Eagles lean on wrecking-ball defensive line for playoff boost

PHILADELPHIA – Time to get the biggest bang yet for their buck.

Carson Wentz, the rising star of a quarterback, won’t be suiting up for the Philadelphia Eagles when they open the playoffs on Saturday before a throng of anxiously rabid faithful at The Linc. Jason Peters, the rock of a left tackle, also is sidelined. Darren Sproles, the swift playmaker, is a spectator, too. Torn ACLs have wreaked some kind of havoc on the Eagles’ chances for a championship. 

Yet the Eagles’ defensive line – a deep, relentless, passionate group – will be intact when the Atlanta Falcons visit for the divisional playoff.

If there’s any barometer to measure just how prepared the top-seeded Eagles are to proceed on a slippery road to the Super Bowl with underwhelming Nick Foles at quarterback, it is reflected by the defensive line. That’s where Philly’s ticket to glory has to be punched. Take pressure off Foles. Or else.

“We’re the highest-paid room in the building,” Fletcher Cox, the all-pro defensive tackle, grumbled to USA TODAY Sports this week, warming to the theme. “As a group, as a D-line, I think the team always looks to us to make the first play. We take that and embrace it. We try to be the tempo-setters.”

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Yes, the clichés apply: It starts up front, and defense wins championships.

In this case, the Eagles need to keep Atlanta’s scoring in check to avoid engaging Foles in a shootout against Matt Ryan for their best chance to win. The way for that to happen is for the defensive line to take over.

“It’s on us to bring the energy,” defensive end Brandon Graham told USA TODAY Sports. “We’re trying to take over the game as a D-line.”

After all, the Eagles are paying for just that.

As Cox said, the Eagles’ defensive line accounts for more of the team’s salary cap dollars than any position group. According to Spotrac.com, the Eagles committed 26.62% of their cap dollars to the D-line this season (slightly more than the O-line payout), which equates to roughly $49.5 million for 10 players. Just two NFL teams committed more to D-linemen.

Led by Cox — the team’s highest-paid player with a $17.9 million figure that accounts for 9.55% of the team’s adjusted cap figure of $181.775 million — it has been money well spent.

Philadelphia will throw the NFL’s top-ranked run defense at the Falcons to counter the two-headed monster of running back playmakers in Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman. While run defense is a team effort, safety Malcolm Jenkins told USA TODAY Sports, “The first part of it is them being able to cancel out every gap on the inside.”

That same D-line often covers up for a secondary with young cornerbacks (Jalen Mills, Ronald Darby) who have been sometimes susceptible to double moves by crafty receivers. It will pressure Matt Ryan primarily with a four-man rush, primarily because the Eagles don’t need to blitz as much because of the heat they generate from waves of linemen that D-coordinator Jim Schwartz deploys with a deep rotation.

“You can’t just plan for one of us,” said Graham, with a team-high 9½ sacks. “You’ve got to plan for all of us. That’s the struggle.”

When Graham and fellow defensive end Vinny Curry get breathers, Chris Long and first-round pick Derek Barnett (who broke Eagles legend Reggie White’s career sack record at Tennessee) step in. Translation: No drop-off.

“The rotation helps us,” defensive tackle Tim Jernigan told USA TODAY Sports. “We’re always intense no matter what quarter we’re in, you’re getting max effort. This defensive line is built to last.”

Key now is that the unit is built to take over a game and win.

Follow Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell.

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