PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Eagles have the No. 1 defense in the NFL since their bye week (Week 5) leading the league in points and yards allowed per game. The defense has carried Philadelphia to the NFC Championship game, with playmakers across the board.
Philadelphia has an AP Defensive Player of the Year finalist in Zack Baun, yet The NFL Today analyst — and Super Bowl champion head coach — Bill Cowher believes another player should have gotten some consideration for that honor.
If it were up to Cowher, Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter would be the Defensive Player of the Year.
“He never comes off the field. He shows up in the biggest of times,” Cowher told CBS Sports. “He’s one of the most disruptive players in terms of sitting in the middle of that defense. With Carter and Zack Baun right there, that middle is strong. … They are strong and they are powerful, and they can take over a game.”
Carter was not a Defensive Player of the year finalist, but he was selected as a Second Team All-Pro. The Eagles defensive tackle finished with 65 pressures this season, with 15 quarterback hits, and seven batted passes. Carter was third amongst interior defensive linemen in pressures and quarterback hits, while finishing second in batted passes. He also had 4.5 sacks, 42 tackles and two forced fumbles.
In the postseason, Carter showed the game-changing player he can be. He sacked Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford on third-and-2 from the Eagles’ 13-yard line with 1:14 left in a 28-22 game that essentially thwarted the Rams comeback. Carter hit Stafford on fourth-and-11 — the next play — and sealed the Eagles victory. He finished with two sacks, a forced fumble, a batted pass, and seven pressures in the win.
Easy to see why Cowher is so high on Carter being a Defensive Player of the Year some day, even if he wasn’t this year.
“He’s come into his own for whatever reason,” Cowher said. “Vic (Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio) has gotten the most out of him. In the era where we sit here and count snaps and talk about playing half the plays with rotations going in and out, Jalen Carter is not a part of it.
“He stays in the game and plays like 98% of the snaps. That is what’s most impressive for me. Not only does he play well for the majority of the snaps, but he’s so productive. He’s so disruptive.”
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