Eagles DBs ‘need to be (in the right spots)’ vs. Saints’ offense, or they will get burned

PHILADELPHIA — If the Eagles' secondary is not careful, they could spend the majority of Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints chasing wide receivers Rashid Shaheed and Chris Olave from behind as they run past them.

Through two weeks, the Eagles' pass defense ranks 27th in the league, giving up 242 yards per game and allowing 7.8 yards per pass attempt.

The Eagles drafted two cornerbacks ( Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean ) and brought back safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson during free agency, but the secondary has not played much better compared to last season when they ranked 31st in the league (252.7 passing yards per game) against the pass.

In the Eagles' 22-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Monday , Mitchell gave up two catches for 47 yards to Falcons wide receiver Darnell Mooney on Atlanta's game-winning scoring drive at the end of the fourth quarter. On the last play of the possession, Falcons wide receiver Drake London beat Eagles cornerback Darius Slay for a seven-yard touchdown catch.

Philadelphia's secondary has to play better against the Saints' offense, who have averaged a league-high 45.5 points per game this season, to make it a competitive game. The Eagles could be without Gardner-Johnson, who is questionable with a foot injury.

The defense can't mess up coverage assignments or give up easy throws. Shaheed and Olave both could take advantage of those mistakes and score a few touchdowns. If they play well, it's going to be difficult for the Eagles to win.

"We got to have good eyes," Eagles cornerback Avonte Maddox said. "We got to play good help defense. Everyone needs to be where they need to be when they are trying to take deep shots down the field. We should be able to cover that up and give our D-Line enough time to rush and make a play."

Saints quarterback Derek Carr , who has the best quarterback rating (96.2) in the league and leads the NFL in yards per attempt (11.4), can make all types of throws to challenge the Eagles' secondary.

Carr has thrown two touchdowns of 50-plus yards to Shaheed. The Eagles' defense won't be able to stop these explosive plays if they give up a lot of rushing yards.

Over the last two weeks, Saints running back Alvin Kamara has rushed for 198 yards and four touchdowns, helping New Orleans become the third-best rushing offense (185 yards per game) in the NFL. Philadelphia's poor run defense and pass rush has made the secondary's job tougher, but it can't stop them from making plays.

"At the end of the day, we still got to do our job, though," DeJean said. "Even if we are not getting pressure, we still have to cover. That's our job. We just have to go out there (and have) both sides do their job.

"We just really have to stay focused when the play is extended. We got a guy like (Eagles quarterback) Jalen (Hurts) . So we've seen that in practice. He scrambles around. We have to stay connected to our guys (in practice), which helps out a lot (on game days)."

After struggling against two good quarterbacks (Packers' Jordan Love and Falcons' Kirk Cousins ) and two talented wide receiver groups, the Eagles' secondary has a lot to work on, but not everything has been bad so far.

Before the Falcons put together a game-winning drive, Maddox said the Eagles' secondary was playing well. Then, he believes they "beat themselves" on the last few plays.

"I think we're doing a lot of good things," Eagles safety Tristin McCollum added. "We're communicating well. We're slowing the game down. Guys are covering well. I think as we continue to grow this season, we'll get even tighter coverage, and we'll clean up some of the miscues."

Eagles cornerback Isaiah Rodgers , who was suspended last season for violating the league's gambling policy, watched the team from afar last year and has noticed a few differences with this secondary compared to last year's group.

"Look at the tape (compared to last season), I think we been a lot better with our effort," Rodgers said. "Keeping people on the backside, people running to the ball, rushing out to stack against the screen. Our effort is the main thing."

DeJean said the Eagles "have watched the tape" from their loss against the Falcons and are ready to "move on." Now, he's confident the secondary will be better prepared for those critical moments at the end of games.

McCollum said he doesn't want to forget about the mistakes because they have to learn from each one. He said the "guys" in the defensive back room have taken accountability for their blunders.

The success of Philadelphia's secondary hinges on the pass rush being productive and the linebackers playing well. If those two things don't happen, the backend will continue to struggle.

But perhaps the Eagles' defensive backs can cover better to help the edge rushers and linebackers produce more. If they play well against the Saints, maybe the Eagles can surprisingly stop the Saints' high-powered offense from scoring a lot of points. They can't make egregious mistakes, including allowing Shaheed to get open on deep balls.

"There should never be a time when they are in a max protection formation, and we don't know where 22 (Shaheed's number) is," McCollum said. "As long as we get eyes on him and alert the deep defenders of that, it should be nice and clean."

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