Desai Explains Why He's Confident Defense Will Problem-solve

The Eagles' defense hasn't been good lately, but defensive coordinator Sean Desai is confident they can turn things around.

On Wednesday, the Eagles' somewhat embattled freshman coordinator was asked why he was confident his unit can solve 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 personnel we have, the leaders we have on defense. Everyone is happy about the opportunity that is presented to us.

“The cool thing is that we still have all the goals that we need to achieve. We really have to get involved in this. We learn from our past. The good and the bad in the past. Then we must move forward and assume all our responsibilities and roles and master them.”

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

Thats not cool.

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

Situational fights

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni always emphasizes situational football and his defense has been terrible in some key areas.

“I think it’s just because we were inappropriate,” Desai said. “We weren't able to get off the field when we had to. Yes, we have to be better at third down and situational football, third down, red zone. These were our bogeymen. I won't lie to you. That’s our Achilles heel right now.”

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

The Eagles were also terrible in the red zone. They have the third-worst red zone defense in the NFL, allowing touchdowns at a rate of 70.5% on plays inside their 20-yard line. Over the past three weeks, the Eagles have given up touchdowns 11 of the 12 times they let teams enter the red zone.

“I feel really good about where we’re going with this,” Desai said. “I feel really good about our planning process and the mentality of our players to approach this situation and put the guys in position to win it.

“Again, we gained a lot of third downs at the beginning of the year. We simply didn't manage to do that this year. That hurts us as a defense. Increases our number of games. But it hurts us as a team. Our job as a defense is to get the ball back to the offense as quickly as possible, and we didn’t do that effectively enough.”

Missing takeaways

Not only did the Eagles not force any punts, they also didn't force any turnovers, meaning they gave up a lot of long drives.

The Eagles rank 21st in the NFL in takeaways and 29th in interceptions. They only have six interceptions all season. The Eagles finally managed a huge fumble recovery touchdown against the Cowboys, but didn't have an interception in their last two losses.

This season, Darius Slay and Reed Blankenship each have two interceptions, while James Bradberry and Kevin Byard have one each. That's it.

On Tuesday, Desai was asked if interceptions are a statistic that depends on luck or if they are a function of the plan.

“Probably a little bit of all of that,” Desai said. “In my experience, it’s probably a small part of it. I think we had some opportunities that we didn't take advantage of, and some were certainly things that had to do with the plan where guys could be in better spots to see the ball and make plays with the ball . Some balls need to tip your way and you will.

“I think it's a combination of all of that and we have to keep leaning forward and finding ways to put the ball in the air. We did a good job of managing and forcing fumbles and were able to compensate that way. Apparently [Fletcher Cox] also had a big one in play. Was really good there. As far as interceptions go, we have to continue to learn and find ways to put our guys in a position to make plays.”

Last season, the Eagles ranked fifth in the NFL in total takeaways (27) and also fifth in interceptions (17). Safety CJ Gardner Johnson had six interceptions last season, the most the Eagles have as a team in 13 games in 2023.

Play calling

While Sirianni expressed confidence in Desai on Tuesday, Desai has taken responsibility for some of those defensive issues.

Desai said Wednesday that it all starts with the play calls. This means that everything starts with him. And he wasn't good enough.

Earlier this week, a fan stood outside the NovaCare Complex with a “Fire Sean Desai” sign. Even if this didn't make the Eagles very happy, the criticism of the defensive coordinator is certainly justified. This defense may be a little lacking in talent, but Desai is no longer getting the best out of it like he did earlier this season.

Therefore he understands this criticism.

“It’s part of the job. There will always be criticism,” said Desai. “Every week this season there has been criticism based on different events in the game. If you play a few games the way we did, and not at the performance or standard that we want, it will be even bigger and more intense. I get it. That's fine. Everyone, fans, people, everyone is entitled to their opinion. We just have to lean on each other and really focus on our process and getting better.

“At the end of the day, what we want is about winning what everyone else in this city wants, right? And we found ways to win and get to the point where we are. We are not where we want to be. We are still growing to get to where we want to be. We feel good about it and continue to work together to achieve our goals.”