Fletcher Cox named NFC Defensive Player of the Week

Fletcher Cox ends the year off strong with a Defensive Player of the Week nod against the Washington Redskins.

With the regular season in the books, we no longer have to think about the lows of the 2018 regular season for the Philadelphia Eagles. And fortunately, the Birds finished off the year strong with a three-game winning streak that concluded with a shutout victory on the road against their divisional rival, the Washington Redskins.

The Redskins didn’t stand a chance against the Eagles last week. The time of possession was completely lopsided into the Eagles favor, and the defense wouldn’t let Washington’s offense move the ball at all. Once again, Jim Schwartz’s patch-up job looked terrific as the Eagles emulated the type of dominance on that side of the ball that we saw last season.

The pressure on the quarterback was non stop, and it’s all thanks to Eagles defensive tackle, Fletcher Cox. Per usual, Cox was getting a ton of pressure on the quarterback making it extremely difficult for Washington’s offense to do pretty much anything. Cox ended up leaving the game with three total sacks and a forced fumble. And with those three sacks, Cox notched a double-digit sack total on the year for the first time in his career.

Cox’s performance did not go unnoticed

Thanks to his dominant performance in the trenches, Cox would be named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week. Last season, the Eagles were quite familiar with the NFL’s weekly and monthly awards as a few players were getting acknowledged for their play quite often. This season, not so much. Cox’s Defensive Player of the Week nod for the final game was actually the first for the Eagles this year. In total, it makes two since Nick Foles snagged the offensive accolade during Week 16 against the Houston Texans.

Now, Fletcher Cox and the Eagles front line need to take that kind of play from the end of the regular season and into the playoffs. Many credit Nick Foles and the Eagles offense for being the reason why they are winning more. Meanwhile, in all reality, Fletcher Cox and the Eagles dominance up front on defense has been the critical factor to the Eagles recent success. The constant pressure on the quarterback is troubling for the opposition, and now the Eagles are making types of plays that they haven’t been able to all year long.