"He's a trained killer" - Eagles DC issues warning to his players regarding Tom Brady
The Philadelphia Eagles have their work cut out for them in the playoffs. They drew Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild card round.
Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon knows how dominant Brady can be. He spent Tuesday's practice giving his players a rundown of how challenging it truly is to try and stop the seven-time Super Bowl champion.
Gannon told the media Tuesday,
“This guy, he’s a trained killer and he knows how to play good offense and what he needs to do to keep his offense on track, so it’s going to be a big-time challenge,”
Gannon's respect for Brady showed Tuesday when he praised the offense as a whole, stating that "they execute at a high level." He applauded the offensive line, the wide receivers, and the little things their offense does that make a difference.
"They execute at a high level." - Jonathan Gannon on Tampa Bay's offense https://t.co/bid3B7Sldy
Can the Eagles stop the Buccaneers from repeating as champions?
Gannon led his defense to battle against Brady once this season. The Buccaneers won 28-22, and the Eagles' defense gave up 399 total yards.
Gannon respects Brady's methodicalness and how he's always making the right, winning plays his team needs from him.
The Eagles beat Brady in the Super Bowl four years ago. But the Buccaneers are a more dangerous threat than Brady's New England Patriots were in 2018.
They're right to respect the Buccaneers' offense. The Buccaneers averaged the second-most points per game in the NFL at 30.1 this season.
In addition, they tied with the San Fransisco 49ers for the most yards per play and finished second in total yards per game.
Philadelphia trusts Gannon to lead their defense going into the playoffs. He is in just his first season as a defensive coordinator.
That said, he's done a suitable job of fitting the pieces of his defense together.
He's highly thought of enough that the Denver Broncos requested an interview with him for their head coaching vacancy.
But there have also been cracks in Gannon's defense, as elite opposing quarterbacks have had a field day. The splits from when they face the likes of Dak Prescott and Brady to the rest of the league are staggering.
Eagles defense against:
Prescott x2, Brady, Mahomes, Carr, and Herbert:
1787 yards, 19 TDs, 3 INTs, 82% completion
The Rest (11 games):
2179 yards, 7 TDs, 9 INTs, 62% completion
Jonathan Gannon needs to step up on Sunday.
The defense will lean on Fletcher Cox and the front-seven to generate pressure. Their greatest strength is the ground game, which happens to be the Buccaneers' greatest strength on defense.
The Buccaneers are adapting to life without receivers Chris Godwin and Antonio Brown. Brady will have Rob Gronkowski, Mike Evans and the returning Leonard Fournette in the lineup.
Time will tell if Gannon's coaching is enough for Philadelphia to overpower the juggernaut that the Buccaneers are.