The Eagles defense comes together after a shocking collapse

Eagles defense picks up the pieces after shocking collapse originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

It had been almost three months since they had allowed 20 points in a game.

On Sunday they allowed 22 points in 13 ½ minutes.

The Eagles defense played at such a high level that it was hard to imagine The Happening.

This is a fourth quarter collapse the likes of which we have rarely seen in Eagles history.

Jayden Daniels and the Commanders rallied from a 13-point deficit early in the fourth quarter to beat the Eagles 36-33. They did this by destroying the No. 1 defense and No. 1 pass defense in the NFL.

“We know we have to play better,” said Nakobe Dean. “We have to do better. We did a lot of out of character things as far as penalties and certain things that were going on out there. We know we have to play better, but we will use this to build on it.

“It is time to put into practice what we now preach in terms of continuing to improve and deal with adversity. This is adversity and how we deal with it and how we grow and get better from it will be a testament to this team, the players and the coaches.”

Daniels threw five touchdown passes against a defense that had allowed eight during the 10-game winning streak. He became the sixth quarterback ever to throw three touchdown passes in a fourth quarter against the Eagles. With five TD passes and 80 rushing yards in a game, he became only the third QB in NFL history. And only the seventh rookie in history to throw five touchdowns in a game.

The Eagles’ vaunted defense had no answers.

“They drafted a five-star quarterback,” Jalen Carter said. “That boy Jayden, really talented and he showed it today. He did what he had to do to give his team a dub.

“We got an L today. They worked their asses off and did what they had to do to win. We just have to move on to next week and focus on the Cowboys.”

During the 10-game winning streak, the Eagles’ defense allowed 13.6 points, 148 passing yards and 240 total yards per game. All the best in the NFL.

On Sunday, they allowed 36 points, 255 passing yards and 368 total yards. And blew a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter for the first time since 2018 against the Panthers.

All the things they did so well that they just couldn’t do against Daniels and the Commanders.

They couldn’t tackle it. They couldn’t cover. They couldn’t put any pressure on it. They were one step slow, and in the fourth quarter they were several steps slow.

“Some of it was self-inflicted punishment,” Cooper DeJean said. “We did a lot of things defensively today that hurt us. Some misunderstandings, things we need to clear up in the future. We just need to get back to practicing and get these things sorted out.

“The biggest thing is the penalties. We have to do better in that regard and not give them free yards.”

It didn’t help that Chauncey Gardner-Johnson – whose interception was one of five tackles by the Eagles – was ejected and wasn’t there when the Commanders stormed back from a 27-14 deficit early in the fourth quarter.

“They made some plays and we didn’t make some plays,” DeJean said. “We had them on a 4th-and-10 plus, the quarterback came out there and ran (29 yards). We had them on second and long and gave them a first down. Little things like that. We have to make sure we do better. Do what we do. What we did.”

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