The Rush of a Lifetime

Posted: February 7th, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 1 Comment »

The Eagles have the best pass rush the NFL has seen in a while. I’m not sure we truly appreciate how special this group is. I guess part of that is waiting for the season to be completely over so we can put everything in proper context.

Win or lose on Sunday, the pass rush has been historically good. Buddy Ryan, Bud Carson, Jim Johnson and Jim Schwartz ran some great defenses. They never came close to getting their Eagles defenses to 70 sacks in a season. Coming into the year, I was hoping the addition of Haason Reddick and the return of Brandon Graham would get the Eagles into the 45 to 50 sack range. 70? I would have bet a case of PBR that Jimmy Bama was more likely to win the Pulitzer Prize than for this team to get 70 sacks.

The best thing about this dynamic pass rush is that they are part of a good defense. They finished second in yards allowed. They led the league in fewest passing yards allowed. The run defense was leaky at times, but they ask Saquon Barkley or Derrick Henry if the Eagles can shut down a star RB. When they focused on the run, they were good.

The Eagles dominated the Giants in the divisional round, allowing only seven points. Then the Eagles knocked out both of the Niners QBs and held SF to just seven points. Gang Green was in five playoff games. They never held anyone below 20 points. Jim Johnson ran the Eagles defense for a decade and was in plenty of playoff games. Only two of them involved holding a team to a TD or less. This group is playing at a high level.

KC and Patrick Mahomes will be their biggest challenge. If this was just a great pass rush, I might still give the edge to Mahomes because of how incredibly good he is. But the Eagles also have the best secondary in the NFL. Add in Mahomes ankle injury and this is going to be a big challenge for him.

What makes the Eagles pass rush special is the depth and versatility of it. They had four players with 10 or more sacks. You can’t double team all those guys. They have role players like Milton Williams and Ndamukong Suh who can come off the bench and punish the QB. The OL can’t relax. There will always be someone out there who can get to the QB.

Now let’s talk about versatility. The Eagles can rush from a 4-man line or a 5-man line. They can shift players around to different spots. Fletcher Cox has played DE, DT and NT. Brandon Graham can line up anywhere on the line. Josh Sweat and Haason Reddick can flip sides if there is an advantage to be had. Then you mix in stunts. The Eagles don’t use them often, but they are really good at them. Sweat and Reddick can fly up the middle when they loop inside. If Jonathan Gannon wants to get creative, he can put Reddick as an ILB and have him attack any number of ways.

When it comes to rushing the passer, most teams excel in attacking off the edge. They get explosive athletes to fly off the ball. The Eagles do that, but also generate a lot of pressure up the middle. DTs produced 24.5 sacks for the Eagles this year. The pressure comes from all over.

The Chiefs and Patriots were 2nd and 3rd in sacks this year. KC had 20.5 sacks from DTs but no edge rusher had more than 6. The Patriots had a couple of edge rushers in double digits, but no DT had more than 7.5. The Eagles ability to get to the QB with so many people from so many spots is special. You don’t have a historic season by accident.

Check out this stat from Sheil Kapadia.

The Eagles have sacked opposing quarterbacks on 11.5 percent of their pass plays—the highest mark of any defense since at least 2000. The difference in sack rate between the Eagles and no. 2 Patriots this season was the same as the difference between the Patriots and the no. 29 Bengals. And the Eagles do it, for the most part, without blitzing. Their sack rate actually increased (11.8 percent) when they rushed four or fewer defenders.

The Eagles had 15 more sacks than the Chiefs despite facing 63 fewer passing attempts. The Eagles had 16 more sacks than the Patriots despite facing 40 fewer passing attempts. That is crazy. What this group is doing is truly special.

The Eagles led the NFL this year on sacks on 3rd/4th down, critical situations when sacks have the most impact. They end drives and get the ball back to the offense.

