The Philadelphia Eagles defense has gotten run over through two weeks.
Philly has allowed an NFL-high 6.4 yards per carry and given up 157.5 rush yards per game (25th in the NFL) while missing a bevy of tackles.
While some of the focus has been on the lack of pass rush generated by Vic Fangio's defense -- three total sacks through two weeks -- the coordinator said Thursday that it all stems from an inability to stop the run.
"Yeah, I think when you talk production, correct me if I'm wrong, but you're talking sacks and pressures and stuff, and until we do a better job of playing the run, those aren't coming. That's for sure," he said, via the team's official transcript. "We all have to do a better job, starting with me, of playing the run better."
For Fangio, not slowing the ground game has a cascading effect on the pass rush. Facing a New Orleans Saints team this week that has mashed on the ground presents an even bigger challenge.
"Well, if you don't stop the run, you're not going to get in the obvious pass," Fangio said. "The team we're playing this week, they either run it or max protect play action, run boots. They're doing a great job offensively, which makes it hard."
Eagles players know they must be better against the run after Bijan Robinson gashed them Monday night.
"It's something that we need to fix right now," Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean told NJ Advance Media on Wednesday. "It's not something you gradually get to. It's f------ you get this s--- done right now with tackling and everything."
The Eagles have missed nine tackles in two games, per Pro Football Focus.
"There's no lack of physicality," safety Reed Blankenship said. "I would never question any of our guys' physicality on this team. It's just a fundamental [issue]. Obviously, people don't realize that tackling is a basic thing that you have to do, and there's a certain way you gotta do it.
"At the end of the day, we just got to get the guy down and swarm to the ball. One of our main goals going into this game [is to] just swarm to the ball. So if a guy does miss a tackle, another guy is there to make it right after him, so it's not like a five, six-yard again after that. So it's a one-yard gain or a half-yard gain."
The Eagles' run defense could be in for another rough ride on Sunday against Alvin Kamara, who has been dynamite running the outside zone scheme from new coordinator Klint Kubiak. Kamara leads the NFL with 290 scrimmage yards and five scrimmage TDs. The veteran running back generated 115 rush yards, three rush TDs, 65 receiving yards, and a TD catch in Week 2 at Dallas.
Seeing Kamara scamper all over its defense wouldn't be a new sight for Eagles fans. Week 3 will be Kamara's fifth game versus the Eagles in his career (including playoffs). He has had 80-plus scrimmage yards in every game versus Philly.
