Three words. Just three. Tough. Detailed. Together. Thatâs the mantra down at the Nova Care Complex. Itâs the code of an Eagle, player or coach, and itâs not just a string of random coach-speak words. Theyâre purposeful and intentional and not only do they mean something, they mean everything. They embody the core values of Philadelphia Eagles football and are what Philadelphia Eagles’ head coach Nick Sirriani feeds his team daily (he’s come a long way from watering flowers).
The Eagles beat the Chiefs and won the Super Bowl in blowout fashion, 40-22.  But defensive coordinator Vic Fangio wasnât pleased. Football is a 60 minute game and the grizzled ball coach with 49 years of NFL experience on his resume, to go along with his shiny new ring, didn’t feel his team played the full 60.
Specifically, he didnât like that the Philly defense surrendered 22 points in the game’s final 16 minutes, after shutting out the Chiefs through almost the entire first three quarters.
Not a Fan-gio of Garbage-Time Points
Linebacker Jalyx Hunt said on the Pete Takes podcast (via @PHLEaglesNation) that, during a meeting four days after the game, Fangio let the defense know their performance in the second half wasnât good enough.
“‘Unacceptable,ââ Fangio told the defense regarding the second-half performance, according to Hunt. âHe wants perfection,â Hunt said.
I agree 100% with coach Vic and think he absolutely did the right thing by addressing it now and not wait until next season, even before an epic city-wide parade to celebrate the team’s success this past season. This is the NFL. You should play to the echo of the whistle on every play. Not only that, but in case Fangio’s defense had forgotten, it was the Super Bowl. There have only been 59 of them in the 21,210 days since the first one was played on January 15, 1967. No matter if you’re one of the 22 starters or one of the second or third teamers, if you can’t ball out for everyone single one of a paltry 23 defensive snaps you had to face in the second half, while playing in the most watched telecast in human history with an average viewership of 127.7 million people and topping out at 182.8 million people, in more than 130 of the 195 countries on this planet, then you either have a focus problem, lack a killer instinct, or you bet the over (48.5).
Let’s face it you’re probably not going to shut-out a Patrick Mahomes led team, especially on a day when the Chiefs were on history’s door step, a win away from their third consecutive Super Bowl title. In fact the Chiefs have never been shut-out through the first three quarters of a game that Mahomes has started. So it was the Eagles’ defense that almost made a little history of their own in not yielding a point to the defending back-to-back champions through the first 45 minutes of a game. Mahomes found rookie Xavier Worthy on a 40 yard strike with just :34 seconds left in quarter number three to cut the Birds’ lead down to 34-6.
The Birds’ defense had such an off-the-hook game for most of that day, not allowing the Chiefs to cross mid-field until there was just 2:04 left in the third. Then after two Jake Elliott field goals sandwiched around a Milton Williams strip sack, Kansas City embarked on their only drive of the game that was more than five plays and more than three minutes long.  K.C.’s penultimate drive went 75 yards in 12 plays and 5:07 culminating in a touchdown grab by DeAndre Hopkins from seven yards out with 2:54 left. A few plays earlier C.J. Gardner Johnson looked like he may have scored on a pick six but the play was nullified because Johnson was flagged for an offside penalty. On the ensuing possession the Birds would turn the ball over on downs at midfield and Mahomes would covert it into a 50 yard vintage Mahomes strike to Worthy again with just 1:48 left on the clock. After another successful two-point conversion the Eagles’ lead was cut to just 18 points, 40-22, which was the final score of Super Bowl 59.
As steamed as he was at his defense for giving up two garbage touchdowns in a span of just 1:06 in the waning moments, Fangio was just as pleased with his unit’s play through almost 75% of the game. At half time the Birds had amassed eye-popping numbers.
Philly recorded 13 first downs to Kansas City’s one. The Eagles racked up 179 total yards to the Chiefs 23, which came out to 1.2 yards per play for K.C. Jalen Hurts out-passed Mahomes to the tune of 117-20 and the Birds held the ball for 19:59 of the first two quarters to the Chiefs 10:01. The Birds total domination in the first half resulted in a 24-0 half-time lead.
It was clearly and emphatically the best first half of football the Eagles played last season and in the second half Fangio’s defense kept the Chiefs off the board on their first two drives, yielding just 32 yards on 9 plays but when Jalen Hurts hooked up with Devonta Smith for 46 yards and a score with 2:40 remaining in the third quarter, the top ranked defense in the league this year seemed to take their foot off the gas and off the throats of the three-time champs. The world-wide consensus, including from most of the combatants on both sidelines was that when Smith scored to put the Birds up 34-0, the game was over it just hadn’t ended yet. Because on the ensuing drive Mahomes led the K.C. offense on a 12 play, 90 yard dive scoring drive that took just 2:06.
