Dallas Goedert adds to legacy as one of NFL's best postseason tight ends ever

It wasn’t Dallas Goedert’s best regular season. Two separate injuries cost him eight games and other than a career-best 170-yard game against the Rams he never really got going. 

Then came the playoffs.

And Goedert has been a flat-out beast. 

He leads the Eagles with 15 catches for 188 yards in the three playoff wins so far, he has three of the Eagles’ three-longest receptions this postseason and he’s upped his yards per game from 49 during the regular season to 63 during the playoffs.

Talk about making up for lost time. Goedert is doing exactly that.

He’s had seven games this year with at least 45 yards – four in the regular season, three in the postseason. 

“He has a knack for making plays in big moments, that's for sure,” Nick Sirianni said. “And he makes these really big splash plays, too, where sometimes they're not even a lot of yards, but it's so energetic. The physicality that he brings to it is huge.”

Goedert’s mighty, stiff-arming 24-yard touchdown catch and run in the third quarter of the Packers game gave the Eagles a two-possession lead, his 31-yard catch and run in the third quarter of the Rams game set up the Jake Elliott field goal that gave the Eagles the lead for good. And Sunday in the NFC Championship Game win over the Commanders, his 26-yard catch down to the 9-yard-line – again in the third quarter – set up a nine-yard Jalen Hurts touchdown run.

He caught seven passes for 85 yards Sunday, plus 13 yards on jet sweeps and 17 more on a DPI on Jeremy Chinn.

“I can't say enough about what he brings to this football team,” Sirianni said. “He has an ability to make plays in big moments. I think that just speaks to how calm, cool and confident he is. When you're confident in yourself in those moments, you shine in those moments. And then there are all the things he does in the run game for us, which are so important.”

Goedert has always been a big-time postseason player.

He’s now 10th all-time among NFL tight ends with 50 postseason catches, 13th with 535 yards and 10th with four touchdowns. All are franchise records except touchdowns. He needs two more to tie Harold Carmichael’s record.

Goedert was part of that 2018 draft class that missed Super Bowl LII by one year, but he’s now on his way to his second Super Bowl in three years. In his seven years with the Eagles, he’s only missed the postseason once.

“Yeah, it's pretty special, you know, losing the Super Bowl, overcoming what we overcame last year and ending up in this position,” he said on the field after the NFC Championship Game. “It’s special. It’s special. It took everybody on the team today and it feels really good seeing the confetti fly on the field.”

Two things beyond his pass catching stand out about Goedert.

First is his consistency. He’s now caught at least four passes in nine straight postseason games, the 7^th-longest streak in NFL history and 2^nd-longest by a tight end, behind Travis Kelce’s 15-game streak that ended Sunday.

Second is his run blocking. The Eagles have run for 3,731 yards this year, the most in NFL history when you combine regular season and postseason. That’s an astounding 187 yards per game. Their 39 rushing touchdowns – including seven Sunday – are 2^nd-most in NFL history behind only the 2022 team, which had 42.

Goedert is a huge part of that.

“Dallas has done an incredible job in the run game,” Kellen Moore said. “Want to highlight how important he has been in the run game. Just done a great job in there, and he’s made some plays in the passing game. Seems like we need a play, and he happens to be there.”

The trust level between Jalen Hurts and Goedert is next level. 

Whenever the pocket breaks down, whenever there’s a pivotal third down, whenever the Eagles absolutely, positively need a completion, you know Hurts is looking for No. 88. 

During the regular season, Goedert has the 3^rd-most career catches from Hurts. But in Hurts’ eight postseason games, he’s completed more passes to Goedert than anybody else. And for more first downs.

“He's the ultimate winner,” Goedert said of Hurts. “He'll do anything that it takes to win. You know, people said he can't do this, he can't do that. I think the doubters are his biggest motivation so it's special and I'm really glad he's my quarterback.  

“I'll take him over anybody.”

Tune in to Mission 59 Specials leading up to the Super Bowl on NBC Sports Philadelphia, presented by Toyota.

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