NFC Championship Breakdown: The Front Seven

By: Jesse Larch, Sports Talk Philly editor 

Leading up to the Eagles matchup for the NFC Championship with the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday Sports Talk Philly and Eagledelphia will compare the personnel of the two teams each day until gameday is here. 

In this edition of our week-long comparison we will look at the defensive front seven of both teams. Linebackers and defensive lineman will be evaluated against each other instead of pitting the entire front sevens of the teams against each other.

Minnesota Front Seven | Everson Griffen, Linval Joseph, Tom Johnson, Danielle Hunter, Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks, Ben Gedeon

The Vikings have a case for the best front seven in all of the National Football League. 

On the line they are led by Everson Griffen and his 13 sacks. The 2018 Pro Bowl selection and second team all-pro anchors a pass rush that had 37 sacks in 2018. Danielle Hunter is second on the team with 7.0 sacks followed by defensive captain and rotational defensive end Brian Robison who had four. 

Nose tackle Linval Joseph had the most sacks of any Vikings defensive tackle with 3.5.

While the Vikings have talent along their defensive line, Minnesota is even better at linebacker. 

Eric Kendricks – the brother of Eagles' linebacker Mychal Kendricks – led Minnesota with 113 tackles in 2017. He also added a pick six and seven tackles for loss. 

The other big name in the Vikings' linebacker core is Anthony Barr. Barr led Minnesota with eight tackles for loss and will be going to the 2018 Pro Bowl with Griffen and his linebacker partner Kendricks. It will be the third consecutive Pro Bowl for Barr. 

Rookie Ben Gedeon was largely a non-factor in the defense, picking up package-specific and relief snaps. 

Philadelphia Front Seven | Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, Tim Jernigan, Vinny Curry, Mychal Kendricks, Dannell Ellerbe, Nigel Bradham

The Eagles' front seven has been lauded all season, and for good reason. Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox make up one of the most feared defensive line combinations in the NFL. Tim Jernigan and the stable of defensive ends that are rotated in also create plenty of problems for opposing offensive lines. 

While the Vkings produced 37 sacks as a team, the Eagles surpassed them with 38. Brandon Graham led the way with 9.5 sacks. Fletcher Cox (5.5), Vinny Curry (3.0), and Tim Jernigan (2.5) also wreaked havoc for the opposition. 

The rotational players along the line were as productive as the starters. Chris Long and rookie Derek Barnett both gave the Eagles 5.0 sacks. Long was also tied for fourth in the NFL in forced fumbles with four. The Eagles defensive lineman provided 37 tackles for loss on their own. The Vikings defensive line only managed 14. 

At linebacker the Eagles have two players in the midst of great seasons. Mychal Kendricks bounced back from a 2016 season in which he was very much absent. In 2017 he has been featured much more heavily than he was in 2016 – in part due to the season-ending Achilles injury to Jordan Hicks. 

Nigel Bradham turned in another excellent season leading the team in tackles. Kendricks and Bradham combined for three sacks, nine tackles for loss and 14 passes defensed, and 165 tackles. 

The question mark in the Eagles front seven will be Dannell Ellerbe. Ellerbe is an ex-Super Bowl champion, but was out of the league until the Eagles added him to the roster late in the season. Ellerbe has been inserted into the defense as the starting middle linebacker following the placement of Joe Walker on injured reserve, who was Jordan Hicks's original backup. 

Edge

As great as the Vikings defensive line has been, it is not comparable to the Eagles' pass rushers. The Eagles' had the league's top rushing defense and that was due in large part to the 37 tackles for loss that the defensive line generated. 

With the Vikings' defensive line accounting for a meager 14 tackles for loss, and the Eagles pressuring the quarterback 293 times versus Minnesota's 232 pressures, they cannot compare to the Eagles linemen. 

With two Pro-Bowlers in 2018, the Vikings do have the edge at linebacker. Anthony Barr and Eric Kendricks's effectiveness as a duo has only been challenged by Luke Keuchly and Thomas Davis Sr. of the Carolina Panthers over the past few seasons. 

If Jordan Hicks was healthy the Eagles could build a stronger argument for having a balanced group, but with Dannell Ellerbe in Hicks's roster spot, it is as distant as the gap between the defensive lines, this one just leans in the Vikings favor.