What Happened to the Eagles Pass Rush?

The Eagles pass rush has fallen from grace in recent weeks. What happened and can they turn it around?

[@coolknight99]

Great analysis. Its been pretty clear watching QBs escape from our dline that they are not playing together/as a group. The number of times Dak and other mobile quarterbacks have gotten aways from us by inches

[@PhillyFilmRoom]

It's been frustrating to watch. It wastes the reps where the coverage does hold up.

[@22dontmiss]

@@PhillyFilmRoomI just wanna say I play defensive edge and damn this video helping my team out, specially my DTs lmao thanks man

[@katyas-mom]

The defensive line is exhausted. Team is not rotating like last year. And the lack of LBs/safeties supporting them hurts the defense as a whole. Losing the DB coach to the Ravens killed us.

[@Spruce_Bringsteen]

Hargrave flies under the radar a lot more than a player of his caliber should, he was a big loss.

[@bastard342]

@@Spruce_Bringsteenyou guys miss cj forsure😂😂

[@Farcehole]

Same thing happened last year. When you never blitz, it limits the variety of protections the opponent Oline has to cycle through. If you only send 4 and they’ve always got 5…you do the math.

[@ContrarianExpatriate]

The Dline is the key to the performance of the entire defense. When it underachieves, the entire defense will.

[@PhillyFilmRoom]

100%. That's what happens when we over invest in one area and under invest in others.

[@mintcarrier]

@@PhillyFilmRoomif howie just invested in one coverage linebacker of the ilk of a roquan smith or Patrick queen I’d be fine with an average or what we have this year partner at the other spot. The chickens have come home to roost on that decision and will stay as well as hatch eggs as long as we continue to pour resources elsewhere which unfortunately I think we will.

[@RichardLawrenceIII]

@@mintcarrierlol lineman can’t guard tightened and wide receivers

[@mintcarrier]

@@RichardLawrenceIII what th are you talking about?

[@RichardLawrenceIII]

@@mintcarrier How the eagles only care about there Defensive Line and not any other position. Didn’t think 🤔 that needed to be explained to you

[@suzannedaily5455]

The struggle is real. Great article Carter. Overall your content is solid and better than most.

[@devonslater5470]

I really think last years cupcake schedule made this pass rush look MUCH better than it was. Even when you account for CJ and hargrave leaving, the drop off shouldn’t be this stark

[@PhillyFilmRoom]

Bingo. Nobody wants to admit it but there's a reason everybody had their career best year in 2022.

[@Mma-basement-215]

This was great.. very insightful... love the content... Happy New Year 🎉

[@thepilotjedi]

good breakdown. unfortunately we've just died as a pass rush as of the last 5-7 games for god knows why. We were doing alright at the beginning of the year and players usually dont tend to forget how to play the game. Im hoping its a coaching issue and i hope patrica can help our swiss cheese defence in the playoffs

[@PhillyFilmRoom]

I really think it's a schedule issue. They played bad OLs and worse QBs to start the year. Then they played good OLs that also have good QBs. Since the bye week, they've played the best three teams in regards to pressure + sack rate allowed.

[@ryancampbell1847]

Na we don't have the depth we even had to begin the season... There all playing to many snaps.. not fresh

[@Swndl3]

This is such an awesome video. I’m not super familiar with this part of the game so this was incredibly eye opening. Subscribed!

[@PhillyFilmRoom]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@MooreTainted]

Great content

[@mikekane7868]

Excellent break down. The whole line under preformed last year. With the new signings this offseason do you think they’ll draft along the D line again this year?

[@stickshiftt9127]

Great job!!! They need you on ESPN, or @CSNPhilly!!

[@imisskatelyn9517]

Solid breakdown. All year I've been frustrated by the lack of a consistent pass rush. I know BG is older and they're saving him for the playoffs but I'd be giving him a minimum of five more snaps a game. The other thing that is annoying me somewhat is how Derrek Barnett has had 9 hurries and one sack in the last two games for Houston but when he was here, he gave us nothing this year. He was probably playing disgruntled because the Eagles didn't trade him earlier this season or give him more snaps. The Eagles gave him 12 snaps a game which I feel was enough for him to produce and earn more snaps but he did nothing with those snaps. Lacking depth at the edge, we could've used his newfound production while giving Sweat's legs a breather.

[@PhillyFilmRoom]

They've also started putting BG inside in place of Carter which I think is a mistake. Take some of those reps away from Sweat/Reddick for some rest, we already have a deep rotation at DT. I wouldn't read too much into Barnett. Cleveland is down to their 3rd and 4th tackles and the Titans were using a backup tackle as well. All rank as some of the worst pass blockers among tackles using PFF grading. Becton from the Jets ranked in bottom half as well

[@imisskatelyn9517]

@@PhillyFilmRoom that makes me feel better lol. Thanks.

