The Unsung Heroes Of The Eagles’ Blowout Win
Wow. That was the general reaction from the Philadelphia Eagles’ fan base following the team’s 35-10, blowout, dominant win over the Tennessee Titans. Besides some weird penalties from the offensive line in the 1st half, it was a near perfect win for the birds, including monster days from Jalen Hurts, AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith, the special teams, and the run defense. All of those guys were huge factors in the win; I mean, you kind of have to have an ensemble performance in order to win a game by the margin that the Eagles did on Sunday, but there’s one unit that seems to not be getting quite the applause they deserve. The defensive line was a huge factor in stopping the run, but the pressure they generated yesterday on Ryan Tannehill should not go unheralded, especially considering some early critiques about the birds’ defense.
Jonathan Gannon has had a really good couple of weeks since his struggles scheme-wise against the Washington Commanders in the birds’ only loss of the season, but there is still one thing that he just refuses to do: bring consistent pressure via additional rushers. That’s not inherently a bad thing, it’s simply Gannon’s style, and to be fair, it has been largely successful this season. I wish he blitzed more, just like every angry Eagles fan dad around the Delaware Valley shouts at their TV every Sunday, but as an exceptional college coach not in this year’s CFP once said “I’m not going to, so quit asking”. Well, if Jonny G isn’t going to bring the blitz, the responsibility falls on the front 4 to get home if the Eagles’ defense is going to be able to consistently put pressure on opposing QBs. Well, yesterday, they did just that, and they’re set up to continue this production for the rest of the season too.
Just check out the final stats for your defensive line. Josh Sweat had 2 sacks and 3 QB hits, Javon Hargrave had a sack, Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox each got a sack of their own, and Haason Reddick, who only had 1 sack, had 4 QB hits. That’s what we call dominating. The Tennessee Titans are a really good rushing team, and some teams may be forced to play conservatively in the rush to not allow a back like Derek Henry to get into the 2nd level. Not those Eagles, and certainly not the defensive line. They got after Ryan Tannehill all day long, even leading to him being slightly hobbled by the time he was replaced by Malik Willis in the 4th quarter of the game. It wasn’t a subtle performance, but with the offensive explosion and the focus on the run game, the defensive line was somewhat overshadowed in what was one of their best pass rush performances of the year. Well, not on my watch. With some big games upcoming still, it’s encouraging to see just how well that unit is playing right now.
