Is today opposite day? During an interview with Marc Farzetta, cornerback Steven Nelson had some interesting words regarding Jonathan Gannon’s defense. Gannon is widely popular this past week for his embarrassingly simplistic and predictable soft defense that doesn’t allow big plays to occur. 

In retaliation, teams instead score on ten play drives and wear out the defense the entire game. While Fletcher Cox took to the podium Sunday night to voice his frustrations, Steven Nelson rushed to defend the controversial defensive coordinator.

“the [Eagles] defense is geared around taking away/limiting explosive plays…strategically it’s a great idea bc too many of those plays lead to TDs…we want to make the O earn it. When you look at it, it’s very genius, just a couple things we need to improve on.”

Yeah…I wouldn’t call the strategy “genius” Steven. You must have been hanging out with Sativa Sirianni, who compared the entire Eagles team to plants earlier today. Not really feeling it.

Regardless, Nelson has been excellent as the CB2 for the Philadelphia Eagles this season. Through seven games, Steven Nelson has only allowed 299 yards receiving, or 42 yards a game. Against the Raiders, the veteran cornerback allowed over 70 yards receiving on five receptions, primarily due to Gannon’s schemes.

Through the duration of the season, Steven Nelson has a 66.5 defensive grade, according to PFF. I get what Nelson is saying in the quote, but in the big picture, it makes little sense. Jonathan Gannon has turned one of the most dominant lines in football for over a decade into docile players who aren’t allowed to rush the quarterback.

Also, this defense works well alongside a dominant offense that can consistently put points on the board. Playing alongside a weak offense, Gannon needs to be far riskier because the offense will score against them anyways. Hopefully, things will change this weekend against Jared Goff and the winless Detroit Lions.

Mandatory Credit: NJ.com