Eagles NFC Championship PFF Grades: Philadelphia dominates trenches on both sides of the ball en route to Super Bowl berth
Hey, the Philadelphia Eagles are going to the Super Bowl. Can you believe it? I can – because the Eagles have been the best damn team in the NFL all season.
On a beautiful Sunday afternoon in South Philly, the Eagles punched their ticket to Super LVII with an emphatic win over the “most complete team in the league” the San Francisco 49ers.
With the game tied at seven a piece entering the final minute and a half of the first half, the Eagles managed to rattle off 14 points to grow their lead to 21-7 entering halftime. With both of the Niners quarterback banged up, the game was essentially over after the first 30 minutes of play.
The Eagles offense wasn’t as explosive as we’re accustomed to seeing, but they were just as tough and physical as we expected. Against a defense that had allowed just 77.7 rushing yards per game during the regular season, Philly’s rushing attack racked up 148 yards and scored all four of the team’s touchdowns.
Defensively, Jonathan Gannon’s group dismantled San Francisco from start to finish. The Niners managed to gain just 164 yards of total offense (lol) while averaging 3.6 yards per play (LOL). The pass rush led the charge, tallying three sacks and seven QB hits on the day.
Now, the Eagles are set to faceoff against Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes in Super Bowl LVII. Let’s dance.
Before we dive head first into Super Bowl coverage, let’s reminisce a bit and look at how Pro Football Focus graded the Eagles latest demolition.
Eagles starting offensive linemen earn stellar marks
Most of the time, the top-five highest-graded players for the Eagles offense will be a solid mix of lineman and a handful of skill players. Not this week. Each of the top-five highest-graded players were offensive lineman.
- LG Landon Dickerson (92.2)
- LT Jordan Mailata (87.2)
- RT Jack Driscoll (77.4)
- RT Lane Johnson (74.2)
- C Jason Kelce (71.6)
Starting right guard Isaac Seumalo was the only starting lineman to finish with a grade lower than 70.0, earning a 52.8 offensive grade for the evening.
Jeff Stoutland’s group held the Niners pass rush at bay all game long. Defensive Player of the Year candidate Nick Bosa was essentially taken out of the game by Johnson and Mailata. He finished the game with just four tackles and zeroes across the board in sacks and QB hits. Bosa earned a 54.7 pass rushing grade on the day.
Overall, the Eagles offensive line was dominant in pass protection as always. They allowed five total pressures without giving up a sack.
The big guys up front dominated in the ground game as well. Dickerson led the way with a 91.3 run blocking grade, followed by Mailata (83.4) and Johnson (72.4).
Jalen Hurts has been heralded as this team’s MVP all season. He obviously deserves a massive amount of respect for everything he’s done this year. But if it weren’t for this offensive line, who knows how the Eagles season would have gone. It certainly wouldn’t have ended in Arizona with a Lombardi Trophy on the line.
PFF grades for the entire Eagles offense
DraftKings Sportsbook: Bet $5, Win $200 INSTANTLY
- Sign up for a new DraftKings account
- Make Your First Deposit
- Bet $5+ On Any Sport
- Get $200 In Free Bets Instantly
Eagles defensive line manhandled Niners’ front
The story of this game was the Eagles dominance in the trenches. Their offensive line pushed the Niners around all day, while their defensive line did the same thing on the other side of the ball.
Nearly every single one of the Eagles defensive linemen ended the day with stellar marks across the board.
- Haason Reddick (91.8)
- Javon Hargrave (91.1)
- Brandon Graham (81.9)
- Fletcher Cox (78.2)
- Linval Joseph (76.3)
- Ndamukong Suh (76.3)
- Robert Quinn (73.7)
That’s seven individual defensive linemen finishing with grades of 70.0 or higher. It’s unprecedented and frankly unbelievable that the Eagles defensive line is this dominant.
The leader of the pack, Haason Reddick, put on another show Sunday afternoon. He finished the game with two sacks, one tackle for loss, one QB hit, and five total pressures. Not to mention he posted a pass rushing win rate of 28.6 percent. His 93.2 pass rushing grade led all Eagles pass rushers on Sunday.
Behind Reddick, we have Javon Hargrave, who continues to prove he’s one of the best pass rushing interior defensive lineman in football. On 12 pass rushing reps, Hargrave posted a ridiculous 50 percent pass rush win rate – by far the highest mark of any lineman on Sunday. He finished the game with a pass rushing grade of 92.9.
Brandon Graham, Milton Williams, Linval Joseph, Ndamukong Suh, and Fletcher Cox all posted pass rushing grades of 65.0 or higher.
The Eagles front-four is, without question, the best overall defensive line in the game right now and it’s not particularly close.
PFF grades for the entire Eagles defense
FanDuel Sportsbook: Bet $5, Get $150 in Free Bets
- Sign up for a new FanDuel account
- Make Your First Deposit
- Bet $5 On Any Sport
- Get $150 In Free Bets Instantly
