December 16, 2025

Eagles odds and ends: Birds defense back to Super Bowl caliber?

Since coming out of the bye week, the Eagles' defense has ranked among the NFL's best in several major categories. Can it carry the team to another Super Bowl?

By Geoff Mosher
PhillyVoice Staff

Bill Streicher/Imagn Images

Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Zack Baun (53) celebrates with cornerback Adoree' Jackson (8) after an interception during the third quarter at Lincoln Financial Field against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Last year, the Eagles rode the coattails of their No. 1-ranked defense and vicious run game to a Super Bowl.

This year, the run game just hasn't been the same, and the defense – a group that lost half its starters to free agency and trades – needed time to come together, which is why the Eagles have been more inconsistent and, at the moment, why they're looking up at other teams in the NFC at 9-5.

But if there's reason for optimism that the Eagles can make a deep playoff run, or even get back to the Super Bowl, it's that the defense is starting to look championship-caliber again.

It's not just that they whitewashed the Raiders on Sunday in a 31-0 shutout, holding Las Vegas to a comically low 75 total yards. For the most part, since the Eagles emerged from the bye week, they've ranked among the NFL's best defenses.

Outside of some slippage in the second half against the Cowboys and a clunker in run defense against the Bears on Black Friday, the Eagles' defense has carried the load for an offense that's been wholly inconsistent.

It might not be as stiff and stout as last year's team that ended the year with No. 1 rankings, but the Eagles' defense has shown a bend-don't-break mentality in their past five games. Although they rank 15th in yards allowed since their bye week, here are other major defensive categories where the Eagles are among the NFL leaders, per pro-football-reference:

Category	Stat	Rank
Points Allowed	86	2nd
QB Rating Vs.	67.2	2nd
Opp Completion %	51.5	1st
Sacks	19	4th
Pass Yards Allowed	1,027	8th
Takeaways	10	6th
Yards Allowed/Play	4.66	7th
QB Hurries	29	3rd
QB Knockdowns	26	2nd

You can argue the Eagles got fat against two very weak offensive lines in the past two weeks, with both the Chargers and Raiders missing several starters up front. But this stretch of games also includes the Weeks 10 and 11 showdowns against the Packers and Lions, two of the NFL's better offensive teams.

The Lions lead the NFL in points per game (30.6) while the Packers are 10th at 24.9. The Birds held both under 10 points. Even in losses to Dallas and Chicago, the Eagles held the Cowboys 5 points under their season average and held the Bears 2 points under theirs.

The next test comes Week 17, when the Eagles head to Buffalo to face the Bills and their No. 2-ranked scoring offense. Washington, up next on Saturday in Landover, isn't a high-scoring team. The Commanders have battled injuries all season and recently shut down quarterback Jayden Daniels.

In the past three weeks, the Commanders have scored 29 points against the Giants and 26 against the Broncos, but with a shutout against them pitched by the Vikings in between.

Latu Like

Despite their season-long struggles to run the ball, and their offensive line health issues, the Eagles made a statement immediately against the Raiders that they wanted to play ground-and-pound.

On their first possession, the Eagles showcased a heavy dose of "13 personnel," which puts three tight ends on the field. Cam Latu, who doubles as a fullback and tight end, joined Grant Calcaterra and Dallas Goedert in many of the personnel groupings, and was used as a lead blocker. The Eagles, predominantly a zone run offense, also showcased more Gap scheme runs, which often involve pulling linemen and hat-on-hat blocking.

Latu ended up playing a season-high 19 snaps on offense, 27.5 percent. His previous percentage high was 15.3 percent Week 8 against the Giants, a 38-20 Eagles win in which the offense registered a season-best 276 rushing yards. Although they only averaged 3.9 yards per carry against the Raiders, the Eagles churned out 183 rushing yards, their most since that Giants game.

Saquon Barkley had a 17-yard run, his longest of the game, on a play in which Latu helped seal the edge while left guard Landon Dickerson pulled to the right side, into the second level.

Gap runs have become a little more present in the Eagles' rushing offense lately, something to watch going forward as they continue to try to revive a rushing attack that ranks 19th in yards per game (115.6), and 25th in yards per carry (4.06).

In former Eagles RB news...

While the Eagles look for answers in their run game, another former Eagles running back is thriving.

Kenneth Gainwell, who signed a modest one-year deal with the Steelers in free agency, rushed for 80 yards on 17 carries and added 46 receiving yards for Pittsburgh, which handled the Dolphins on Monday night, 28-15, to stay atop the AFC North at 8-6.

D'Andre Swift over in Chicago only has 5 fewer rushing yards than Barkley despite having 49 fewer carries. Meanwhile, Gainwell not only has set personal bests in carries (93), rushing yards (451) and yards-per-carry average (4.8), but his No. 1 fan is Aaron Rodgers, who gushed to reporters about Gainwell after Monday night's win over Miami and said he's "been a fan" since Gainwell's days in Philly.

In Week 11, Gainwell had a season-best 92 yards on 11 carries.