39 Feet From Elimination
But here’s the problem. The Super Bowl garbage time complacency wasn’t an isolated incident. This was an all-too-frequent happening from Fangio’s guys last season.  They apparently didn’t learn their lesson from the Divisional playoff game with the Rams just two games prior to the championship finale, a game in which they came within 13 yards of not winning a Super Bowl this year.
Five of the 21 games the Eagles played this year had a waft of complacency-turned-high-wire-act-turned-white-knuckler ending. That’s almost 20% of the time Fangio’s defense stepped on the field. That, in and of itself, is unacceptable.
Back in week nine the Birds built a 22 point half-time lead over Jacksonville but slept walked through the second half, giving up a 23 second half points, a 16 spot in the third quarter and let Trevor Lawrence and the Jags go 40 yards on five plays down to the Birds 13 yard line with a brand new set of downs to work with. Fortunately for Philly, linebacker Nakobe Dean picked off Lawrence in the end zone on first down to seal the win for the Birds, 28-23.
Then two weeks later facing the Commanders Saquon Barkley peeled off a 39 yard touchdown dash to put the Birds up 26-10 with just 4:38 remaining. The home crowd was in a frenzy and even the announcers, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman acted and sounded like the game was over at that point. But even the greats sometimes forget that it’s a 60 minute game. The Commanders to their credit did not. Rookie quarterback sensation Jayden Daniels led his troops on a 15 play, 70 yard touchdown scoring drive that chewed up 4:10 leaving just 28 seconds left on the clock. But Washington converted the two-point attempt to cut the Birds’ lead to 26-18, thus making it a one possession game. The Eagles recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock but it came dangerously close to another nail-biting ending.
In week 14 Jake Elliott nailed a 35 yard field goal in Baltimore with just over a minute left to give his team a 12 point lead. It took Ravens’ quarterback Lamar Jackson exactly a minute to go 70 yards and dump seven points of trash in the Birds’ endzone, cutting their lead to 24-19 which was the final score after the Birds recovered another onside kick.
Then a couple of weeks later in Landover, MD., Fangio’s guys took the ball away from Washington’s offense five times in helping the Birds enjoy a 27-14 lead with just over three minutes left in the third. But then came the fourth quarter collapse. In the final 13:27 Daniels threw three of his five touchdowns on the day, the final one to Jamison Crowder with just :06 second left to give his Commanders a thrilling come-from-behind last second 36-33 victory.
The Birds Did Not Blink
Then of course was the near-death experience versus the L.A. Rams in the Divisional round game. The Birds D balled out that day for most of the game and when Saquon Barkley busted his second homerun of the day, a 78 yard touchdown explosion with just 4:36 left in regulation, the Linc exploded, even after Elliott missed his second extra point of the day, leaving his team with a 13 point lead instead of a two touchdown lead.
So with just over four and a half minutes left it seemed like all comers and all viewers put the game in the books, including announcers Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth. But, led by future hall of fame quarterback Matt Stafford, the Rams, on a snow covered Lincoln Financial Field, proceeded to go 70 yards in 1:46 in just 10 plays that culminated in a touchdown pass to Colby Parkinson to cut the Eagles lead to just 6, 28-22, with 2:48 remaining in regulation. But the Birds were only able to burn 13 seconds while actually losing three yards on their possession that followed a had to punt the ball back to L.A. and hang on tight. Incredibly once again, Stafford moved his team right down the field, 69 yards in 8 plays in just 1:09 to set up a third and two at the Eagles 13 yard line. Only 13 yards away from an epic collapse for the ages and what would have been a catastrophic ending to a Super Bowl or bust season. Fortunately for Philly Jalen Carter had one last surge in him as he managed to blow up Stafford and the Rams for a nine yard loss on a sack. One incompletion later and the Birds were alive and off to the NFC Title game.
Most championship seasons have one of those games that have one of those moments that test the metal, heart and will of the eventual champion. That third and two play was the Eagles’ moment and they did not blink.
Fangio is using that moment and most likely those others, including the garbage time touchdowns his top defense gave up to the Chiefs in Super Bowl 59 as teaching moments on guarding against complacency and loss of focus. His defense proved they are tough enough and they play together. But the devil is often in the details and detailing their work will play a big part and go along way if his Eagles’ defensive unit is to jettison the Birds to another run at another Lombardi Trophy next year and beyond.
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