While the Philadelphia Eagles' starting safety duo each hail from smaller schools with relatively quiet football pedigrees, their loud penchant for lowering the boom resonated early and often in a bruising13-12 win over the Buffalo Bills.
Marcus Epps (nine tackles T-1st, eight solo tackles, one tackle for loss) and Reed Blankenship (five tackles, four solo) both dropped the hammer in big spots for a Philadelphia defense that dominated throughout the contest.
Eagles' starting safeties showed strong performances against the Bills
Blankenship, always the steady vet out of Middle Tennessee State, excelled in the run game. On the Bills' fourth drive, Blankenship detonated Bills wideout Khalil Shakir in the flat, a thunderous takedown that drew shades of Cooper DeJean erasing Derrick Henry on an island one-on-one last season.
Meanwhile, Epps continued to make his presence felt since re-joining the starting defense this past month. Facing his former University of Wyoming teammate and MVP candidate Josh Allen, it was the former sixth-rounder Epps who had the last laugh.
Resembling a heat-seeking missile on multiple occasions, Epps knifed through traffic and hammered James Cook late in second-quarter action. The hit upended Cooks, forcing a would-be fumble recovery by DeJean. And while the play would be whistled down by contact, Epps was warming up on his hit parade.
In a monumental goal-line stand late in the third quarter, the tenacity of Epps was front and center. On consecutive plays inside the five, Epps chopped Cook down in the backfield before lighting up Shakir on a shallow crossing route just short of the goal line on the next snap. Moments later, Allen was denied a trip to paydirt on fourth down by mere inches.
That goal line stand had Epps fingerprints all over it.
While the front seven swarmed the opposition once again in Week 17, all three levels of the defense are playing with elite physicality. And this unsung safety tandem has become a key component in helping set an electric defensive tone.
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Lofty headlines and big-name recognition may elude them, but Blankenship and Epps are bringing the thunder.