After the Eagles’ dominant defensive performance on Sunday Night Football, it’s time for defensive coordinator Sean Desai to receive his flowers.
Eagles defensive end Josh Sweat knows exactly what impresses him most about his DC.
“He’s not scared,” Sweat said, starting to laugh. “He’s still just doing what he’s supposed to do. The team doesn’t matter, he’s not going to break character by taking it upon himself. … It just makes us trust him even more.” ”
Desai is not scary.
Despite a historically prolific offense, the Eagles were shutout Sunday night, winning 31-17 and improving to 6-1 on the season.
On Sunday night, the Eagles allowed 17 points to the Dolphins, but their defense allowed just 10 points. And the field goal in the first half came from a really short field after a turnover. Desai’s team allowed just one touchdown drive to the NFL’s No. 1 offense.
“He’s a DC for a reason,” defensive tackle Milton Williams said. “He’s put us in positions to play. He’s the head of the snake and has plans for how to attack certain teams. He’s doing a good job. ”
The Dolphins had eight possessions Sunday night but were mostly shut down.
punt
FG (short field)
punt
touchdown
punt
Turnover when down
interception
Turnover when down
Against the Eagles, the Dolphins posted season lows in points (17), total yards (244), passing yards (199), rushing yards (45) and time of possession (23:17). The Dolphins entered Week 7 leading the league in scoring, total offense, passing offense, and rushing offense.
“Coach Desai, he’s really smart,” Williams said. “He tries to get us all ready and put us in a lot of positions to make plays. He’s very instinctive. They know the front is coming, so they’re going to have to do a lot of different things. You can see them running left and right, taking wrong directions. He’s just us. It just put him in position to make plays.”
The Dolphins had just 12 first downs against the Eagles on Sunday night. Through Week 7, he was averaging 24.5 points per game and had never scored fewer than 20 points in any game this season.
When asked what impressed him most about Desai, Darius Slay said, “How he stays calm.” “He’s a smart guy, dude. He’s smart. He knows what’s going on. He has a very good game plan, and he also has great communication skills on the sideline. I’m on the left side, so I can’t see all the stuff on the right side. He comes in there and just translates. He and the entire defensive staff are very good at communicating on the sideline. He is doing a great job in.”
The Dolphins entered this game as the No. 1 offense in the NFL by a long shot, averaging over 100 more yards per game than the No. 2 offense that wore kelly green on Sunday night.
And against an offense that featured Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle in the passing game, the Eagles were without two starters in the secondary, Reed Blankenship (ribs) and Bradley Roby (shoulder). They got by with only two starting defensemen. I’ve been back since the first day it opened. They got contributions from rookies Sidney Brown and Eli Ricks on Sunday.
“Yes, I understand why we hired you. [Desai], right? “We knew the type of player we were getting,” head coach Nick Sirianni said. “I think he did a phenomenal job. is what I admire in every coach: adapting to the personnel they have.
“I think he’s done that and we’re going to continue to move up. Sean has done a great job of putting the players and the defensive staff in positions to play. They all contributed to that. ing.”
Sunday was Mike McDaniel’s 24th game as Dolphins head coach, and his 10 offensive points were the fewest the team had scored during his tenure.
It was the first time since the 2020 game against the Cowboys that the Eagles held an opponent to less than 17 points and less than 250 yards. And this is the Birds’ seventh such game in the last 10 years.
The Eagles were looking forward to playing against this top offense.
“Very enthusiastic,” linebacker Zach Cunningham said. “It was a chance for us to bounce back from last week. Prove ourselves as a team, and I feel like we did that today.”
Let’s respect the players. I want to give credit to Howie Roseman and the front office for acquiring these players.
But let’s not forget Desai’s work in making these players successful.
“It’s just the way he works, the way he does it,” Jordan Davis said. “He works through us. He plays to our strengths, he plays to our weaknesses. The ones he finds weaknesses, he makes adjustments. I think that’s a big thing. He always makes adjustments. And he’s just working all the time. He’s a very good DC and a coach for the players. He makes sure we do our best for him and everyone else.”
The Eagles had not been able to get a takeaway defensively in the last three games, but they got a big takeaway early in the fourth quarter when Slay picked off a pass headed for the end zone. A touchdown there would have tied the game at 24-24.
Instead, Slay got the ball back to the Eagles’ offense, and Jalen Hurts and others marched down the field to extend the lead to 31-17.
Tagovailoa has been known to get the ball out quickly all season, and planning for him is easy to say but difficult to accomplish.
“We just have to mix up the coverage and disguise it for him,” Slay said. “Be perfect all the time. He pitches perfect many times, but he’s a smart decision maker and guides the team in a great way. We’re just trying to complicate it for him. He did a great job today keeping his cool, because with the D-line that we have, it’s hard to get back there.”
But in the end, the D-line went home. The Eagles had four sacks in the game, and Tua, who had just six sacks in the first six games of the season, had three. Sweat had two sacks Sunday night, Nolan Smith had his first sack in the NFL, and Jordan Davis and Fletcher Cox each had another sack. Haason Reddick didn’t get a sack, but he had a lot of pressure.
The Eagles also had eight tackles for loss and six quarterback hits.
Their dominance was due in part to Desai placing them in positions where he could dominate them.
“He puts us in the best situations where everyone can perform to their abilities. I like the play-caller,” Sweat said. “I think he lets us be free and let us run around and do what we want to do. It’s obviously within the plan, but we can be free.”
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