Playoff Comparison: Front Seven

By: Jesse Larch, Sports Talk Philly editor 

Leading up to the Eagles playoff matchup against the Atlanta Falcons 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. The linebackers and defensive line are grouped here to account for variance because the Falcons switch between a 3-4 and 4-3 defensive front. 

Atlanta Front Seven | Brooks Reed, Dontari Poe, Grady Jarrett, Adrian Clayborn, Vic Beasley Jr., Deion Jones, De'Vondre Campbell

Any defense led by Dan Quinn will be formidable. Quinn has built a fast paced, aggressive defense in Atlanta and that is reflected in their front seven. 

The Falcons do a good job of pressuring the quarterback, ranking 13th in the NFL with 39 team sacks in 2017. Adrian Clayborn led the Falcons with 9.5 sacks. The Falcons also have last season's sack champion in Vic Beasley Jr. who is a year removed from collecting 15.5 sacks. Beasley's production was slowed this season by an injury that cause him to miss two games and play through pain. 

Dontari Poe is considered a top nose tackle in the NFL, and his sheer size will make it difficult for the Eagles to run up the middle against Atlanta. His partner in the middle – Grady Jarrett – also created problems in the run game evident by his 10 tackles for loss this season. 

With as much talent is there is in Atlanta's front seven, we have yet to talk about their best player – Deion Jones. Jones finished fourth in the entire NFL with 138 tackles this seasons, and picked up where he left off in the postseason collecting 10 tackles against the Los Angeles Rams. 

Jones is a true swiss-army knife for the Atlanta defense. He is not only an excellent run stopper, but one of the elite coverage linebackers in the NFL. Jones led Atlanta with 11 tackles for loss and in interceptions with three. He also recorded nine passes defensed. 

The Falcons will also be using a rotation that includes 2017 first-round pick Takkarist McKinley (six sacks, two forced fumbles) as a pass rushing specialist. 

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 Falcons produced 39 sacks as a team, the Eagles were right behind 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 rotation in the line was 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 Falcons defensive line only managed 20. 

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

The threats of Vic Beasley Jr. and Deion Jones at linebacker give the Falcons' the better linebacker core since Jordan Hicks is not present to level the playing field. 

Although the Falcons take the edge at linebacker, the Eagles have the better front seven overall. Kendricks and Bradham are not slouches in the middle of the defense and the Eagles' defensive line is unmatched by any team in the league. 

The key stat is the pressure that the Eagles' defensive line creates. The Eagles' defensive line produced 17 more tackles for loss than the Falcons, which reflects the Eagles' ability to stifle any rushing attack that is put in front of them. The Eagles rank first in the NFL in rushing yards allowed per game (79.2), and that is directly related to the play of the front seven. 

Simply put, the Eagles' front seven makes every offense they play one dimensional, and the Falcons' does not.