After the clock ran out on a top-rated Saints offense he’d just sunk, Vic Fangio walked into the elevator of a stadium he knew quite well.
Bobby Hebert, a former Saints quarterback turned radio host, got two words in from the hallway before the elevator doors closed.
“Good game.”
Fangio quietly thanked him.
It’d been nearly four decades since they’d both worn the fleur-de-lis. Fangio began his NFL career in 1986 coaching linebackers for the famed “Dome Patrol” defense under then-Saints defensive coordinator Steve Sidwell. Hebert was their quarterback, the “Cajun Cannon” on four playoff teams.
Call it a throwback. Call it vintage. Call it a moment Nick Sirianni knew was coming.
The Philadelphia Eagles head coach hired Fangio to fix a dreadful defense. Even after a disastrous two-game start, Sirianni still stated “I trust the heck out of our defensive staff.” The seven-time defensive coordinator delivered the sort of destructive game plan in Sunday’s 15-12 win Sirianni knows must become sustainable.
“Vic Fangio put them in a great spot all week,” Sirianni said.
Success with a 6-1 defensive front
Fangio needed to find a way to stop the run after the Eagles surrendered the NFL’ s most rushing yards per carry through two games (6.4). The seven-time defensive coordinator needed to position his defenders in ways that’d tamp down outside runs without sacrificing big plays between the tackles. Fangio arranged his base front into a “6-1” look that leveraged the strength of the team’s interior defensive line to free linebacker Zack Baun to line up as an extra defender along the edge.
As The Athletic’s Ted Nguyen noted Tuesday, Fangio used a 6-1 defense in 2018 as defensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears to stop the Los Angeles Rams and their high usage of outside runs under Sean McVay. The Bears won 15-6 and held the Rams to a season-low 52 yards rushing. The New England Patriots later used the game plan against the Rams in Super Bowl LIII. But Fangio disguised his 6-1 usage against the Saints with position flexibility from edge rushers like Brandon Graham and Nolan Smith.
The game plan also required defensive tackles Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis to play to their level of investment. The former first-round picks fielded their most dominant performance yet in 2024. Davis had a tackle for loss and a sack. Carter had two tackles for loss and a quarterback hit. Carter’s improvement was particularly notable. He’d been benched for the first series against the Falcons for showing up late to a team meeting that week. Sirianni, lauding Carter’s response last week, said Carter received Sunday’s game ball after being “completely dominant” against the Saints.
“He beat blocks every way you could possibly imagine,” Sirianni said.
On first-and-10 during the first drive, Carter drove right tackle Trevor Penning, the No. 19 pick of the 2022 draft, several yards backward before shoving him aside and tackling Alvin Kamara in tandem with Graham on a one-yard gain.
“Obviously this past game was his best game by far, and hopefully that will set the trend moving forward,” Fangio said. “I don’t know what actually triggered it other than, you know, he and we as a d-line unit didn’t play good in the previous game. I’m sure that had something to do with it.”
The 6-1 defense was an effective plan against the Saints, a frequent user of fullback-oriented packages under new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak. The Saints used 21 personnel on 30.9 percent of their plays against the Eagles, per TruMedia — third-most in the NFL during Week 3.
But New Orleans also increased their usage of 11 personnel. The Eagles had struggled mightily to defend the run out of nickel, especially against the Falcons, who deployed three receivers, a tight end and a running back exclusively against the Eagles on Monday Night Football. The Saints entered Sunday’s game with an NFL-low usage of 11 personnel (22 percent). They more than doubled it against the Eagles. But on nine rushes against that look, Philadelphia surrendered just 3.9 yards per carry with three tackles for loss.
Fangio committed to a variation of the 6-1 defense while playing nickel. Essentially, the Eagles shifted to a 5-1. But they’d sub out an edge rusher for Avonte Maddox, not an interior lineman. This allowed Baun to continue to play along the defensive edge without making the interior vulnerable. On second-and-11 on the first drive, Baun and Milton Williams both drove back their blockers and tackled Kamara for a loss of three. The Saints settled for a field goal two plays later.
The Eagles often disguised the 5-1 look by having Baun sneak to the line of scrimmage late. He did so on the Saints’ second drive of the second quarter. On first-and-10 at the Eagles 42, Baun snuck to the line just before the snap, the Saints ran the opposite way, and Carter sliced through the zone-blocking scheme and tackled Kamara for a loss of three. The Saints punted three plays later.
Fangio may stick with a variation of the 5-1 front against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. Tampa Bay’s primary grouping is 11 personnel (75.6 percent).
“I mean, we’ve got to be able to use it,” Fangio said. “You can’t recreate the wheel every week. But we’re going to have to mix it for them. It comes down to fundamentals. We’re going to have to play better than we played two weeks ago against a very similar run game.”
Bryce Huff regresses to pass rush role
Bryce Huff was deployed against the Saints almost exclusively in pass-oriented situations — a role the Eagles signed the edge rusher to transcend.
It’s uncertain whether that was always the plan against the Saints. Huff started at edge rusher and, at first, demonstrated he was capable of defending the run. On the first play of the game, the Saints ran an I-formation toss directly at Huff. He knocked back tight end Foster Moreau, drew a second block from fullback Adam Prentice and forced Kamara inside. Davis and Nakobe Dean stopped Kamara for no gain.
Defending the edge, especially against outside runs, was a primary goal for the Eagles after giving up long gains in their first two games. Huff wasn’t reliably in position. On the third play of the game, Fangio pressed a run-oriented look from the Saints with his 6-1 defensive look. Huff, on the left edge, became so consumed with pushing back Moreau that he neglected to contain Kamara, who bounced outside for an eight-yard gain.
“Yeah, he needed to hold the force on that play,” Fangio confirmed.
Fangio did not confirm whether that was why Huff was not in such positions later in the game.
Instead, the Eagles subbed in Graham. The 36-year-old veteran led the edge rushers with 35 defensive snaps. The Saints averaged 1.4 yards per carry on their eight first-down rushes with Graham in the game. They were stopped on two of their three third-down rushes, too. Graham, who had two tackles on Sunday, also hit Saints quarterback Derek Carr to help force an interception that ended the game.
Graham, Philadelphia’s No. 13 pick in 2010, is one of the defense’s pillars. He’s one of the remaining image-bearers after the retirements of Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox. But it’s foreboding for the future that Graham, who returned for a farewell tour, is more productive than Huff, the 26-year-old the Eagles signed to replace Haason Reddick with a three-year, $51.1 million contract that included $34 million guaranteed.
Huff has yet to be remotely productive as a pass rusher. Twelve of Huff’s season-low 18 defensive snaps on Sunday were in situations of second-and-10 or longer, or third-and-6 or longer. He once again blanked the box score. Through three games, Huff has yet to record a quarterback hit or sack. Huff has yet to distinguish himself in the way Fangio has said he must to earn more playing time. Fangio said Tuesday that Huff’s role going forward will be “much the same as it’s been.” Sirianni signaled his belief that Huff would eventually fulfill expectations.
“I got a lot of faith in Bryce and the things that he can do,” Sirianni said. “Obviously, that’s why he’s here. And I’m excited for the time where he’s going to have a big-time game. And I know he puts the work in. I know he’s ultra-talented and I got no doubt in my mind that he’s gonna continue to get better and have a good impact on this football team.”
(Top photo of Jalen Carter: Gus Stark / Getty Images)
