The Eagles’ 10 sacks against the Jets were the second-most in franchise history and Sunday’s outburst came after they had an NFL-low three sacks through the first four weeks.
Those 10 sacks came in a variety of ways against the Jets.
Here’s a closer look at all of them:
Sack No. 1
The first sack of the game came on the first series of the game. It’s 3rd-and-9 and the Eagles are going to get to Luke Falk with a four-man rush, from left to right: Josh Sweat, Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, Derek Barnett. The Jets have four wide.
As is normally the case, Cox gets double-teamed inside, so the defensive tackle next to him gets a 1-on-1. During the planning for this season, that was supposed to be Malik Jackson, but he’s out for the year. In recent years, Graham has gotten a bunch of snaps (and done some of his best work) from an inside pass rush position on third downs. That’s exactly what happens here. He uses his hands to get around guard Brian Winters, keeps his balance and delivers a textbook hit on Falk.
NFL
Sack No. 2
Still in the first quarter, this play happens on 2nd-and-9. This time, Jim Schwartz uses a corner blitz with Orlando Scandrick, who has actually been pretty good at these in his career. Even though Scandrick shows blitz pre-snap, rookie RT Chuma Edoga couldn’t get a block on him. If Edoga was a half-step faster, Falk has a nice pocket, but he wasn’t.
This was the first of two strip sacks for Scandrick on the night. And it took Scandrick just 2.27 seconds to get to Falk here. That’s the third-fastest sack in the NFL this season, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
Sack No. 3
Here’s another third down rush with Graham inside. This time he’s at RDT with the line loaded to that side. Pre-snap, the Eagles show blitz but back off and go with a four-man rush on 3rd-and-6. But this time, they’re going to use a stunt that gets Graham free. Winters (67) is ready for Graham but pressure from the other side from Sweat forces Falk to move up in the pocket and right into Graham’s path. He can’t escape.
At the point when Falk decides to abandon the pocket, there wasn’t anything open down field and nothing to the side of field where he was forced to escape to.
Sack No. 4
Now we’re in the third quarter and the Jets are facing 3rd-and-8. Surprise, surprise, Graham is lined up as a DT again. This time he beat the guard and the center as the Jets slide the protection. Graham sticks with the play and gets the sack. Give some credit to the secondary on this one too; there wasn’t anything open.
Sack No. 5
This is a 1st-and-10 from late in the third quarter. It’s going to be another four-man rush. Watch Vinny Curry at RDE. He actually loses his balance and ends up flat on his belly under the left tackle, but sticks with the play. Thanks to coverage downfield from Rasul Douglas and Kamu Grugier-Hill on the receiver and Rodney McLeod on the back, Falk tries to step up and take off. The young QB had seen enough pressure all day to make him jumpy by late in the third quarter.
Eventually, Curry is off the grass and sticks with the play to get a 1-yard sack.
Sack No. 6
The Eagles’ last five sacks of the game came in a window just over 6 1/2 minutes long. They had been battering the Jets’ offensive line all day and with a big lead, could really pin their ears back against an awful unit.
This is a 1st-and-10 at the 8:38 mark in the fourth quarter. The Eagles don’t have any starters out there on their DL: Sweat, Akeem Spence, Hassan Ridgeway, Curry. The Jets slid protection to Spence for some reason, so Ridgeway and Curry both have 1-on-1s.
This is going to be another tackle-end stunt. Ridgeway penetrates and Curry loops inside. The guard and center don’t pass off this stunt well and Ridgeway is basically able to get sideways and split them to pick up a sack.
Sack No. 7
The very next play after the Ridgeway sack. This is another blitz coming from Scandrick.
Jim Schwartz pointed out the coverage made this play happen. Rasul Douglas covered his man deep and Vinny Curry, who dropped back in a zone blitz, covered the underneath man to give Scandrick time.
Initially, tight end Ryan Griffin does a nice job blocking, but there’s just nothing downfield for Falk. Scandrick, who thought he did a good job of disguising the blitz, admitted he could have had a better pass rush move. Eventually, though, Scandrick gets around the tight end and gets his second strip sack of the day. A few of these sacks showed that if coverage is there, pass rushers can’t ever give up.
And after Scandrick gets to the QB, he stole the football like candy from a baby and took it to the house. Impressive play and Eagles debut for Scandrick.
Sack No. 8
On a 2nd-and-6, the Jets are using max protect, so the Eagles send a heavy blitz. Daeshon Hall ends up in a 1-on-1 situation against TE Trevon Wesco and beats him to get the Falk for the sack.
On the outside, Rasul Douglas had press man coverage on Robby Anderson, who actually ends up beating him. If Falk has a pocket, he’d have a chance at a deep throw down the left sideline before the single-high safety can get there. But as Anderson gets open, Hall is already taking him to the ground.
Sack No. 9
The next sack comes on the very next play. It’s 3rd-and-13.
The Eagles use another four-man rush and it gets home again. You’ll notice this time that Graham is doubled inside, leaving Cox with a 1-on-1. Cox great great pressure but Sweat gets the sack. Sweat sets up the right tackle by making his first step to the outside. He gets the RT leaning, uses a club to get past him and then bursts through the QB. This is textbook.
Sack No. 10
The last sack of the game comes from Barnett, again on a four-man rush. The left tackle Kelvin Beachum tries to block Barnett to the outside but Ty Montgomery’s chip block actually sends Barnett into a makeshift spin move. Barnett is able to keep his balance and takes down the QB.
•••
Of the Eagles’ 10 sacks on Sunday, seven of them came on four-man rushes, with a couple stunts mixed in. The other three were well-timed blitzes.
Sure, you can take this performance with a grain of salt; the Jets are pretty bad. And maybe none of this carries over. But it was still a dominant performance from the Eagles’ defense.
Click here to download the MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Flyers, Sixers and Phillies games easily on your device.