Philadelphia Eagles roundup: The experts praise the pass rush (again)

More love’s been given to the Philadelphia Eagles’ pass rush. This one ought to make every fan of this team smile.

If you’re a Philadelphia Eagles fan and you say the names to yourselves long enough, it becomes impossible not to smile. If you don’t believe it, just try it for yourselves. Every time the names Brandon Graham, Michael Bennett, Chris Long and Derek Barnett roll off of the tongue, sack numbers just seem to pile up in the imagination, don’t they? Oh yeah. don’t forget to add Josh Sweat to that rotation now.

Oh, by the way, those are just the guys on the outside. We haven’t even gotten to the interior and what it means to have guys like Haloti Ngata, Destiny Vaeao and Timmy Jernigan (if he’s healthy) in the fold.

Look at what we just did. We just went eight deep and didn’t even bring up Fletcher Cox until now. What other team in the NFL can you do that with?

PFF weighs in.

Whether you love or hate their unique way of providing analysis, Pro Football Focus isn’t going anywhere. Whether you admit it or not, you can’t take your eyes off of them.

Recently, they stacked every pass rush in the league against one another. Guess who was considered the cream of that crop? If you went with that unit we just talked about, the one that allowed us to go eight deep before we got to Fletcher Cox, then give yourself a pat on the back.

Here’s what they had to say:

"With a unit that is as impressive on the edge as on the interior, and with elite top level players and solid depth, another big season seems likely. Graham racked up 11 sacks, four hits and 45 hurries on his way to finishing the year as our eighth-highest graded edge defender. Meanwhile, Cox dominated on the interior with 51 total pressures. The big addition is the former Seattle Seahawks standout in Bennett, who arrives to Philadelphia after a 70 total pressure season in Seattle. The unit loses Vinny Curry, who added 47 pressures of his own in 2017, but look for Derek Barnett to see a bigger role after producing six sacks as a rookie."

Here’s some real-life application.

‘The Birds’ get a huge test early as they face an Atlanta Falcons team on opening night. ‘The Dirty Birds’ will, no doubt, have revenge on their minds following a heartbreaking loss in the Divisional Round of last season’s NFC Playoffs.

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Still, with all the weapons Philly has along the offensive line and with the emotion that will be permeating throughout Lincoln Financial Field when the Eagles organization drops their championship banner, the emotion of the night and what PFF calls the league’s best offensive and defensive lines should will to victory.

That’s what the experts are saying. Every Eagles fan hopes that they are right.