Eagles Secondary Shows It Has Work to Do Despite Win

At one point, the Philadelphia Eagles actually led the St. Louis Rams 34-7 with 2:15 remaining in the third quarter on Sunday. The final score: 34-28, and only after a potential game-winning drive fell short around midfield.

To be fair, the Philadelphia defense wasn’t solely to blame for the comeback—the offense’s disappearing act put added pressure on the unit to ward off a frantic St. Louis attack. Nor are the Eagles even in a position to win the game without four sacks, three forced/recovered fumbles and a Cedric Thornton touchdown.

Nonetheless, the Rams did come back, and did so largely through the air, picking on a vulnerable Birds secondary that appears far from fixed after finishing dead last in the NFL in passing yards in 2013.

YR	YDS/GM	AVG	40+ PLAYS	RATING
2014	274.2	7.1	6	96.0
2013	289.8	7.3	9	84.0

Making just his third career start, St. Louis quarterback Austin Davis completed 29 of 49 passes for 375 yards and three touchdowns. While he was responsible for two of the club’s three fumbles lost, those plays' turnovers were largely the fault of his protection, or a credit to Philly’s pass rush depending on your perspective.

Meanwhile, Rams wide receivers Brian Quick and Kenny Britt combined for eight receptions, 155 yards and three touchdowns. Each score could be pinned on a member of the Eagles defensive backfield.

Not Malcolm Jenkins, of course, the free-agent addition from the New Orleans Saints who entered Week 5 tied for the league lead in interceptions. If anything, the sixth-year safety is the only every-down player in the secondary that has been a consistent performer all season.

Cornerbacks Cary Williams and Bradley Fletcher and safety Nate Allen, on the other hand, have been very beatable, to say the least.

Allen simply lost track of Quick in the back of the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown after Davis bought some time with his legs—not an egregious mistake, in all honesty. However, Allen has been on the hook for blown assignments that have led to several big gainers over the top, most notably an 81-yard pass to DeSean Jackson against Washington in Week 3.

Matt Rourke/Associated Press

Through five weeks, Philadelphia is tied for the NFL lead in 40-yard passes allowed with six. Last season, the league’s worst passing defense gave up only nine, good for 15th.

Allen’s mistakes aside, the corners haven’t been beyond reproach, either. Williams and Fletcher have been burned repeatedly, week after week. On Sunday, the respective touchdowns to Quick and Britt were similar in that neither Williams nor Fletcher ever got their heads turned around to locate the ball in the air.

Philadelphia entered Week 5 ranked 23rd against the pass in 2014. No doubt, it'll drop even further once the dust has settled.

PLAYER	SNAPS
Cary Williams	319
Bradley Fletcher	301
Brandon Boykin	95
Nolan Carroll	51

Far more troubling than the sheer production allowed is the efficiency of opposing quarterbacks. Last season, the unit limited signal-callers to a combined rating of 84.0, which was actually ranked the top half of all teams at 15th. After Davis posted a robust 103.7 on Sunday, the Eagles are up to 96.0 this season.

It’s not as if defensive coordinator Bill Davis doesn’t have any options, either.

Thus far, the Eagles have refused to regularly use Brandon Boykin in anything more than a slot specialist role. To be fair, Boykin is one of the best nickel cornerbacks in the league, but limited to that, he’s not even on the field unless offenses use three wide receivers.

The knock on Boykin is his size. At only 5’10”, he could face issues against the taller wide receivers in the NFL. That being said, Boykin has a great vertical leap, not to mention a nose for the football. He finished tied for second last season with six interceptions.

Philadelphia won all six games in which Boykin recorded a pick.

The Eagles also signed Nolan Carroll during the offseason. The Miami Dolphins free agent started 22 games over the past two seasons, and is coming off a tremendous training camp with the Birds. That being said, he’s mostly been limited to the dime package or brief stints on the outside over the first five games.

Carroll probably isn’t a huge upgrade over either Williams or Fletcher, in all honesty. That being said, as poorly as those two have played, it’s getting to the point where Davis has to try something.

Michael Perez/Associated Press

Again, it must be said that the Eagles had a huge lead, and the offense didn’t put the game away. Philly’s pass rush also seemed to vanish in the fourth quarter, which certainly didn’t do the secondary any favors. There was the additional issue of missing interior linebackers Mychal Kendricks the entire game and DeMeco Ryans for much of the second half.

There are only so many excuses to be made for a unit that was the same level of bad last year, though. The Eagles have a lot of holes to patch, and some they may be able to. The secondary, however, once again appears to be a lost cause.