Having the DL rush so effectively allows Gannon to focus on coverage on the back end. He can blitz if he wants, but it isn’t needed. He can use his DBs creatively, playing whatever coverage he wants for that opponent. The good coverages then lead to more sacks, as QBs have to hold the ball while waiting for receivers to come open. This is a vicious cycle for offenses to have to deal with.

If the Eagles win on Sunday, this defense will have a place in history, not to mention a special place in my heart.

***

The key to the rush is the addition of Haason Reddick. He’s been a disruptive force off the edge, making plays and creating them for others. As crazy as it sounds now, signing Reddick wasn’t a no-brainer.

If you go back to free agency previews from last offseason, he wasn’t at the top of the edge rusher list.

Von Miller
Jadeveon Clowney
Chandler Jones
Emmanuel Ogbah
Randy Gregory
Za’Darius Smith
Calais Campbell

On one list, all of those guys were ahead of Reddick. I don’t think I saw him higher than fourth amongst edge rushers on any list. Check out this write up on him.

Reddick is an interesting test case for where the market is headed. He fit in well with the blitz-happy Panthers, who tried to create exotic looks and manufactured pressure to compensate for their lack of a secondary. But where does he fit in an NFL that is increasingly trying to hang back and accentuate coverage? Quarterbacks are getting better at handling the blitz every waking second. Can Reddick, who has a career completion percentage allowed in the mid-70s but the speed to drop into zones and obscure passing lanes, justify big dollars as a backfield chaos agent?

That’s a lot of questions for a guy who ended up being arguably the NFL DPOY.

The Eagles targeted Reddick for a few reasons. He was still in his prime, so they weren’t chasing past glory. His cost wasn’t cheap, but was reasonable. He also was a perfect fit. Gannon wanted a player he could be creative with. Reddick is versatile enough to play DE or LB. He can rush, set the edge or drop into coverage.

For whatever reason, some had doubts on Reddick. The Eagles didn’t and targeted him aggressively. He will go down as one of the best free agent signings in franchise history (we’ll save that debate for the offseason).

One of the best aspects of the signing is what a transcendent impact Reddick had. It seems like every week Reddick will get into the backfield and create a sack for someone else. His pressure forces the QB to move and creates a sack chance for someone else.

Reddick is only 6-1, 235. The Eagles haven’t tried to force him into a generic role. Gannon has been able to get the most out of his star by putting him in good situations. The results speak for themselves. This has proven to be a match made in heaven.

And it might bring another Lombardi Trophy to Philly.

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One Comment on “The Rush of a Lifetime”

  1. 1 The Linc – Jeffrey Lurie says if Howie Roseman were any less bold, “he wouldn’t be my GM” - Balance Sportscast said at 1:08 PM on February 8th, 2023:

    […] The Rush of a Lifetime – Iggles BlitzThe best thing about this dynamic pass rush is that they are part of a good defense. They finished second in yards allowed. They led the league in fewest passing yards allowed. The run defense was leaky at times, but they ask Saquon Barkley or Derrick Henry if the Eagles can shut down a star RB. When they focused on the run, they were good. The Eagles dominated the Giants in the divisional round, allowing only seven points. Then the Eagles knocked out both of the Niners QBs and held SF to just seven points. Gang Green was in five playoff games. They never held anyone below 20 points. Jim Johnson ran the Eagles defense for a decade and was in plenty of playoff games. Only two of them involved holding a team to a TD or less. This group is playing at a high level. KC and Patrick Mahomes will be their biggest challenge. If this was just a great pass rush, I might still give the edge to Mahomes because of how incredibly good he is. But the Eagles also have the best secondary in the NFL. Add in Mahomes ankle injury and this is going to be a big challenge for him. What makes the Eagles pass rush special is the depth and versatility of it. They had four players with 10 or more sacks. You can’t double team all those guys. They have role players like Milton Williams and Ndamukong Suh who can come off the bench and punish the QB. The OL can’t relax. There will always be someone out there who can get to the QB. […]