Why It's Time We Consider 1991 Eagles Among NFL's Best-Ever Defenses

When we think of the NFL’s greatest defenses of the NFL’s post-merger era, we think of Pittsburgh’s Steel Curtain, the ’85 Chicago Bears, 2000 Baltimore Ravens and 2002 Tampa Bay Bucs. So how come nobody mentions the 1991 Philadelphia Eagles?

They should. 

They ranked first in total defense, first vs. the run and first vs. the pass. In fact, according to the former statistics site, Football Outsiders, nobody outside of the 2002 Bucs had a better pass defense and only the 2000 Ravens had a better run defense.

Yet ask someone … anyone … to list the league’s top five defenses since 1970, and I’ll bet a week’s salary the 1991 Eagles aren’t included.

The reason? A couple of things: 1) Championships. The others won Super Bowls; the ’91 Eagles went 10-6 but didn’t reach the playoffs. And 2) multiple Hall of Famers, also related to Super Bowls. The Steelers’ defense has five; the Bears and Tampa Bay four each and Baltimore two.

Philadelphia has one – defensive end Reggie White – while one other, cornerback Eric Allen, was a Hall-of-Fame finalist this year. Yet those Eagles were as relentless, as physical and as intimidating as the others.

 And they deserve to be mentioned, said Allen, who appeared on an “Eye Test for Two” podcast last month.

“The ‘76 Steelers,” he said of a defense that allowed just 28 points over its last nine games, “I think are by themselves. Because they have members on that team at every level who have a Gold Jacket.

"When we start talking about dominant, I like to talk about teams, defenses, players that you can drop in any era. And those guys would still have the same impact … and those teams would still have the same impact. The Steelers would still have the same impact today, yesterday and the day before that. There’s no question there.”

He then ticked off the ’85 Bears and 1986 New York Giants “because of the great Lawrence Taylor,” but, in the end, believed the Eagles measured up to all outside of the Steel Curtain. Granted, he’s biased. Except when you look at Philadelphia's lineup … and look at what it accomplished … he has a point.

First of all, it included some legendary figures, and the envelope please: Reggie White, Clyde Simmons, Jerome Brown, Seth Joyner, Andre Waters, Wes Hopkins, Byron Evans and, Allen. Five of those eight were named to the 1991 All-Pro team.

Now look at what they did: They led the league in sacks with 55. They led the league in forced fumbles with 43 and were third with 26 interceptions. Opponents averaged 2.97 yards a carry, the NFL’s lowest figure since 1978. Opposing quarterbacks completed 44.1 percent of their passes, also the lowest since 1978. They forced a league-high 48 turnovers and allowed a league-low 206 first downs, an average of 12.8 per game.

I think you get the idea. When Football Outsiders and ESPN evaluated defenses in 2017, they named the 1991 Eagles as the NFL’s best over the previous 30 years – a span that includes the Super Bowl-winning Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Bucs.

“I believe we just had a collection of great players who were in their prime,” said Allen. “I can remember going into every game just being so confident that (thinking), when in doubt, it doesn’t matter who the quarterback is; it doesn’t matter who the receiver is. It doesn’t matter. You’re not going to complete a pass on me. And that kind of confidence ran through the defensive side of the locker room.”

So the obvious question: If they were so dominant, why didn't the Eagles reach the playoffs? Obvious answer: No Randall Cunningham. The 1990 MVP – a quarterback so gifted that Allen called him “the ultimate weapon” --tore knee ligaments 15 minutes into a season opener vs. Green Bay and missed the rest of the season. In his place, the Eagles turned to a 32-year-old Jim McMahon, who started 11 times, Jeff Kemp and Brad Goebel.

Result?

"The Eagles' offense collapsed," wrote Aaron Schatz of Football Outsiders. "The Eagles' defense spent the season constantly defending short fields. So while (they) gave up just 3.92 yards per play, the third-best figure since the move to a 16-game season in 1978, they finished fifth overall in points allowed.". 

The rest you know. At 10-6, Philadelphia couldn’t overcome Washington (14-2) and Dallas (11-5) within its division and missed the playoffs.

“When you start talking about those defenses that people do bring up,” said Allen, “they may be strong in the front end, great in the middle or have great coverage on the back end. But I thought that (1991) defense just had unbelievable playmaking ability. I think that’s the one thing that set us apart. 

"It wasn’t just that we were going to get the sack; we were going to get the sack and the fumble. Not that we’re going to stop you on third down; we’re going to get the pick and hope we put our offense in situations where we can score points easily.”

Sadly for Philadelphia, that didn’t happen. Allen believes that had Cunningham not been hurt, it would’ve been Philadelphia … not Washington … that beat Buffalo in Super Bowl XXV.

“It’s just unfortunate that many people don’t talk about that ’91 defense,” said Allen. “But I have great pride in playing on that defense and think that we can stack up with anybody from front to back and can be as competitive as anyone.”