[@SlimbyTheSillyGoose]

Thanks

[@BetterDaySilverCloud]

I would add to this great analysis that the secondary and DLine work hand over fist. I believe they are fatigued and also you won’t have much of a pass rush if you have a weak secondary. QB will get rid of the ball each and every time against a weak secondary and it morally deflates the DLine. Our secondary was a bit better last year, although it’s been a constant issue for the Eagles.That was one of the things I remember Eric Allen saying a while ago that the gangreen defense secondary allowed Reggie white, Jerome brown, Mike Golic, Mike pitts and Clyde Simmons to do their thing, he said they had each others back

[@jay3414]

Everyone doing their own thing, no stunts or team work.

[@PhillyFilmRoom]

Gotta work as a group.

[@katyas-mom]

​@@PhillyFilmRoomThat's on the coaching.

[@jay3414]

@@katyas-mom Facts, the Coaches have the mindset, our guys can beat your guys & it's catching up to them

[@MrCurodd]

I’m a cowboys fan but no way this isn’t on coaching. They have the most stacked D like in the league. They are also playing Jalen Carter 30 snaps a game which is bewildering. I get having fresh rushers but that guy should be playing 75% of the snaps every game.

[@MrCurodd]

Also again as a Cowboys fan and reviewing the tape there is no way he wasn’t credited with a pressure on that week 14 game, he had two that I counted from the tape

[@katyas-mom]

This is about scheming and lack of rotation along with a steep upgrade in opponents. Go learn football.

[@MrCurodd]

@@katyas-mom yep just played university and coached for 10 years likely while you were jerking off in your basement. Also you agreed with my point? lol “it’s about scheming”…what exactly do you think coaching is there Einstein? I’m not even sure you read past I’m a Cowboy’s fan before posting this nonsense.

[@toomanylies7716]

Hmm. Really good info here.

[@Paulyb384]

My hope is with Maddox returning, a healthier Slay, and Ringo rotating in can help w coverage

[@Justsayin71]

33 getting trucked by purdy made me cry.

[@justinsugay1149]

Nice methodical and clear break down. Thanks for giving us Hargrave. That definitely hurt you guys and helped us a lot. What do you think about investing more on LBs and or signing better DBs for next year? Playoffs here we go!

[@PhillyFilmRoom]

They'll definitely need to invest more in LB. This should be an eye opening experience for the front office. LBs may be devalued relative to other positions, but they still provide value. They'll need to sign a safety this offseason and find a corner for the future, but LB is their biggest deficiency.

[@Tuco_V.]

Last year having a secondary 1st against the pass gave some extra seconds to get to the qbs. This year well no comment lol

[@PhillyFilmRoom]

No doubt, that was a great mix of rush and coverage. The Eagles time to throw hasn't been that bad this year. Sheil Kapadia has mentioned it last week or the week before that the Eagles are around average in QB time to throw against this defense. With this pass rush group you'd think that would be good enough to be higher in sacks. Maybe not 70 sacks, but still higher.

[@jordantremblay136]

well this is the perfect time this video comes up on my feed after the eagles are allowing reddick to seek a trade😂

[@TheBearGrappler]

I just saw a video from The Football Scout breaking down the run defense vs Cardinals. Excellent stuff that shows a lack of gap discipline by the D

[@suzannedaily5455]

Did you watch this video?

[@PhillyFilmRoom]

Haven't seen that video, but I imagine we have a lot of the same thoughts.

[@helgrenze]

Can Eagles fans now admit that Desai was not the problem? Matt Patricia is a horrible coach outside of the Belichick system. This last 2 weeks the defense looked LOST. They were out of step, out of place, and out of sync. Matt Pat had the play calling duties, and he is really bad at seeing the field. He is likely also locker room poison.

[@PhillyFilmRoom]

Completely lost. It's really embarrassing.

[@stacc_8334]

I say this all the time. Without the pass rush, the eagles are a weak defense. Deebo Samuel even said it himself, those dbs are nothing without those pass rushers. You would think their pass rush would be 5x better than last season because of who they drafted, but no it's worse. Teams found a way to get around the pass rush and get the ball out to their wrs quickly. Eagles needs to find better dbs that can step up when the pass rush isn't consistently there imo. Also didn't they just hire that defensive coordinator from the patriots? Getting a new DC and changing up the scheme with players that are already in sync can mess up a defense as well.

[@PhillyFilmRoom]

Really they're beating us over the middle. We've been starting two rookies (one UDFA) corners for several weeks and teams still keep targeting the middle. Even when we played the 49ers, they never went after Bradberry, it was mostly short stuff underneath. Still, there are plenty of games where QBs are holding the ball for longer than their season averages but they're not winning their rush or they're losing lane integrity when someone does get pressure. The new DC is playing a part as they are completely lost and not communicating now.

