Regrading the Eagles: Defense has missed Zach Cunningham — yes, a linebacker! Don’t tell Howie Roseman

Regrading the Eagles’ 35-31 loss to the Cardinals upon reviewing the coaches’ film (original instant grades here):

In search of answers for one of the Eagles’ worst defensive performances in recent memory, a message was sent to a player asking what has been missing on that side of the ball. The response:

Zach Cunningham is the nucleus of the defense. We miss him.

There was so much wrong with the defense in Sunday’s loss that it would be a gross oversimplification to point to the absence of Cunningham as the primary reason the Eagles couldn’t stop the Cards, or even why they have struggled over the last month.

But what struck the mind was that an off-ball linebacker — one who wasn’t on the team before Aug. 6 — would be considered irreplaceable. The Eagles don’t value the position, and yet, Cunningham, who makes far less than most starters, is “the nucleus of the defense?”

Howie Roseman deserves credit for plucking the former Texans and Titans linebacker out of free agency during training camp. But many of the Eagles general manager’s other decisions at the spot — and on the D-line — have only emphasized that many of the problems on the defense have been of the personnel department’s doing.

The move that Roseman may most regret was allowing homegrown linebacker T.J. Edwards to leave. The former undrafted player signed a three-year, $19.5 million contract with $7.9 million guaranteed with the Bears in March and is having a yet another strong season. (The Eagles didn’t even make an offer.)

Kyzir White, Edwards’ counterpart at linebacker in 2022, also left in free agency having inked a two-year, $10 million contract with $6 million guaranteed with Arizona.

With Nakobe Dean entering his second season and ready to assume a starting role, Roseman added only Nicholas Morrow in the early stages of free agency. He signed a one-year, $1.155 million deal. Morrow’s initial struggles in camp partly led to the signing of Cunningham for one-year at $1.775 million.

The Eagles entered the season with the second-lowest salary cap allocation at off-ball linebacker. The Dec. 4 signing of Shaquille Leonard, after Dean’s season-ending foot injury, pushed them up a spot.

Roseman couldn’t pay all of last season’s free agents. His roster-building philosophy on defense which prioritizes the line and outside cornerbacks is a sound one. The argument isn’t that he should pay off-ball linebackers more than at those positions.

But the front’s decline has further exposed the defense at the second level, especially when Cunningham has been out. He has missed four of the last five games — first with a hamstring strain and then with a knee injury — and the Eagles have gone 1-3 over that span.

Cunningham is slated to return for Sunday’s game at the New York Giants. Will he cure all the Eagles’ ills on defense? Probably not — just like the switch at defensive coordinator from Sean Desai to Matt Patricia did little to improve the unit. There is far too much wrong with the Eagles in terms of coaching, scheme, and personnel.

But considering how Leonard, Morrow, and undrafted rookie Ben VanSumeren performed vs. Jonathan Gannon’s Cards, his return can only help.

Here’s a closer look at the film and what went wrong on Sunday:

The Eagles’ inability to stop Arizona’s offense, particularly on the ground, was a team-wide failure. Patricia spoke about fixing specific run fits and the one that he might have been referencing was on the right side with defensive end Josh Sweat and Morrow.

» READ MORE: Eagles de facto DC Matt Patricia: Run defense back to basics after loss vs. Cardinals

The Cardinals pounded running back James Conner (No. 6) in that direction, often behind two pulling blockers that washed out the penetrating Sweat (No. 94) and Morrow (No. 41).

The following is just an early sampling of how ineffective the Eagles were in defending that side. Sometimes Sweat didn’t set the edge properly. Sometimes Morrow was out of his gap. Sometimes it was both. And sometimes the Cardinals were just better.

But the Eagles have been susceptible on the edges for large portions of the season. On runs off the right end, they’ve allowed 6.06 yards, which is 27th in the NFL. Off the left edge — where Haason Reddick often lines up — they’ve allowed 5.97 yards, which is 21st.

The 35-year-old Brandon Graham (No. 55) may be a reserve, but an argument could be made for playing him more on run downs. He’s still the best the Eagles have at setting the edge.

But edge defense isn’t just a Sweat or Reddick issue. Defending the run takes all 11 men. But it also takes a cogent scheme and coaching adjustments, and with Patricia adding some of his concepts into Desai’s scheme this late in the season, players were often placed in untenable positions.

When there’s that much space — from yet another variation of the Cards’ outside run — it’s more than just personnel or execution.

This last version of the run play came late in the fourth quarter with essentially the same end result — Conner (26 carries for 128 yards and a touchdown) turning the corner.

Morrow had played better since his disastrous outing against the 49ers on Dec. 3. He has been, overall, a sound tackler. He has missed only six tackles all season, per Pro Football Focus. But getting off blocks has been a consistent problem, and his gambles against the run — see below — don’t often result in tackles for loss.

He has also been a liability in coverage. But with the front and back feeding each other in both run and pass defense, the fault doesn’t always lie with Morrow. And in this instance, Patricia’s call had the linebacker matched up against a receiver.

The outcome — another first down — was predictable.

Leonard has seen his playing time increase since his first game with the Eagles at the Cowboys. He has not had a great impact, but in his defense, he has had to learn a new scheme with the coordinator change coming just one game into his tenure in Philly.

The film of Leonard with the Colts before they waived him wasn’t promising. But the Eagles didn’t necessarily need him to play at his former All-Pro level. They needed him to add depth to a depleted unit after Dean’s injury.

But Roseman’s release of Christian Elliss, in which he likely thought he could bring the linebacker back via the practice squad, resulted in him being claimed off waivers. And then Cunningham suffered a knee injury in Dallas and Leonard became a starter.

He had a strong first half against the Giants last week, but Leonard (No. 53) was among the many on the Eagles who would likely want to forget the Cards game.

Leonard was in and out of the game in the second half with an apparent injury and didn’t finish. VanSumeren did. But Leonard wasn’t on Wednesday’s walk-through report.

Jordan Davis didn’t participate because of an ankle injury, which could explain some of his struggles on Sunday. The second-year defensive tackle has seemingly tailed off in the second half of the season — as has his former Georgia teammate, rookie defensive tackle Jalen Carter — and neither was on the field for the Giants’ final drive last week.

Davis’ pass rush ability has been under question since the Eagles moved up to draft him in the first round. But few doubted his run defense — particularly as a nose tackle. Desai played fewer five-man fronts before his demotion, but it didn’t seem to affect Davis.

» READ MORE: Is too much being asked of Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, and Nolan Smith?

But what has to be vexing for Eagles coaches is how offenses have been able to run up the middle on their defense. Again, the issues don’t all fall on one player. But the Eagles, overall, have allowed 4.2 yards per rush up the middle, which ranks 23rd in the NFL, and in the last seven games that average has increased to 4.4 yards.

It may be subjective, but Davis (No. 90) hasn’t looked as spritely as he did earlier in the season.

Nick Sirianni said in November after the Bills game — one of Davis’ best this season — that the Eagles have been on him about his conditioning and that he has worked hard to be at the appropriate weight. But recent film suggests that the 6-foot-6, 340-pounder may need to step up his fitness in the offseason.

The entire Eagles defense had to be gassed by the fourth quarter. The unit was on the field for nearly 40 minutes. But there shouldn’t be just one D-lineman — Graham — chasing after the ball with the Eagles up, 28-21, and so much was still on the line.

Whether that’s a conditioning issue or a motivation one, remains to be seen. But it’s never a good look when a player has his hands on his hips after his defense gets cooked.