All On The Line

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All On The Line

Posted: October 9th, 2023 | Author: Tommy Lawlor 

The Eagles had the best OL/DL in the league last year. Other teams saw that and came after some of the players. DT Javon Hargrave signed with the Niners. RG Isaac Seumalo signed with the Steelers. Andre Dillard signed with the Titans.

We are five games into the 2023 season and the Eagles once again have the best OL/DL in the league. Amazing.

Let’s start with the DL. Hargrave is out, but his replacement is Jalen Carter, who has a legit shot to be the Defensive Rookie of the Year. Carter makes splash plays every week and just jumps off the tape when you watch him.

Rookies shouldn’t play like that. Wow. That looks like Fletcher Cox in his prime. Instead that is Carter in his second month as a pro. He leads the team with 3.5 sacks and 2 FF. He is second with 4 TFLs. Carter isn’t just flying upfield. He’s a key reason the Eagles have the top ranked run defense in the NFL. You can make a legitimate argument that Carter is an upgrade on Hargave. I did not anticipate saying that. I figured I would be preaching patience with the young fella while he adjusted to life in pro football. Carter is making the league adjust to him. What a stud.

Cox missed Sunday’s game in LA. Did you even notice?

Milton Williams isn’t making a lot of plays right now, but he is being disruptive. Watch 93 and you see him affecting the offense. Last week he had a key TFL in overtime that helped to get the ball back to the Eagles. Check out this hustle play from the Rams game.

He had a similar play to that against WAS as well. The stat sheet doesn’t show much, but the game tape tells a different story. Williams is helping the Eagles front give offenses a hard time.

The OL had a new RG in Cam Jurgens. He has played well this year. Some wondered if Jurgens had the size/strength to succeed at OG at this level. After four games the answer is a resounding yes.

The Eagles were very happy with the updated version of the OL. Then Jurgens got hurt against Washington and that meant Sua Opeta would have to replace him at RG. Nick Sirianni praised him for an "outstanding” performance against WAS.

Opeta got the start in LA, his first since 2021. How would he handle a starting role? How would he handle going up against future HOF player Aaron Donald? Let’s take a look and see.

How is it that the Eagles have that guy on the bench and other teams struggle to find five starters? The Jeff Stoutland era has spoiled Eagles fans. And I think we’re all very happy about that. Thanks Stout!

Donald was a non-factor on Sunday. He was credited with 4 tackles, but no plays (sacks, TFLs, QB hits, FF, FR). Donald isn’t the guy he was a few years ago, but he’s still a disruptive force against most OLs. Not on Sunday.

The rest of the OL has continued to play at a high level. Just watch other teams try to run the push play. It works some of the time, but is far from automatic. When the Eagles run it, it is close to automatic.

Dickerson and Kelce are the keys to that play. They get low and then Dickerson explodes off the ball to create movement. Then Jordan Mailata uses his power to cave in the pile. It is impressive that they get so much movement even when teams know that play is coming.

You have to give Howie Roseman, the scouts and the front office a lot of credit for building great lines and then being able to rebuild them. That’s not easy.

*****

For a while, it felt like the offense was a bit off. That’s not the case anymore.

The Eagles are 2nd in yards and 5th in points.

The one area where they must improve is the red zone, where they are just 27th. If the Eagles scored a few more TDs instead of FGs, this offense could be the best in the NFC. I’m still leaving the Dolphins as the best in the league.

Scoring TDs would also take some of the drama out of these games. The Eagles are 5-0, but they’re playing with fire as they let teams hang around. They need to do a better job of putting them away.

http://igglesblitz.com/2023/10/all-on-the-line/