Philadelphia Eagles Defense Always Great under Jim Johnson

Not being an Eagles fan, I did not have a profound knowledge of Jim Johnson, who died of cancer on Tuesday at the age of 68.

However, I do know that he was a great defensive coordinator whose innovative, blitz-heavy schemes made the NFL entertaining to watch for me and so many other fans.

You could tell that he was a one-of-a-kind coach just by listening to guys like Troy Aikman and John Madden gush about him on TV. His blitzes were a huge factor in the Eagles success in the NFC East.

And if you are stats geek, you could see it through his defenses always being at the top of the heap in most important categories since the new millennium.

For Andy Reid and Johnson’s 10 seasons together from 2000 to the end of last year (where they recorded seven trips to the playoffs, five NFC Championship appearances and one trip to the Super Bowl), the Eagles never really had a dynamic offense aside from Terrell Owens’ one full season with the team in 2004.

Sure, they have had a great quarterback in Donovan McNabb to go along with a major threat at running back in Brian Westbrook and the efficient Duce Staley.

Other than that though, the offense usually consisted of scrappy backs, receivers, tight ends who made plays but couldn’t change the momentum of a game with quick scores like Randy Moss and Adrian Peterson can.

Reid was usually able to overcome this with his solid offensive game plans that focused on a heavy dose of the run-and-short passes.

However, if the offense was struggling, he did not have to worry, for he always knew that Johnson’s defense would get fumbles and interceptions to keep the Eagles in every game.

Johnson would blitz a quarterback from all angles with little fear for giving up a big play, allowing for pretty much every player to have the opportunity to get a sack or two. This would put his linebackers and defensive backs in position to get picks with rushed throws throughout the course of a game.

We saw this against the Cowboys in December of 2006, where Johnson’s defense held Tony Romo and the Cowboys to seven points in a crucial Week 16 Christmas Day win at Dallas as the team rumbled into the playoffs.

And who can forget about the efforts of Johnson’s squad in last season’s victories over the Steelers and Cowboys in the regular season? Not to mention the postseason wins against the Vikings and Giants in January.

Brodrick Bunkley and the rest of the Eagles defense sacked Ben Roethlisberger nine times in their 15-6 win over the now-Super Bowl champion Steelers in Week Three to go along with three turnovers and a safety.

The Eagles defensive unit also forced Tony Romo, Tarvaris Jackson, and Eli Manning into crucial interceptions in its three consecutive wins from Week 17 to the NFC Divisional Championship game.

In those games, the Cowboys, Vikings, and Giants offenses managed a mere 29 points combined against Johnson’s D.

And last but not least, recall how Johnson’s schemes caused fits for the greatest NFL head coach in today’s era, Bill Belichick.

Johnson and his squad’s effort against the Patriots in the 2005 Super Bowl (where they held Tom Brady and company to 24 points in a respectable effort) were almost enough to bring the City of Brotherly Love a championship.

Two years later Johnson’s defense posed the most hassle for New England during its undefeated regular season, as they held them to 24 points and, at times, flustered Brady in what turned out to be a narrow 31-28 loss at Gillette Stadium in late-November.

I am certain that then-Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo (who was an assistant for Johnson in Philadelphia) probably benefited a great deal from using the tape of that game to put together his defensive game plan, which played a crucial role in helping the Giants beat the Pats in that year's infamous Super Bowl.

All in all, Johnson’s Eagles were second in the league in sacks with 390 from 2000-08. During that time, the man saw 26 of his players take the trip to Honolulu for the Pro Bowl.

It is a shame that such a great coach like Johnson never became an NFL head coach, though less-deserving assistants have gotten jobs in the past.

We will never know how great of a head coach he could have been, but based on the level of respect that players seemed to have for Johnson, it seems like he would have been a successful one.

And we will see that success in what we like to consider the best mark of a great coach, their coaching tree.

Johnson’s tree includes Ravens head coach John Harbaugh and Rams head coach Spagnuolo, along with Chargers defensive coordinator Ron Rivera and Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier.

Harbaugh has already become a respected coach in the NFL, while Spagnuolo and Rivera are considered top-notch DCs. Frazier is not too far behind them. 

Hopefully, the Pro Football Hall of Fame will someday recognize great longtime coordinators and give Johnson a shrine in Canton, as he and fellow DCs Dick LeBeau (who didn’t have much of a shot at winning as a head coach for the Bengals) and Monte Kiffin definitely shouldn’t be left out of football history.

It's not their fault their peak came at a time when owners and GM’s preferred youngsters like Jon Gruden and Mike Tomlin over wise coaching veterans.

Thanks for your schemes, Mr. Johnson; they provided me and fellow football fans everywhere with the certainty of an exciting Eagles game every Sunday.