After an impressive finish to the 2011 season, the Eagles defense ranked among the league's best in a number of key categories.
It's no surprise that the players want to see what happens if they can play at a high level for an entire season.
"We were building something special," cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha said after his first year with the Eagles. "You would like that to happen immediately, but it didn't. We're still building and I think everybody's positive. Everybody's happy about where we are and where we can be. We started to show teams what we expected to be all along. We just have to come back and have that same hunger that we have right now. And we will have it because we're confident."
The Eagles surrendered 46 points in the final four games of the season. For the year, the team was eighth in yards allowed (324.9 per game), 10th in points (20.5 per game) and 10th in pass defense (212.3 yards per game). The Eagles were tied for first in the league with 50 sacks.
"We finally came together as a team and made some positive changes for ourselves," said defensive tackle Mike Patterson, who is the longest tenured member of the defense.
Players explained how much defensive coordinator Juan Castillo improved throughout his first year on the job. Castillo did a lot of work on the fly in the lockout-shortened offseason as he learned which defenses worked and which ones didn't with his squad.
"Juan has done a really good job as we've gone through the season," Asomugha said.
From a personnel standpoint, the Eagles have to answer some questions moving forward. The Eagles have five players set to become free agents on the defensive line - ends Victor Abiamiri and Juqua Parker and tackles Antonio Dixon, Derek Landri and Trevor Laws. Dixon, however, is only a restricted free agent.
The Eagles boasted a young linebacking corps anchored in the middle by Jamar Chaney, who wrapped up his second season. Will the Eagles feature three Pro Bowl cornerbacks again in 2012? Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie started for an injured Asante Samuel and was impressive working on the outside instead of the slot where he played most of this season.
On Monday, the Eagles cleaned out their lockers for the offseason. It was the last time the 2011 squad will ever be together again. However, the adversity that the defense battled through this year will prepare them for whatever comes on the horizon.
"The changes we went through this year will prepare us for anything we have to go through in the future," Asomugha said. "I know we'll be better for what we went through this year."
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