Matt Patricia: Eagles defense must get back to playing ‘fast and aggressive’ in wild-card round vs. Buccaneers

When the Eagles last faced the Buccaneers in Week 3, they pulled off a resounding 25-11 victory and limited their opponent to a lone field goal through the first three quarters and essentially a garbage-time touchdown plus a two-point conversion in the fourth.

Alas, that victory came more than three months ago. The Eagles defense has conceded 26.75 points per game while going 1-3 in their last four contests under defensive play-caller Matt Patricia. Meanwhile, the Buccaneers have rebounded from a four-game midseason skid and went 5-1 in their last six games of the regular season.

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Both teams have evolved since Week 3, but Patricia on Wednesday emphasized the importance of the defense rediscovering the energy that gave them success back in September.

“I think we just want to make sure this week we’re going back to playing fast and aggressive, and I’ve got to do a good job of making sure that the defense is in a position to do that, I think, from that aspect of it, to make sure we’re ready to go,” Patricia said. “It’s interesting, any year you watch the season and football and you’re 18 weeks later than where you were, when you look at a tape earlier in the year, it tends to look different, whether it’s offense, defense, or special teams.

“There is a factor there that goes on of the season. And we’ve just got to make sure we give our best effort to that this week, too, so that we look as close to that as possible.”

In their last two games against the Giants and the Arizona Cardinals, a pair of teams that had already been eliminated from the postseason, the Eagles seldom looked fast and aggressive. Against the Giants, the Eagles conceded touchdowns on three straight drives in the second quarter. They gave up explosive plays as a result of botched coverages that allowed the Giants to push the ball downfield or, on the third touchdown, find the end zone.

Patricia, however, pushed back on the notion that the defense’s recent struggles are rooted in communication issues, echoing similar comments from coach Nick Sirianni on Monday.

“I think we can play fast and aggressive,” Patricia said. “Yes, absolutely. I’m gonna answer that for you first, from that standpoint. But I think what we’ve tried to do in some of the recent games, and really through the course of the year, you’re trying to, as I said, grow and add to packages, and sometimes communication comes with that. That’s pretty standard, from that aspect of it.”

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Last week, edge rusher Haason Reddick discussed the challenges that the team has faced while getting acclimated to a new defensive play-caller in Patricia and adjusting to his ideas. However, when Patricia was initially announced as defensive coordinator Sean Desai’s play-calling replacement, Sirianni said that there weren’t going to be “complete wholesale changes” to the defense.

Patricia said that feedback from and collaboration with his players, especially the veterans, has been valuable as the season has progressed.

“I think change, we’ve tried to just have additions where we’ve felt we needed to add,” Patricia said. “But like I said, from a coaching standpoint, it’s been a good collaborative effort with that as it’s been all year.”