Philadelphia Eagles

What exactly is wrong with the Philadelphia Eagles' defense?

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Eagles’ front four absolutely has to win and get sacks on Sunday.

The Philadelphia Eagles are reeling. They can’t move the ball with any consistency, rookie quarterback Carson Wentz isn’t throwing any touchdowns and the receivers aren’t coming up with catches when the ball is thrown in their direction. Coaches are throwing each other under the bus. Defensive end Vinny Curry is throwing his defensive coordinator under the bus. This team, once unbeaten at home, couldn’t win there in their most recent Monday Night Football game. Sunday’s game can’t result in a loss. It just can’t.

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What’s wrong with Philly’s defense? Is it a lack of chemistry? Is it all of that infighting? Could it be the frustration of a lack of results. In a couple of days, the Eagles meet the Cincinnati Bengals in a game that should be winnable. We’ve seen that before. Typically it’s ended with the wrong result (the Detroit Lions game for instance).

In spite of the fact that there may be some infighting, this Bengals team is beatable. Their offensive line isn’t very good, and they’re 28th in the league against the run. The Eagles’ front four has to win against the Bengals’ line. Head coach Doug Pederson has to stick with the run and take some of the pressure off of Wentz. Nelson Agholor needs to play. Period, point blank and end of sentence.

Safety Malcolm Jenkins met with the media recently. Here’s the result:

There you have it. The team’s completely in it until they know they’re out of it. The Eagles are still in the thick of the playoff chase. The Washington Redskins have shown some vulnerability. The other teams who are looking for a Wildcard spot are also struggling, including the Minnesota Vikings who just lost to the Dallas Cowboys. The New York Giants have the Pittsburgh Steelers coming up, and that may result in a loss for them.

Here’s what Jordan Hicks had to say:

The Eagles have never won a game out in Cincinnati. Even with A.J. Green missing, the Bengals are solid enough on offense to give the Eagles threats. Their quarterback, Andy Dalton has struggled in the red zone, but he’s a starter in the NFL for a reason. The Eagles don’t cover well enough to blanket receivers for long stretches of time, so they have to have success from their front four. This team has six sacks over the course of the last five games. They have to get home. If that doesn’t happen, it may be time to prepare for next season.

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