December 19, 2023

Looking at the history of Matt Patricia's defenses

Matt Patricia is one game into his time as the Eagles' defensive play-caller. How have his defenses performed over the years?

By Shamus Clancy
PhillyVoice Staff

The infamous rocket scientist with a pencil in his ear is now calling defensive plays for the Eagles. While not possessing the "defensive coordinator" title, Matt Patricia is the leader of the Birds' defense currently.

The Patricia era started well enough on Monday Night Football, surrendering just three points in the first half in Seattle, but a demoralizing 92-yard, game-winning drive from the Seahawks in the fourth quarter should shed some doubts that the switch from Sean Desai to Matt Patricia will provide a meaningful difference.

Allowing 20 points should be enough for the Eagles to win with the talent on their offense. Ignoring the context of that agonizing Seahawks touchdown drive, however, would be unwise. The Eagles' back seven is an abject disaster currently, on top of Darius Slay missing time, but Patricia needs to maximize what should be one of the league's most dominant pass rushes.

What can Eagles fans expect from Patricia going forward this season? How have his units performed in the past?

Patricia, of course, is a disciple of Bill Belichick up in New England. Patricia spent six seasons as the Patriots' defensive coordinator from 2012 to 2017. His final game as the Pats' DC saw his defense give up 41 points to the likes of Nick Foles, Doug Pederson and Corey Clement. Bad vibes, right?

Patricia went on to an unspectacular three-year stint as the Lions' head coach, amassing a record of 13-29-1 before being canned 11 games into the 2020 season.

Here's a look at some of the numbers from his defenses over the years with league-wide rankings courtesy of pro-football-reference:

Year	Yards	Points	Takeaways
2012 (NE)	25th	9th	2nd
2013 (NE)	26th	10th	10th
2014 (NE)	13th	8th	14th
2015 (NE)	9th	10th	22nd
2016 (NE)	8th	1st	14th
2017 (NE)	29th	5th	25th
2018 (DET)	10th	16th	16th
2019 (DET)	31st	26th	26th
2020 (DET)	32nd	32nd	32nd

It's hard to discern whether that success in New England had much to do with Patricia or it was because Belichick is simply the greatest defensive mind in the history of the sport. It's well-documented how poorly former Belichick assistants pan out outside of Foxboro and Patricia's tenure in Detroit certainly speaks to that.

I can't say what the next couple of regular season games and the postseason will hold for Patricia, nor can anyone. The move to Patricia screams of dysfunction, however, even with how overmatched Desai's defense looked. Perhaps the results are better than the process, but nothing is going right for the Birds at this stage.