[@shdmd2118]

Needed Hargrove

[@joeweaver9913]

Fletcher Cox may be gone after this season, so I would not be surprised to see the Eagles draft a DT in round 1 or 2 again. Edge rushers are really hard to draft. I wonder if any free agents will be worth it

[@mariohernandez231]

Why would you waste a pick if you’re already developing two DT? The biggest question should be in the secondary who’s knows how many players stay.

[@joeweaver9913]

@@mariohernandez231 The Eagles front office values the offensive and defensive lines. They normally roster 5 or 6 DTs and at least 4 of them get plenty of snaps. They don't have a history of drafting well in the secondary. When was the last time they took a DB in the 1st or 2nd round that actually panned out? I can't remember.

[@PhillyFilmRoom]

They'll need someone else that can rush the passer next to Carter. Milton and JD are just not good enough to be consistent threats as pass rushers at the moment. Chris Jones and Christian Wilkins are going to be free agents and top tier pass rushers from the interior, but I doubt the Eagles spend the money for them. Sheldon Rankins is a possibility but again, he'll probably garner too much money. Could take a shot on Javon Kinlaw who should be cheaper. Pass rushing DTs are at a premium though, so if we want to get another one we'll probably have to draft one. Potentially Byron Murphy from Texas. We'll have to see how the draft board shakes out as the draft gets closer.

[@joeweaver9913]

@@PhillyFilmRoom yeah, you're making sense

[@CaptBlackjack22]

Its such a weird mix of vets cycling out and new guys not having enough experience. This is the window that would be best for the team but it just isn't being used well. That aside the new talent coming in does give hope that its not a horrible tailspin into rebuilding.

[@PhillyFilmRoom]

It's not a rebuilding thing, especially with how good Carter already is and seeing that he can still become even greater. There's some options in the free agency market that would be intriguing. Bryce Huff and Jonathan Greenard are two I have my eye on. I'll have some breakdowns on them this offseason. We do need to find another pass rusher they can put next to JC though. Milton hasn't taken that step we'd hope to see.

[@imbykji]

It's like we don't have any coaches making adjustments.

[@TopTierTV95]

So….. are the coaches aware of this? Sounds like they could use you in the film room.

[@akeamtomlin198]

Well we gave away Hargrave and half our defense players last off season after the super bowl CJGJ had six pick last year by himself the way the NFL cap is setup we gave away key players

[@PhillyFilmRoom]

Yeah losing all those guys really hurt. We weren't gonna be able to keep Hargrave though and CJ made his own choice. But in hindsight we should've not given out such a big contract to Bradberry and tried a different approach at LB and S.

[@akeamtomlin198]

seriously especially he had the penalty that caused us the Super Bowl he haven't applied the same effort it came to bite us after the season I can see Howie replacing him for sure idk what they saw in him he to slow for that position @@PhillyFilmRoom

[@akeamtomlin198]

I hope Howie see this I been saying this for years draft a number one linebacker and safety our defense will be so much more powerful@@PhillyFilmRoom

[@Mma-basement-215]

They need to stay in there Lanes period...m

[@jefe3072]

sounds like this team doesn't have the tools for another super bow run this year :(

[@stephenkegler1561]

They're gassed! They defense can't get off the field

[@PhillyFilmRoom]

It's their own fault for not getting off the field

[@chriselliott4621]

The Eagles are tied with Dallas at 15th with 40 sacks. That is strange; two teams known as top sack teams tied in the middle.

[@PhillyFilmRoom]

Cowboys have a significantly higher sack rate than the Eagles. 8th vs 24th. The Eagles have faced the most pass attempts this year, Dallas 31st in pass attempts faced

[@allaktion]

I feel like we have looked poorly coached all year. I think we have a great roster but I find it hard to be optimistic about coaching this year or going forward with Matt patricia.

[@chriselliott4621]

@@allaktion Yea when you sit your D-cord and your Head coach is a speaker box... you gonna have problems in house. The only problem the Eagles have faced this year, is themselves.

[@___Loso___]

As much as I like Nolan Smith, I was hoping the Eagles to draft Brian Branch with their late 1st...

[@PhillyFilmRoom]

In hindsight they should have. Some concerning stuff for Nolan on tape. Didn't really see much development from him, though he didn't get to play much. Next year we need to see some improvement.

[@nsp51frio]

I honestly think they get too deep on their rushes. Soo many times do they get behind the running back or qb and barely just miss him. Look at sweat against the cards. They gotta change their angle of attack on the edge.

[@PhillyFilmRoom]

I agree changing his angle would help from time to time just to give a different look. The sad part is, he forces QBs to step up or off their spot a lot, but unlike last year, nobody is there to clean it up consistently.

