NFL Analysis
2/10/25
6 min read
How the Eagles’ Pass Rush Powered Their Super Bowl 59 Victory
The decline of Philadelphia’s pass rush was one of the driving forces behind their mid-season collapse in 2023, but its resurgence in 2024 led to the franchise’s second Super Bowl and the temporary end to Kansas City’s dynasty. The Eagles’ dominant defensive performance in last night’s Super Bowl is a testament to the teambuilding prowess of Howie Roseman, the player development of Philadelphia’s coaching staff, and the individual improvement of the young players on this roster.
2023 DECLINE
The Eagles had a historically elite pass rush in 2022. They pressured opposing quarterbacks at the second highest rate in the league (39.5%) and led the NFL with a 10.5% sack rate, a mark that hasn’t been topped since at least 2000. They regressed significantly in 2023, however, ranking 24th in sack rate and falling from 2nd to 14th in pressure rate.
This decline resulted from the perfect storm of age regression, roster turnover, and career seasons that turned out to be anomalies. Javon Hargrave, who had 11 sacks and the second most pressures on the team in 2022, signed with San Francisco. He was replaced by Jalen Carter, who played great for a rookie, but lost steam down the stretch as the schedule got tougher. The Eagles also drafted Nolan Smith in the first round, but he played a rotational role in his first year.
Every returning starter on Philadelphia’s front four that played significant snaps had fewer sacks and a lower sack rate in 2023 than they did in 2022. Haason Reddick wasn’t able to replicate his dominant 16-sack performance from 2022, recording 11 sacks on almost 100 more pass rushing snaps the following season. Josh Sweat’s sack rate plummeted and he went the final eight weeks of the regular season without a sack. Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox were another year deeper into their mid-thirties and their pass rushing juice steeply declined.
2024 RESURGENCE
Philadelphia’s pass rush had to improve this year for them to recapture the defensive dominance that led them to the Super Bowl in 2022 and re-emerge as serious contenders – and that’s exactly what happened. In 2024 the Eagles once again ranked in the top ten in pressure rate and sack rate. They saved their best performance for last, sacking Patrick Mahomes six times in the Super Bowl. Mahomes had never been sacked more than five times in a single game for his entire career and the Chiefs hadn’t allowed six sacks in a game since 2016.
While the 2024 Eagles’ pass rush wasn’t quite as overwhelming as it was two years ago, the improved back-seven reduced the burden of the front-four to carry the entire unit, and the defense as a whole was actually better. Adding players like Cooper DeJean, Quinyon Mitchell, and Zack Baun allowed the unit to thrive with a good-not-great pass rush.
SUPER BOWL
Philadelphia’s pass rush took over Super Bowl 59, which shouldn’t be too surprising considering their deep lineup and Kansas City’s protection issues. But the way they dominated was unexpected.
It wasn’t a star-driven beatdown with Jalen Carter club-swimming past Mike Caliendo every other play. Carter drew a holding call on Trey Smith, but aside from that he was relatively quiet as a pass rusher and only had two pressures:
The Eagles didn’t out-scheme Kansas City with exotic blitzes - their pressure plan was fairly vanilla. Vic Fangio is the most blitz-averse defensive coordinator in the league and had the highest four-man rush rate in the NFL this year (82.9%), but he fully committed to his philosophy on Sunday. According to Next Gen Stats the Eagles didn’t blitz once on 42 dropbacks. They ran some basic stunts and twists, but ultimately trusted the players to win one-on-one matchups and generate pressure with four rushers.
Howie Roseman’s roster construction and the Eagles’ player development were on full display last night. Philadelphia’s defensive line unit as a collective was firing on all cylinders and almost every player in the rotation made an impact. Nine players recorded a pressure and six players recorded at least three. With Bryce Huff, the intended centerpiece of Philadelphia’s pass rush, inactive, they were still able to bully Kansas City’s offensive line and terrorize the best quarterback in the NFL.
A year removed from his eight-week sack drought, Josh Sweat led the team with seven pressures and 2.5 sacks. One of his pressures forced Patrick Mahomes into an errant throw, which Zack Baun intercepted:
Milton Williams continued his breakout season with four pressures, two sacks, and a forced fumble. Don’t be surprised when he gets a massive contract in free agency:
Nolan Smith second-year breakout has partially offset the disastrous Bryce Huff deal. In the six weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, he totaled six sacks and 27 pressures. PFF charted him with four pressures on Sunday and his first two set the tone for the rest of the night. On the first two third downs of the game, he flushed Mahomes out of the pocket and caused an inaccurate throw:
Jalyx Hunt, Philadelphia’s third round pick in 2024, is a converted safety who played at Cornell and Houston Christian. As a raw, undersized pass rusher, Hunt wasn’t supposed to make an impact in his first year. I expected Hunt to be a healthy scratch for the majority of his rookie season as he filled out his frame and developed his pass rushing technique, but he’s come alive in the playoffs.
After some exciting flashes in the Conference Championship game, he had the best performance of his career against the Chiefs, recording five pressures and a sack. Joe Thuney had no answer for Hunt’s speed-to-power rush, a sentence I couldn’t have imagined typing five months ago. Putting too much stock in a end-of-season emergence can be dangerous, but considering Hunt’s profile as a “project” edge rusher that needed time to grow, it’s fair to be optimistic about what he can offer next year:
Even Brandon Graham, who hadn’t played since Week 12, had a pass rushing win, driving Jawaan Taylor into the pocket and forcing a holding penalty. After suffering a tricep injury that was expected to end his 15th season, Graham was surprisingly activated off of injured reserve and was able to play 13 snaps. Winning a Super Bowl and making an impact, however small, is a poetic way for Graham’s Eagles career to (potentially) end:
Additionally, Moro Ojomo, a 2023 7th-round pick, had three pressures, bringing his season total up to 39. That's incredible value for one of the last picks of the draft. Zack Baun also recorded three pressures and Jordan Davis had his second sack of the playoffs.
