Plenty of blame to go around after that hideous loss to the Falcons, but take a look at the EDGE group after two games:

  • Josh Sweat: 81 snaps, one pressure, 2 QB hits, 3 tackles, 2 assists, 0 sacks, 1 TFL, 0 batted balls, 0 forced fumbles
  • Bryce Huff: 62 snaps, zero pressures, 0 QB hits, 0 tackles, 1 assist, 0 sacks, 0 TFL, 0 batted balls, 0 forced fumbles
  • Nolan Smith: 54 snaps, zero pressures, 0 QB hits, 1 tackle, 2 assists, 0 sacks, 0 TFL, 0 batted balls, 0 forced fumbles
  • Brandon Graham: 60 snaps, one pressure, 0 QB hits, 0 tackles, 1 assist, 0 sacks, 0 TFL, 0 batted balls, 0 forced fumbles
  • Jalyx Hunt: has not played

It’s a small samples size, two games, but there are only 17 in a season, so whether we accept it or not, this group has already played 11.7% of the schedule.

Since sacks aren’t always the best indicator of production, so we go to pressures instead, and the SportRadar data says this group has combined for a grand total of two in two games. We looked the other way in Week 1 because the field was terrible, but playing at home against the not-exactly-mobile Kirk Cousins, the Eagles couldn’t even get close to him. Bryce Huff and Brandon Graham were so quiet that they did not even register a statistic and therefore did not show up in the Eagles/Falcons box score.

For further context, the team leader in pressures is Zack Baun, with three. He’s been playing inside linebacker, but will move around in Vic Fangio’s system. No other player has multiple pressures after two games. CJGJ, Moro Ojomo, Milton Williams, and Jalen Carter have one each. If you look at the top of the list, there are five NFL players who have more individual pressures than the entire Eagles defense – Aidan Hutchinson, Leonard Williams, Micah Parsons, Chris Jones, and Boye Mafe.

If you extend the data and look at how each NFL team is performing collectively, the Eagles’ 13.4% pressure rate is second-worst in the NFL, ahead of only the Carolina Panthers. That’s a statistic that takes sacks, hurries, and knockdowns and wraps them into one number. And as a whole, the Eagles are only averaging 3.5 pressures per game, which makes them 30th of 32 NFL teams. Same thing with the “hurries” stat. The Eagles have three this year, tied for 24th.


Not to be an alarmist, but this is the worst EDGE group the Eagles have put on the field in 10 years. You can’t run this defense if you can’t get home with four. There’s a lot of football left to play, but these guys have shown absolutely nothing so far, and when you consider how important pass rush has been for the Birds in recent years, it’s inexplicable how they could trot out a unit looking like this in 2024.