in the NFL in total takeaways (27) and also fifth in interceptions (17). Safety C.J. Gardner Johnson had six interceptions last season, which is how many the Eagles as a team have through 13 games in 2023.

Play-calling

While Sirianni expressed confidence in Desai on Tuesday, Desai has taken ownership for some of these defensive problems.

Desai on Wednesday said it all starts with the play-calls. That means it all starts with him. And he hasn’t been good enough.

Earlier this week, a fan stood outside of the NovaCare Complex with a “Fire Sean Desai” sign. While that didn’t make the Eagles very happy, criticism for the defensive coordinator is certainly warranted. This defense might be a little talent deficient but Desai is no longer getting the most out of them like he did earlier this season.

So he understands that criticism.

“That's part of the job. There is always going to be criticism,” Desai said. “Go back every week of this season there was criticism based on different things that happened in the game. When you play a couple games the way we have, not the performance or the standard we want to, that's going to magnify and amplify. I get it. That's OK. Everybody, fans, you guys, everybody is entitled to their opinions. What we have to do is just lean into each other and really focus on our process and getting better.

“At the end of the day, from what we want to what everybody else wants in this city, is to win, right? And we found ways to win to get us to the point we are. We're not where we want to be. We're still growing to get where we want to be. We feel good about doing that and working together to achieve our goals still.”

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