The Eagles’ defense is the best reason to believe they can win the Super Bowl

BALTIMORE — When you look at him from the distance of the press box, Lamar Jackson looks less like a quarterback and more like the fastest, flashiest point guard on the playground. He knows what he is doing and is efficient at all times. He doesn’t so much throw a football as he flicks it, and sometimes he shoots the gun as if he were a second baseman who had just fielded a routine grounder. And when one or two would-be tacklers get too close to him, he often slips, slips, evades them and turns what should have been a sack into a several-yard scramble. It’s breathtaking to witness. It must be crazy to try to defend yourself against it.

And yet… the Eagles did. They did this on Sunday in the most important and impressive victory of their season so far, a 24-19 victory over the Baltimore Ravens in which they neutralized Jackson – arguably the most dynamic quarterback in the NFL – and the entire Ravens offense.

This was as good a defensive performance as one could expect or hope for from coordinator Vic Fangio’s unit. Baltimore entered the game second in the league in points scored and first in total yardage. Jackson, who has been named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player twice in his career, has a chance to win the award again; He led the league in touchdown passes, yards per attempt, passer rating and overall quarterback rating. Derrick Henry had 1,325 rushing yards – only Saquon Barkley had more, and he still does – and averaged 6 yards per carry.

And yet…the Eagles held the Ravens to one touchdown and two field goals in the first quarter. Until Jackson made a meaningless 40-yard run and threw a meaningless touchdown pass in the final seconds, they held him at bay; He still made some notable plays, but finished with fewer than 240 passing yards. Henry gained 82 yards on 19 attempts — a solid day, but nothing spectacular, nothing like what he had done in the last 12 games.

If there’s one reason to believe the Eagles can return to the Super Bowl, it’s their defense. It’s quite impressive to see how different they are this season compared to last – compared to the utter disarray they experienced under Sean Desai and Matt Patricia. Fangio’s experience and intelligence are the most obvious and significant change, but he’s not the only factor that has made the Eagles so much better on that side of the ball. Howie Roseman rebuilt the entire defense in less than a year. The additions of Zack Baun, Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, along with the development of Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith, provide a physicality and playmaking ability that the Eagles simply didn’t have in 2023. You can now tackle things better. They create more revenue opportunities. They allow fewer yards than any other team in the NFL.

There is now a growing sense of inevitability among the Eagles, a feeling that unless an opponent knocks them out early, unless an opponent builds an insurmountable lead, the Eagles will wear the team down over the course of the entire 60 minutes and builds it quickly in minutes. The Eagles led the Ravens by nine points on Sunday, and that feeling was palpable here at M&T Bank Stadium: Yes, the Ravens have a two-point lead, but they should have a bigger lead. That won’t be enough. That wasn’t it. Barkley and the Eagles’ great offensive line began to assert itself. Jalen Hurts again didn’t make a critical error. And the Ravens didn’t score enough points after that early attack. They would never do that.

You want to believe in this Eagles team? You want to believe that this 10-2 record and eight-game winning streak isn’t the mirage that the 10-1 start was last year? Keep going because there is no reason to doubt this defense right now.