A week from today, the Philadelphia Eagles will battle the Atlanta Falcons in week one of the regular season.
Head coach Chip Kelly made numerous changes on both offense and defense in order to create a team with a higher ceiling than the 2014 roster. Kelly's offense has put up big points in the NFL so far, but the defense has lagged behind. The Falcons offense presents a big first challenge for the Eagles new-look defense.
The Eagles certainly needed to make some changes on defense. The Eagles ranked fifth in the league in terms of yards allowed per rush attempt. However, mostly due to the play of their secondary, the Eagles allowed a league-high 72 plays of at least 20 yards, including 18 plays of at least 40 yards.
The Eagles signed free agents Byron Maxwell, Walter Thurmond and E.J. Biggers in the offseason. Also, the team drafted Eric Rowe in the second round of the NFL draft. Nolan Carroll earned a spot starting on the outside, as he mostly played as a dime linebacker last year. That leaves Malcolm Jenkins as the only returning starting defensive back from 2014.
Another big addition to the Eagles defense is new secondary coach Cory Undlin. Last season, Undlin was the secondary coach of the Denver Broncos. He was let go by Denver after they signed Gary Kubiak as their head coach.
"We're looking for non-imposters is what were looking for," Undlin said earlier this summer. "So my job is to get them to believe in themselves and believe in the technique so when they get lined up on any guy, I don't care what guy it is, the starter or their fourth wideout, they're going to play with the technique that we demanded out of them."
Jenkins credits Undlin as one of the reasons why the secondary has improved this year.
"We can't just let receivers just run down the field on us," Jenkins said. "It was too easy for offenses last year. It was pitch and catch. We have to make plays and make it hard for receivers to get off of the line of scrimmage and into their routes. Everybody has bought in. Coach Cory has done a great job teaching. I think we're going to see a lot of improvement."
The Falcons finished with only six wins last season, but they are a revitalized group with new head coach Dan Quinn running the show. Quarterback Matt Ryan has two great wide receivers in Roddy White and Julio Jones.
"We know Atlanta has a powerful offense with some great players," Carroll said. "This is a chance to find out about what we are. It was a good preseason. We did a lot of good things. The regular season is totally different, though. This is where you really find out what you have."
As Carroll alluded to, we will have a better idea of how good this secondary can be after the Eagles play in the Georgia Dome during prime time on Sept. 14.
Michael Malia is a contributing intern for Eagledelphia. Follow him on Facebook (Michael Malia) or Twitter @Michael_Malia.
