Can Eagles’ defense rebound after 4th-quarter nightmare?

They haven’t been in this position in quite a while.

Trying to bounce back from a disappointing performance.

After winning 10 straight games, after holding 10 straight teams to 20 or fewer offensive points, after keeping 10 straight quarterbacks in check, disaster struck the Eagles’ defense Sunday in Landover, Maryland.

And now the youngest defense in the NFL has to find a way to bounce back from that 36-33 loss to the Commanders after allowing three 4th-quarter Jayden Daniels touchdown passes, including the game-winner with six seconds left.

“I think they will (bounce back),” defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said. “ It’s a resilient group. After winning so many in a row, you’ve got to be able to bounce back. I believe our group will.”

The Eagles had allowed just eight touchdown passes during the 10-game winning streak and three of them came in the final seconds of lop-sided wins.

So this was the first time this defense has struggled since the Tampa game in Week 4, when Baker Mayfield threw for 347 yards and two touchdowns in Tampa.

The Eagles hadn’t lost since.

How do you account for all the breakdowns Sunday?

“No. 1, my calls could have been better,” Fangio said. “I think if my calls were better, we would have had a better result. But give them credit. They executed and they played well.

“(And) we gave up too many explosive plays. The one drive, they hit two big ones on us. That’s one part of the equation. Didn’t have a good day on third down (7-for-13). That’s another part of the equation. The field position, they had shorter distance to go, occasionally. We just didn’t play as good as we had been playing overall.”

All true.

The Eagles allowed four plays of 29 yards or more after allowing just eight during the 10-game winning streak. Daniels’ completions of 49 yards for a touchdown to former Eagle Olamide Zaccheaus and 51-yarder to Dyami Brown were the longest passes the Eagles have allowed since Week 1. 

“We just got beat,” Fangio said. “We could have played with better technique, but they ran go balls on our guys, and we got beat.”

And Daniels’ 29-yard scramble was the 2nd-longest run the Eagles have allowed since the opener in São Paulo and the longest 4th-down conversion — 4th-and-11 — the Eagles have allowed in a meaningful situation in at least 30 years.

The 13-point 4th-quarter lead was the largest the Eagles have blown in six years, and Washington’s 22 points are the 5th-most the Eagles have ever allowed in a fourth quarter.

“You don’t say it’s just a blip,” Fangio said. “You’ve got to learn from all your experiences, both good and bad, and improve. 

“We’ve got to get back to playing better football. Not have three unsportsmanlike or whatever they’re called, two times 12 on the field.”

The Eagles will have to rebound against a Cowboys offense that’s figured some things out since managing just six points and 146 yards against the Eagles in November.

“They’re playing extremely well here the last five games,” Fangio said. “They’re moving the ball. I think they have found their niche with (Cooper) Rush at quarterback, and they’re doing a good job.

“They’re running it well. They’re mixing in the play pass and the boots very well. Obviously CeeDee Lamb is having a banner year. They have a good tight end in (Jake) Ferguson. The back (Rico Dowdle) has really come alive lately.

“They’re not the same offense that we saw, however many weeks ago that was.”

Despite the loss, the Eagles are still on track to lead the NFL in defense for the first time since 1991. They lead the 49ers by 338 yards with two games left. 

Since the bye, they’re 5-0 at the Linc, allowing a total of just seven touchdowns — three passing, four rushing. They’ve allowed 15.6 points and 238 yards in those five games. 

“We’ll handle adversity the way we always do, by getting back to work and getting better from it,” Nakobe Dean said before a Tuesday walkthrough. “We know we’ve got to be better in certain things. We know we’ve got to handle some things differently.

“But our confidence might be higher than ever. We had more turnovers than we ever had so if you want to take a positive away from the game, that’s a positive. If we get back to playing the way we have been and keep getting those turnovers, we’ll be fine.”

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