Don’t Let the Offense Overshadow Jaelan Phillips, New-Look Defensive Front
The bye week didn’t jolt the offense like the Philadelphia Eagles might’ve hoped. Nick Sirianni ensured the phone lines at 97.5 The Fanatic ring off the hook after his questionable…
The bye week didn’t jolt the offense like the Philadelphia Eagles might’ve hoped. Nick Sirianni ensured the phone lines at 97.5 The Fanatic ring off the hook after his questionable game management decisions.
However, the Eagles can also focus on a more positive takeaway from their win against the Green Bay Packers.
Vic Fangio’s defense stormed out of the bye week with their best effort of the 2025 season. They resembled the unit that pounded opponents into submission on the way to Super Bowl LIV.
A new-look defensive front executed with creatives layers of the pass rush, toughness at the line of scrimmage, and an effort from Jaelan Phillips that shattered any reasonable expectations for his first game with the Eagles.
Jaelan Phillips
Conversations swirled about how quickly Phillips would assimilate into the Philadelphia defense only six days after a splashy NFL Trade Deadline deal. He emphatically answered questions with a disruptive performance that earned him the game ball in an emotional debut.
The 6-foot-5 tower played 53 of Green Bay’s 68 offensive snaps (78%). Fangio utilized his former Miami Dolphins edge rusher mostly in the overhang position on the right edge.
Phillips came out firing on the opening possession. He forcied Jordan Love out of the pocket on the impact play of the drive that allowed Jalyx Hunt to bury the Packers quarterback for an 11-yard loss.
“This is a completely different feeling and a different environment. You get emotional before certain games... This was just like symbolic of a lot of change in my life and kind of a new path, new destiny, so for this to be the first game and for it to play out how it did... it’s surreal.”
-Jaelan Phillips
While Phillips didn’t record his first sack with the Eagles, he contributed with splash plays consistently to hold the Packers to their lowest point total since September 2022.
His biggest contribution came on a critical late fourth-and-1 inside the two-minute warning. Phillips sealed the edge to stuff Josh Jacobs and force a fumble that handed Jalen Hurts a golden opportunity to ice the victory.
The fifth-year pro and pending free agent spoke about the toughness it takes for a defensive line to stop the run effectively in addition to a strong pass rush.
“It’s equally as important if not more important. Obviously, the sacks are flashier. Everybody talks about pass rush, but truly you can’t rush the passer unless you stop the run. I think it’s a bit of a pride thing, but really, you can kind of see pass rush as more finesse, more kind of like sexy, but stopping the run is gritty. It’s hard, and it takes toughness.”
-Jaelan Phillips
Eagles Defensive Front
The Eagles left Lambeau Field with only three sacks in their Monday Night Football victory. One of them came from Nolan Smith on a statistical technicality that went for no gain.
However, the defensive front disrupted Green Bay’s offense with stunts, interior pass rush, and other splash plays that stifled an offense ranked fifth in the NFL in EPA per play.
Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty ImagesJalen Carter pushed the pocket backwards consistently on pass plays. He also wisely halted his pass rush to deflect two of Love’s passes, using somewhat of a lost art of NFL defensive linemen. Moro Ojomo showed impressive speed bursts on the interior pass rush, and he blocked Love’s passing lanes with the same awareness to raise his hands on plays when he didn’t get home.
“The rush was active all game from all parts. We did a good job of rushing as a unit. That fourth-down play I think kind of signifies the kind of physicality that (Phillips) has.”
-Nick Sirianni
Nolan Smith best represented Fangio’s creativity to maximize the pass rush. He ran a stunt to the inside and put a monster hit on Love that helped force an incompletion late in the fourth quarter with Green Bay in desperation mode.
Nakobe Dean made his most significant impact in his fourth game of the season. He rushed the quarterback well on sim pressures with teammates dropping back into coverage in the middle of the field.
The Eagles pressured Love on 17 of his 42 dropbacks, led by Jaelan Phillips with eight total pressures. The 40% rate was the second highest the Packers have faced this season. Eight quarterback hits affected the pace of the game in a dominant performance, while Quinyon Mitchell led a strong complementary effort from the defensive backfield.
Vic Fangio and the Eagles defense hit the ground running after the bye week in a way the offense didn’t. They announced their rhythm with personnel upgrades, new layers to their gameplan, and execution that secured one of the most impactful road victories of the season. The effort bumped them into the NFL’s 11th-ranked spot in EPA per play allowed.
The addition of Jaelan Phillips and Brandon Graham and the return of Nolan Smith raises the ceiling of a defensive front to exceed their production from an underwhelming performance in their first eight games of the season.
All advanced stats courtesy of NFL Next Gen and Sumer Sports
