Jalen Carter saved the Eagles’ season.
That’s not to take anything away from Saquon Barkley’s 205-yard game or Nolan Smith’s forced fumble or Zack Baun’s heroics or anything else that the Eagles did well in their 28-22 win over the Rams.
But it was Carter who came through in the biggest moment of the season.
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Of course he did.
“I thought I had a good rush in mind,” Carter said. “I did that rush and got a sack on it. It wasn’t really nothing special but it worked two times in a row.”
The Rams had gotten down to the Eagles’ 13-yard line with just 1:14 left in the game with a chance to take the lead and crush the entire City of Philadelphia. But that’s when Carter busted through the line to get a nine-yard sack on 3rd-and-2. On the very next play, Carter was back in Matthew Stafford’s face to help force an incompletion.
Ballgame.
NFL
JALEN CARTER SACK!
— NFL (@NFL) January 19, 2025
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“It was only a matter of time before he was going to kill that right guard,” Josh Sweat said. “No disrespect to the right guard.”
No disrespect to the right guard because Carter is borderline unblockable in 1-on-1 situations. And the second-year pro might have just had his best NFL game in the playoffs with a home NFC Championship Game hanging in the balance.
Against the Rams on Sunday, Carter played 69 of 71 defensive snaps. He had 6 pressures, 4 defensive stops, 2 sacks, 3 QB hits, 2 TFLs, 1 pass breakup and 1 forced fumble. It was a special game.
“Yeah, he's a special player,” head coach Nick Sirianni said. “Jalen Carter is a special player and he's done so many of the right things to continue to make himself a special player.”
Carter was an absolute one-man wrecking crew on Sunday.
Just ask any of his teammates.
“Oh my gosh. That dude is just a monster,” All-Pro linebacker Baun said. “The best in the league. Even when the stat sheet doesn’t say it, I know he had a great game today, but even when the stat sheet doesn’t say, he’s making a big impact in the game.
“The forced fumble, the TFLs, the sack, he always has a bunch of batted passes. He does it all and it’s fantastic.”
Carter, 23, had already been having a fantastic game before that final sequence. But his back-to-back pass rushes inside the 2-minute warning ensured the Eagles’ victory and allowed the entire city to exhale after some really tense moments late in the fourth quarter.
What did Carter make of the end of that game?
“It’s surreal, man,” Carter said. “I was really trying to focus on finishing the game. I had the sack on third down but as you see, I was trying to get everybody together. I knew they had one more play in them. We got a stop and won the game.”
Entering that final drive, Carter said his mindset was just to stay calm. The Eagles’ defense relishes the opportunity to win games like this and they were eager to come through.
Even after Carter’s sack on third down, as his teammates happily celebrated, Carter made sure everyone got lined back up because he knew they needed one more stop on fourth down. They got it, in part, because of Carter’s pressure.
The Eagles obviously knew Carter was talented when they traded up to draft him out of Georgia with the No. 9 overall pick last year but there were questions about whether or not Carter would reach his potential. In Year 2 of his career, Carter is already one of the best interior linemen in the NFL and is still ascending.
“Jalen Carter, I can't say enough good things about his development as a player,” Sirianni said. “That just doesn't happen because of talent. He's talented as — you guys see it. He's so talented. But, in this league there are a lot of guys that are talented. It takes more than talent to reach your potential, and he's continuing to rise. That speaks a lot to Jalen Carter.”
Before the game, Rams rookie defensive end Jared Verse did a lap around the field, presumably to give Eagles fans a chance to boo him. Verse during the week said he hated Eagles fans and he was a full WWE heel on Sunday.
Carter approached Verse during the lap around the field.
“I was like, ‘You know that’s motivation to us?’ It wasn’t really nothing,” Carter said. “It was a small, little talk.”
Carter did most of his talking with his play on Sunday and he was loud.
The Eagles’ Pro Bowl defensive tackle came through with a monster performance to help send the Eagles to the NFC Championship Game.
“We believe in each other, we trust in one another and we here for the long run,” Carter said. “We’re here to ball out. We’re trying to go all the way. There’s only one goal and that’s the Super Bowl.”
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