Vet Graham continuing to enjoy rare opportunity
Brandon Graham is 34 with a recently repaired Achilles, a stable professional resume, a championship ring, one of the biggest plays in Eagles history and a year and change left on his contract.
And the Eagles defensive end is playing as if he is just getting started.
In a 48-22 victory Sunday over the host New York Giants, Graham registered three of the Eagles’ seven sacks of Giants quarterbacks, keying a deep defense and helping the Eagles win a playoff spot.
“It’s been a minute since the last time I had three in a game,” the 13th-year pro said. “That was against the Jets (in 2019). I’m just happy at this age just staying relevant and helping this team.”
Even to a 12-1 team that is special at every position, the 2010 first-round draft choice is substantially more than helpful. He has made 8.5 sacks, including 5.5 over the past four games. Almost as significantly, he has re-injected the locker room with his can-do spirit, a value that was lost when Graham was lost with the Achilles injury in the second game of last season.
The Eagles clinched a playoff spot Sunday, and as potent as they have been through a 12-1 start, Graham has been around the operation long enough to know better than to take a postseason opportunity for granted. Though he was part of a Super Bowl championship and the impressive first year-plus of the Nick Sirianni era, he remembers how the Eagles ended a three-year postseason drought as recently as 2017. He has seen losing seasons, coaches fired and opportunities wasted.
“The first step,” Graham said. “This is the first step of the goals we set for ourselves. We wanted to make the postseason, and we’ve done that. We wanted to win the division. We haven’t done that yet. We’ve got so much more to accomplish, an the ultimate goal is to get a ring.
“To do that, though, we just have to stay focused on the task at hand.”
If anything, Graham was proud that the Eagles have been dominant enough that they can avoid late-season scoreboard watching and the usual concentration on tiebreakers and other postseason complications.
“This is a first for me,” he said. “Usually we have to wait to the end for somebody to win the division.”
As well as the Eagles played defensively Sunday, smothering Daniel Jones and limiting Saquon Barkley to 28 rushing yards, the veteran in Graham knew that effort was boosted by the Eagles’ ball-control offense, which scored touchdowns on its first three possessions.
“That definitely helps,” Graham said. “And it changes the mindset of
the offensive coordinator on the other side, and what he can call. Up front, we know they have to pass the ball in order to get back in the game.
“So we were just licking our chops at the end of the day.”
Graham has had that hungry look before, including the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LII, when he famously strip-sacked Tom Brady, setting up Derek Barnett for a recovery and Jake Elliott to provide an
eight-point lead with a 46yard field goal. He had 9.5 sacks that season, 8.5 in 2019 and eight in 2020. He is not stopping.
“I’m just thankful for this team,” Graham said. “I want us to make sure we take advantage of these opportunities when the come. I am just trying to enjoy one day at a time with these boys because next year is going to be next year. I want to make sure we take full advantage of everything right now.”