As the Philadelphia Eagles prepare for their third preseason game of the year, the team looks to already be in mid-season form. Over the first two preseason games, the Eagles outscored the Indianapolis Colts and Baltimore Ravens by a combined score of 76-30.
On the positive end, head coach Chip Kelly has proven that his up-tempo offensive scheme is a machine in terms of putting points up on the scoreboard – no matter who is playing at the quarterback position.
Additionally, the Eagles front seven has the potential to be one of the best in all of the NFL.
The interior of the defensive line is anchored by All-Pro defensive end Fletcher Cox and pro-bowl caliber defensive tackle Bennie Logan. The linebacker core consists of playmakers such as newly-acquired Kiko Alonso, Mychal Kendricks, DeMeco Ryans, Connor Barwin and Brandon Graham.
However, the main bugaboo for the Eagles over the past two seasons has been the play of their secondary. Last year, the Eagles ranked 31st in the league in terms of net passing yards allowed.
Giving up big plays was the main problem. Last season, the Eagles gave up a total of 57 plays of 20 yards or more.
After two preseason games this year, the Eagles have only given up 216 yards and two touchdowns via the pass. They have also snagged four interceptions.
The Eagles totally overhauled their secondary from last season. They signed two former Seattle Seahawks' "Legion of Boom" members in Byron Maxwell and Walter Thurmond. Also, the team used a second-round draft pick on cornerback Eric Rowe.
Furthermore, Nolan Carroll has worked extremely hard this offseason in order to earn his opportunity to get starting playing time.
The Eagles success so far this preseason has to be attributed to the play of their new-look secondary.
In Saturday's win over the Ravens, both Maxwell and Thurmond made their presence known as they intercepted Ravens' quarterback Joe Flacco on two straight possessions. The first interception was made by Thurmond – with the help of an excellent tip-drill by Carroll. The second interception was made by Maxwell, which came off a high throw from Flacco.
Eagles defensive coordinator Bill Davis is pleased by what he has saw from the new-look secondary thus far, but he isn't shocked about how the unit has improved so much because he has seen them compete in practice every day.
As for Kelly, he contends that the secondary is looking a lot better because every individual player has a good understanding of what their assignment is on each play. Also, the members of the secondary aren't trying to do too much.
"I think they are lactose intolerant in terms of they do not bite the cheese that's in front of them," Kelly said following Saturday's victory over the Ravens. "When we have a deep zone, they play the deep zone. A lot of mistakes we made in some of those deep balls last year were we were just biting each either a play action fake or we are biting an underneath route when that's not our responsibility."
For the Eagles' sake, hopefully the only dairy products that the secondary consumes this year will be Kelly's sports science smoothies.
Michael Malia is a contributing intern for Eagledelphia. Follow him on Facebook (Michael Malia) or Twitter @Michael_Malia.
