We’re Going To Learn A Lot About Jonathan Gannon In 2022

I grew up in the era of Jim Johnson’s 2000s Eagles defenses playing with an unmatched level of aggression. The late Johnson was known for dialing up the pressure in seemingly every situation, and it almost always worked. Johnson was unapologetic about who he was and the style of defense that he coached. That mindset, coupled with the great success his defense’s had, made him a beloved character in this city.

 

Johnson was no different than any beloved Philly athlete. When Philadelphia fans love an athlete, it’s usually because they see something in that player that reminds them of themselves. Hard-working, blue collar, willing to do whatever it takes to win. Johnson checked all of those boxes.

 

To me, current Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon is the antithesis of Johnson. Where Johnson ran a defense that’s best described as controlled chaos, Gannon’s defense a season ago was timid and laid back. Where Johnson’s defenses would create havoc and do everything possible to get an offense off their game, Gannon’s 2021 defensive approach was simply wait for the other team to make a mistake.

 

I hated every second of it. The Birds defensive line, usually a strong suit, was nowhere to be found when it came to rushing the passer. The linebackers were constantly overmatched in pass coverage. The secondary was consistently lining up 18 light years away from the line of scrimmage regardless of the down and distance or situation.

 

I’m not saying I want Gannon or any Birds defensive coordinator to constantly wreak havoc like Johnson’s defenses would. I’m hesitant to believe that style of defense would work in today’s game. That being said, coaching a defense to sit on their hands and wait for the other team to make a mistake is a flawed mentality as a defensive coordinator.

 

Gannon’s Up And Down 2021

 

In 2021, the Eagles defense ended up being fairly average in total defense. They allowed the 9th fewest average yards per play, and the 6th least average rush yards per attempt. They finished exactly in the middle of the league, 16th, in average yards allowed per reception against them. The Eagles have been a great defensive team against the run for a few years now, and I tend to credit their strong defensive line for that.

 

In a vacuum, finishing in the middle of the pack in passing yards allowed isn’t that bad. But, there are some important caveats to that stat. The Eagles faced a lot of incompetent passers in 2021. Among them were Garrett Gilbert, Jake Fromm, Trevor Siemian, and Taylor Heineke, just to name a few. Unsurprisingly, the Eagles won all of those matchups, and dominated quarterbacks who, quite frankly, have no business playing in any NFL game outside of the preseason.

 

So, what about the eight games they lost a year ago? I’m glad you asked! Here’s a stat I tweeted out last November after the Eagles loss to the Chargers, a game in which Justin Herbert thoroughly had his way with the Birds defense.

 

 

The stats don’t lie. Whenever the Eagles faced a quarterback who was worthy of actually being on the field, they were shredded to pieces. Why is that, you ask? Gannon’s style, as previously mentioned, is to play to bend but, not break. This strategy works well against quarterbacks that are prone to making mistakes.

 

To the surprise of no one, that strategy doesn’t really work when you’re facing above average quarterbacks. Quarterbacks in this league are way too smart, and when defenses sit back, don’t change anything, play a very vanilla coverage scheme while generating next to no pressure, they are going to figure it out rather quickly. That’s exactly what happened in each of the eight instances where the Eagles played a good quarterback. They lost all eight of those games, including the laugher that was the Wild Card game in Tampa Bay. (The only loss the Eagles had where the defense played well was the game that is best remembered for Jalen Reagor’s two inopportune drops on the Birds final drive. Good riddance to that guy.)

 

In Gannon’s defense, could you attribute some of those results to things out of his control? Sure, you could. There’s a reason elite quarterbacks are elite, and a lot of it has to do with being able to read defenses. Also, let’s not pretend that last year’s defensive unit was anywhere near great. Darius Slay was outstanding, Javon Hargrave had a strong start but fizzled out, and the rest were average at best.

 

He Won’t Have Those Excuses In 2022

 

Howie Roseman, who has had quite the turnaround after having his head on a stake two years ago, has assembled one of the best rosters in the league. A defense that was once devoid of young talent now has oodles of it, along with a good amount of depth.

 

 

Whatever talent the Eagles didn’t have a season ago, they have plenty of now. They’ve filled seemingly every hole on the defensive roster. Because of all that talent, we’re going to learn everything we need to know about Jonathan Gannon this season.

 

Was the reason for his laid back defensive philosophy out of necessity a year ago because of the lack of talent, or does he truly believe that style will work with more talent? Will he trust his corners to play closer to the line of scrimmage? Will he go completely off script from last year and send a blitz or two? All of the questions you and I have for Gannon heading into 2022 will be answered one way or another.

 

Either he sticks to his guns, or he recognizes the faults in his system and changes some things. In a sport that sees so much growth, creativity, and change on offense, the defenses have to learn adapt on the fly. Last season felt like Gannon was the only coach in the league unwilling to change, despite the ugly results. If Gannon isn’t able to produce better results with this group, he may find himself out of a job.

 

 

By Matt Szczypiorski | August 31, 2022
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