Eagles count on pass rush to bring down the Chiefs
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 up 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 National Football League’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 seven on seven,” defensive end Brandon Graham said. “The line definitely has to affect anything that goes on with the play ... 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 per cent 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 Bears’ Monsters of the Midway with 82 sacks in 1984 and 80 the next season.
While the Eagles benefited from a 17th regular-season game, their rate of sacks is also quite impressive. They have sacked the quarterback on 11.5 per cent of drop-backs this season for the highest rate in a season since 1989, when the Vikings did it on 12.2 per cent of drop backs.
Philadelphia spreads the wealth around with a record four players reaching double digits in the regular season: Haason Reddick (16), Javon Hargrave (11), Josh Sweat (11) and Graham (11).
But Reddick is the one who sets the tone. He had 1 1 ⁄ sacks on the 2 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 fairy-tale season for Reddick that will end where he started his NFL career. A firstround pick by Arizona in 2017, Reddick struggled early in his career with just 7 1 ⁄ sacks his first three 2 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.”
It’s always a race to the quarterback. We all look at it every week that we have to earn the right to rush the quarterback and guys buy into that.
FLETCHER COX EAGLES DEFENSIVE TACKLE