[@zachgilpin3504]

No interceptions either. Not even trying to get to the ball.

[@PhillyFilmRoom]

They gotta be close to the receiver to get the ball

[@EaglesXsandOs]

Wonder if Eagles can clear enough room to sign Jonathan Greenard?

[@PhillyFilmRoom]

They definitely can, they currently have $28M of cap space next offseason. Byard will certainly be cut as the Eagles can save around $13 mil. Depending on what they want to do with Maddox, they could restructure and clear another $4M for next season (though he'd count for $10 of dead money if they don't re-sign him after his contract ends). Could restructure Reddick and clear up to $11M next season, but like Maddox, he'd have dead money in 2025 if not re-signed ($25M). With the way Howie structures contracts with all the void years, Greenard would have a fairly low cap hit next season. Also wouldn't mind seeing what Bryce Huff from the Jets costs. 2nd in pressure rate, 7th in sack rate among edge rushers in 2023. 3rd pressure rate last season but only had 164 rush snaps. I do expect them to throw a little money at safety this offeason in light of the Sydney Brown injury (and they needed depth anyway) and to some degree at LB. Both positions are projected to be deep this offseason and we've seen Howie try to go after big name safeties in free agency in the past (Jenkins, Marcus Williams).

[@EaglesXsandOs]

What do you think of Chinn/Hyde/Winfield? @@PhillyFilmRoom

[@windwulfboi]

I’m embarrassed by this team. From great to a joke in half a season, it makes me question if they deserved to even make the post-season.

[@PhillyFilmRoom]

If the NFL had a playoff committee, the Eagles wouldn't make it

[@DarkestVoid]

Agree with quite a bit of this but how tf isn’t Reddick elite?

[@PhillyFilmRoom]

I'm gonna have an article in a few days about that, will be important to discuss as he nears the end of his contract. But in regards to elite, I think people throw that around too much. I think Myles Garrett, Micah and TJ Watt are elite. Bosa I would put right on the edge but could understand if someone included him in the tier.

[@donhill5]

Josh Sweat is always getting caught going into the middle or he gets pushed 10 yards past the QB.

[@PhillyFilmRoom]

yeah he needs to implement some more bull rushes/changing attack angle to help shorten the corner to get outside.

[@Soundofsilver2007]

Josh Sweat is hurting this team..

[@George-Cancel]

So you telling me these guy could have more sack if they help each other out.

[@PhillyFilmRoom]

Almost like it's a team game or something

[@kingtaz2535]

Carter needs a bigger bag

[@PhillyFilmRoom]

He'll get there. He's got a lot more moves than typical rookies, but he's still a rookie.

[@mikeyj.philly]

Hasaan Reddick not an elite pass rusher...? This is what we call a "disqualifying statement" from a football analyst.

[@ryancampbell1847]

I think they so gassed from all the snaps... what happens when you get rid of Street.. Barnett...they may not have been great but they were bodies to eat snaps...these dudes are all overwhelmed eirh toooo many snaps.. Carter never played rhis many snaps..need to keep them fresh and our line was a strength but now a weakness due to many snaps...

[@felixlara2945]

Reddick and sweat were never that good the rookie is only alright cox is washed graham is washed and the nose tackle isn't good

[@Soundofsilver2007]

Taking an average DT in Jordan Davis over a superstar S with Kyle Hamilton has haunted this team. Kyle had the HIGHER CEILING and imo the higher floor. Howie knew Jordan was likely to be quality 2 down player rather than a Safety who could’ve easily gone in the top 5. He FELL right into our laps. Jordan Davis is hurting this team with his subpar play in both the run and pass. Jordan Davis isn’t good enough right now. On Xmas day I saw Kyle Hamilton just make the greatest INT I’ve ever seen which played a biiiig factor in beat SF. Jordan Davis did NOTHING against that same Whiners team.

[@mintcarrier]

Nah Davis is the more valuable player. Reed is solid and Sydney brown will develop into a good player

[@funkmanpushin2751]

@@mintcarrierIs he tho because what’s been killing the eagles all season is there secondary, am not trying to argue btw just curious on why you think this

[@mintcarrier]

@@funkmanpushin2751 because Kyle Hamilton being here wouldn’t fix our secondary…hell bdawk himself wouldn’t either…it’s not a matter of personnel but scheme. Lineman are more valuable than safeties on the gms value chart..more difficult to find

[@AlexJohns-kw2um]

Cry Eagles Cry. Whats it like to be the biggest frauds in the NFL

[@PhillyFilmRoom]

Not as good as when you comment to help the algo! Thanks dude

[@willjonesjr276]

It's the grass fault, that's was the excuse in the super bowl