Philadelphia Eagles: Defensive Player of the Week

The Eagles season is hanging on by a thread—every single game matters from here on out. The defense performed a strong defensive effort in containing the Ravens offense on Sunday. They put together a few key stops late in the second half as the offense surged back from a 16 point deficit, but The Eagles came up one 2 point conversion short of pulling off the comeback. The Eagles suffered their second consecutive loss, falling 30-28 to the Baltimore Ravens.

The defensive line continues to perform at a high level. Once again, the defensive line did a tremendous job against the run, holding Ravens running backs to 74 total yards on the ground. They created a ton of pressure on Lamar Jackson, especially in the second half, and were able to disrupt critical drives in the 4th quarter to give the Eagles a fighting chance. A few candidates could earn the award this week for the Defensive Player of the Week. Who should earn the honor?

The Defensive award goes to…

My choice for Defensive Player of the Week goes to Brandon Graham, and it’s not because I wore his jersey yesterday! Brandon Graham spent a lot of time in the Ravens backfield. Number 55 finished the day with six total tackles, and five tackles were solo. Brandon Graham managed to get ahold of the shifty Lamar Jackson and sack him twice. He also added two tackles for a loss. Brandon Graham’s two sacks on Sunday bring his 2020 total to 5 sacks on the season, which leads the team. The former second-team All-Pro is just 3.5 sacks shy of last year’s total and looks to smash his career-high in sacks at 9.5 if he stays on pace the rest of the season. Brandon Graham continues to be a leader on the defense and is doing his part to maintain the Eagles Front Four’s reputation!

Honorable Mention

The defense had a few solid performances on Sunday. Malik Jackson is quietly having a good season. He was disruptive on Sunday, contributing with four tackles, and was able to sack Lamar Jackson once. Malik provides tremendous depth to the defensive line for the Eagles. Finally, I wanted to recognize Defensive End Josh Sweat. The former 4th Round pick from Florida State has impressed so far this season. Sweat finished the day with five tackles against the Ravens. He also caused a few QB Hurries getting in the face of Lamar Jackson. The 2nd year Defensive end is filling the stat sheet despite his limited role on a deep group upfront. Josh Sweat is currently 2nd on the team with three sacks and has seven tackles for a loss, which is also 2nd on the team to Brandon Graham. Josh Sweat seems to be finally getting back to the talent that had him ranked #1 in the country coming out of high school. Big things are coming for the young defensive end! Josh Sweat has a great mentor to follow in our defensive player of the week, Brandon Graham!