The Eagles endured defensive struggles during the early stages of the 2023 NFL season. Those issues flew under the radar as the team went 10-1 out of the gate, but after Philadelphia suffered back-to-back losses against the 49ers and Cowboys, the team decided to make a change to address those defensive concerns.
The move? Defensive coordinator Sean Desai was stripped of the defensive play-calling duties. They were instead given to veteran defensive assistant Matt Patricia.
Many fans questioned the decision to give the defensive play-calling duties to Patricia. The former Lions head coach had endured his share of issues in recent seasons, including a failed stint as the Patriots' offensive coordinator in 2022. Why would Patricia suddenly spark the Eagles?
For a moment, it looked like Nick Sirianni's move could have been a smart one. The Eagles' defense held up well against the Seahawks in Week 15 and needed just one defensive stop to hold Seattle to 13 points in a victory. However, Patricia's defense came up short. The Eagles allowed backup quarterback Drew Lock to mount a game-winning touchdown drive thanks, in part, to a curious play call that saw the team put James Bradberry in single coverage, a situation in which he has struggled all season.
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Since that play, Patricia's defense hasn't been able to get back on track. The unit struggled to a 1-3 record under his watch and there are questions about whether the defense will finally come together as the Eagles try to get back to the Super Bowl.
When looking back at Patricia's history as a defensive coach, it's hard to feel overly confident that the Eagles will find their way under his tutelage.
Matt Patricia defensive rankings
Patricia has spent nine full seasons as a defensive play-caller at the NFL level. The first six came as the defensive coordinator for the Patriots from 2012 to 2017.
During that time, Patricia routinely led the Patriots to great scoring defense marks. In fact, they never finished worse than 10th in points per game allowed during his six years in New England.
However, Patricia's defenses often played a bend but don't break style of defense. His defenses finished bottom-10 in yards allowed per game three times in six seasons. As a result, they had to be strong in the red zone and opportunistic with takeaways to help Tom Brady and the Patriots offense win games.
After his time with the Patriots, Patricia became the head coach of the Lions. While his 2018 defense was solid, the unit was dreadful the following two seasons, bottoming out in 2020, when it ranked last in both points and yards allowed per game.
Below is a run-down of Patricia's rankings by season as a primary defensive play-caller.
| Year | Team | Yards allowed rank | Points allowed rank |
| 2012 | Patriots | 25th | 9th |
| 2013 | Patriots | 26th | 10th |
| 2014 | Patriots | 13th | 8th |
| 2015 | Patriots | 9th | 10th |
| 2016 | Patriots | 8th | 1st |
| 2017 | Patriots | 29th | 5th |
| 2018 | Lions | 10th | 16th |
| 2019 | Lions | 31st | 26th |
| 2020 | Lions | 32nd | 32nd |
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Patricia certainly did some things well during his time in New England, but his success may have been more a product of Bill Belichick than anything else.
As such, it's not surprising to see that the Eagles haven't improved much on that side of the ball after elevating Patricia to help lighten Desai's load.
Eagles defense under Matt Patricia vs. Sean Desai
The Eagles' defense has been bad throughout the 2023 NFL season. They have allowed the third-most points per game league-wide at 25.2 and the seventh-most yards per game at 356.1.
That said, the Eagles fared significantly better in games under Desai than they have under Patricia. They allowed 2.1 points per game less under Desai and were nearly 10 yards better per game as well.
Below is a look at how the two coordinators have compared this season.
| Eagles defense | Yards allowed per game | Points allowed per game |
| Under Sean Desai | 353.9 | 24.7 |
| Under Matt Patricia | 363.3 | 26.8 |
It's worth noting that Patricia has only been the Eagles' defensive play-caller for four games. As such, his overall numbers may be skewed by any outlier contest within the four he has coached.
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Still, moving from Desai to Patricia didn't have the desired effect for the Eagles. And unless Patricia puts together an excellent run in the playoffs, Philadelphia may be staring down some defensive changes during the 2024 NFL offseason.
