On Sunday, the Eagles’ defense had its best performance of the season in their victory over the Saints. They held the vaunted Saints offense to just 12 points and 219 yards of total offense.
Coming into the game against New Orleans, the Eagles’ defense struggled against the run. In the first two games, they allowed an average of 158 yards per game, but against the Saints, they allowed only 89 yards rushing.
One reason for the team’s success against New Orleans was the play of defensive tackle Jalen Carter.
The second-year defensive tackle came into the game against the Saints with three assisted tackles but no solo tackles. However, against the Saints, Carter had three solo tackles, including two for loss.
After being roundly criticized last week, Carter stepped up, which Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni discussed on Monday.
“I thought we got off the mat pretty quick,” Carter said. “Because I just think that there was this urgency after the loss of, hey, no one liked that taste in our mouth. It was handling the adversity of the initial thing and just how you’re going to respond to it. So [DT] Jalen Carter, he didn’t play his best game, obviously, against Atlanta. But he came out and he was completely dominant in the game yesterday.
“Sometimes I share with you ‘player of the game,’ sometimes I don’t. He was our player of the game yesterday, so he got a game ball for yesterday because of his performance.
“But what changed was — at the end of the day, and I said this last week, playing defense is about just your relentless effort. Playing defense is about striking blocks. Playing defense is about shedding blocks. Playing defense is about tackling. Playing defense is all being on the same page.
“You do those things well; you’re going to have an opportunity to play good defense. So that’s what I saw from Jalen Carter. He’d strike; he was violent yesterday with his hands. He was athletic to get off blocks. He beat blocks every way you could possibly imagine. He played on their side of the line of scrimmage an awful lot.
“As a result, he let other people make plays. Not only did he make plays, but he helped other people make plays. There were multiple plays where I felt like our linebackers were running free because they were hanging on the double team of his block for a little bit longer.
“So I loved his response. Really at the end of the day, again, you can have a negative mindset, or you can have a purpose mindset. The purpose mindset says ‘What did I screw up the game before? This, this, and this. And how am I going to fix it? This, this, and this.’ And then going out and executing it. And he did that.
“And I think that sets a good example for our entire team. There are going to be little losses throughout every game. There will be little wins; there will be little losses. You can’t get held up on either of them. You just have to play the next play and learn from the little losses that you have.”
Carter has the ability and tools to be a terror on the inside. However, he has to be consistent. If he can do that, the Eagles should be better against the run moving forward.
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