Eagles will count on pass rush to harass Mahomes
PHOENIX — The defensive philosophy that has carried the Philadelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl is relatively simple.
A deep rotation of defensive linemen provides constant pressure that makes opposing quarterbacks uncomfortable and often leads to them ending on the ground.
“It’s always a race to the quarterback,” defensive tackle Fletcher Cox said. “We all look at it every week that we have to earn the right to rush the quarterback and guys buy into that.”
Few teams have gotten to the quarterback more frequently this season than the Eagles, who are closing in on the NFL’s most prolific season ever when it comes to sacks.
That will be the formula the Eagles (16-3) will hope to replicate on Sunday against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs (16-3).
“Any time you play these great quarterbacks, you got to affect them because you can’t have them out here playing 7 on 7,” defensive end Brandon Graham said. “The line definitely has to affect anything that goes on with the play. I know that we’ve got a great D-line, but we got to prove it each and every week. I’m excited because we do got a task we got to achieve going against Mahomes.”
That won’t be easy even with Mahomes on a gimpy ankle. He was the best quarterback in the league this season at avoiding sacks, with only 10.2% of pressures turning into sacks, according to
Pro Football Focus.
Mahomes was sacked three times in his previous Super Bowl appearance two years ago against Tampa Bay when he was constantly on the run behind a banged-up line.
Kansas City has bolstered the line since then, but Mahomes knows it will be difficult against the Eagles.
“They’re on like a historic sack rate and the way they’re able to get to the quarterback,” Mahomes said. “So everybody knows that everything starts up front. It’ll be a great challenge for our offensive line to try to do what they can.”
Philadelphia followed up a regular season with 70 sacks — tied for the third-most ever — with eight more so far in the playoffs. The 78 sacks combined in the regular season and playoffs have been topped only by the Chicago’s Monsters of the Midway with 82 sacks in 1984 and 80 the next season.
While the Eagles benefitted from a 17th regularseason game, their rate of sacks is also quite impressive. They have sacked the quarterback on 11.5% of drop-backs this season for the highest rate in a season since 1989, when the Vikings did it on 12.2% of drop-backs.
“Being a part of a pass rush where everybody gets the chance to eat, that’s the best thing,” star defensive end Haason Reddick said. “It causes no problems. Everybody gets their chance. Everybody gets the chance to get their stats up. Everybody gets their chance to make an impact at the end of the day. When you have a D-line like we have, it’s crazy. All it takes is for one person to make a play and then the energy amongst everybody is just rolling.”
Philadelphia spreads the wealth around with a record four players reaching double digits in the regular season: Reddick (16), Javon Hargrave (11), Josh Sweat (11) and Graham (11).
But Reddick is the one who sets the tone. He had 1½ sacks on the opening drive of a divisional round win against the Giants and then the strip-sack that injured San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy’s elbow on the first drive in the NFC championship game.
It’s been part of a fairytale season for Reddick that will end where he started his NFL career. A first-round pick by Arizona in 2017, Reddick struggled early in his career with just 7½ sacks his first three seasons while often playing out of position as an off-ball linebacker.
Reddick has put together three straight double-digit sack seasons in his final year with the Cardinals, one year in Carolina and this season in Philadelphia, where he has relished the opportunity to be back near his boyhood home in New Jersey playing for the team he rooted for as a kid.
“For me, it is a dream,” Reddick said. “I’m getting to live it each and every day, which is a blessing in itself. But looking back at that, if you would have told me that this would happen back then and I looked at you and said, I hope so.” have had two playoff berths, one playoff win and the worst record in the league — including an 0-16 season in Thomas’ last year in the NFL.
Thomas and Revis join a new class of Hall of Famers announced Thursday that also includes return finalists DeMarcus Ware, Zach Thomas and Ronde Barber. Senior candidates Joe Klecko, Chuck Howley and Ken Riley, along with coaching candidate Don Coryell also got voted into the Hall and will be inducted in Canton, Ohio, this summer.
“I didn’t set out to be a Hall of Famer,” Barber said. “I was trying to make the team. I was trying to get on the field. All you can do is take your opportunity and run with it. And we all took our opportunities and ran with it.”
The headliners of the class are Joe Thomas and Revis — the two firstround picks from the 2007 draft who took far different journeys to this ultimate honor.
Revis bounced around teams seeking his best opportunities to win and thrive financially, while Thomas never moved.
Picked third in the draft by Cleveland, Thomas stepped in as an immediate starter and never moved until a torn triceps ended his final season in 2017.
Thomas played 10,363 consecutive snaps before that injury as one of the only dependable parts on one of the NFL’s sorriest franchises.
Thomas was a Pro Bowler in all 10 healthy seasons, a first-team AllPro six times and a second-team selection two other years. But he never even made it to the playoffs a single time with the Browns.
Revis was always moving, whether it was following top receivers from one side of the field to the other as the game’s top lockdown cornerback of his era.
Revis’ best stretch came in New York with the Jets, where he was a first-team All-Pro from 2009-11 and finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2009 when he repeatedly shut down top receivers by sending them to “Revis Island.”
“I was probably the most nervous of anybody on the field,” Revis said. “You look at yourself in the mirror and say to yourself: ‘It’s either me or him.’ I had to stand up to the challenge. I took that responsibility to take on that assignment and shut them down.”
Revis spent one year in New England, helping the Patriots win the Super Bowl in the 2014 season, and also played for Tampa Bay and Kansas City, along with a second stint with the Jets.
Ware, Barber and Zach Thomas all had longer waits before getting voted into the Hall. Ware was also a finalist last year, while Barber got in on his third time at this stage and Thomas on his fourth try.
Ware was a four-time All-Pro in Dallas and then helped Denver win a Super Bowl in the 2015 season. He led the NFL in sacks twice and finished with 138 ½ sacks in his career.
Barber was a key cog to the Tampa-2 defensive scheme as a cornerback for the Buccaneers. He was a three-time All-Pro, led the NFL with 10 interceptions in 2001 and won a Super Bowl the next season.
Zach Thomas was a five-time All-Pro who spent 12 of his 13 seasons with Miami before finishing with one year in Dallas. He won Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1996, had at least 100 tackles in his first 11 seasons.
Coryell didn’t have the team success comparable to other coaches to get voted into the Hall, winning 111 regular-season games for the Cardinals and Chargers and never reaching a Super Bowl.
But his impact on the game with his famous “Air Coryell” offense in San Diego was transcendent as he took advantage of rule changes that opened up the passing game in the late 1970s and put together an offense that still influences the game today.
Howley was a fivetime All-Pro in 15 seasons with Chicago and Dallas with his biggest claim being the only player from a losing team ever picked as Super Bowl MVP. Howley won MVP after intercepting two passes in Super Bowl V when Dallas lost to Baltimore 16-13. He ended up on the winning side the following season when he two takeaways in a 24-3 win over Miami.
Klecko was a mainstay on the Jets famed “New York Sack Exchange,” earning Pro Bowl honors at nose tackle, defensive tackle and defensive end in a 12-year career that ended with one season on the Indianapolis Colts.
Klecko was an All-Pro twice, including in 1981 when he unofficially led the NFL with 20 ½ sacks and finished second to Lawrence Taylor in the Defensive Player of the Year voting.
Riley’s 65 career interceptions in 15 seasons with Cincinnati rank fifth highest in NFL history and second to Dick “Night Train” Lane’s 68 for players who were exclusively cornerbacks.