A blessing in disguise for Eagles' defense?

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The Eagles' defense finally developed a sense of urgency Sunday afternoon. 

It came later than it should have. 

It sure seemed like the Eagles didn't really play with that urgency until Eli Manning and the Giants came out and scored on their first three possessions. All three drives were at least 75 yards long and gave them a 20-7 lead in the second quarter. After those first three drives that gave the Giants 20 points, they scored just nine the rest of the way. 

"It shouldn't take that," defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said Tuesday. "It shouldn't take giving up three straight touchdowns to get that urgency. We needed to come out with more fire. If we're disappointed in anything, let's be disappointed in that."

Schwartz told a brief story Tuesday about a coach whose team lost in the Super Bowl after rolling through the season. That coach — who went unnamed by Schwartz — regretted not being in more close games throughout the season because when it finally got in a close game when it really counted, his team wasn't ready. The Eagles have now been in a few close ones. 

The story came from Schwartz after he was asked how to fix the matter of a lack of urgency. He seemed to think these types of games will be able to correct the issue. 

"I think you learn from what's happened with it," he said. "I think when you have success as a team, sometimes you, I don't want to say take it for granted, but you become accustomed to winning. You become accustomed to games not being close."

But the Giants did put up 29 points on the Eagles on Sunday while gaining 504 yards. That was the highest total yards the Eagles have given up since Schwartz took over as defensive coordinator. 

It wasn't pretty. 

But that was Schwartz's other main point Tuesday. He didn't care about how ugly it was. The goal was to win the game; they won the game. 

"The whole point is, find a way to get the win," Schwartz said. "Style points, fantasy football points, and everything else, that's secondary to it. Yeah, we want to play better. We want to give up fewer points. We want to take less defensive penalties. Every step along the way."

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