Left Side, Strong Side: Landon Dickerson and Jordan Mailata’s masterclass in the NFC Championship
From the first snap of Championship Sunday, Landon Dickerson and the Eagles’ offensive line ensured that the 49ers felt their physicality early and often.
The clip below is the game’s second play, where Mailata drives 320-pound defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw past the first down marker. As the old saying goes, “Low man wins.”
Jordan Mailata and Landon Dickerson Championship Sunday
Anchored by the best center to ever play the position in Jason Kelce, the Eagles offensive line allowed Jalen Hurts to be sacked just twice this postseason, with PFF attributing both to the quarterback. Against the 49ers, Jordan Mailata and Landon Dickerson both played 30 pass-blocking snaps, and Mailata finished the game with zero sacks or hurries, and Dickerson allowed only two hurries. Both have yet to allow a sack against them this postseason.
San Francisco entered the NFC Championship game letting up just over 80 yards on the ground (2nd in NFL). The Eagles rushed 44 times for 148 yards but dominated the line of scrimmage for almost the entirety of the game. Watch Landon Dickerson pull multiple 300-pound bodies with one arm while Jordan Mailata goes low to create the ultimate wedge for Hurts to sneak through.
Of all the offensive linemen to play on Championship Sunday, Jordan Mailata and Landon Dickerson earned PFF’s two highest run-blocking grades with a 91.3 and 83.4, respectively. The third highest graded run blocker was the Bengals’ right tackle Hakeem Adeniji with a 77.6 PFF run blocking grade.
Jeff Stoutland put on another masterclass with his unit against one of the NFL’s most challenging defensive lines. Howie Roseman gets a ton of credit for finding Jordan Mailata in the draft’s seventh round. Still, I think a massive amount more goes to Jeff Stoutland for putting in the work to train a six-foot-eight, 365-pound rugby player into a dominant left tackle at the professional level.
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Featured Image Credit: NBC Sports Philadelphia
