A couple backups help Eagles punch ticket to NFC Championship Game

The Eagles missed Nakobe Dean and Quinyon Mitchell on Sunday afternoon.

Of course they did.

Dean and Mitchell have been two of the best players on the Eagles’ No. 1-ranked defense all season long. But the Eagles’ defensive depth showed up in their 28-22 win over the Rams on Sunday.

“We’ve got some special people in this building,” head coach Nick Sirianni said. “Again, it's not the best groups of individuals that win, it's the best teams that win and we’ve got some special guys.

“Howie (Roseman) did a great job getting these guys. I can't say enough about Howie and the job he's done. I find myself after every game just thanking him and Mr. (Jeffrey) Lurie for the resources they give us. Let's try to go do some special stuff next week.”

The Eagles on Sunday came into their divisional round game without Dean, who suffered a season-ending torn patellar tendon against the Packers last week. In his place, veteran Oren Burks got the start at linebacker.

And then during the first half, starting rookie corner Mitchell suffered a shoulder injury and was replaced by Isaiah Rodgers.

Both Burks and Rodgers made some big plays in the Eagles’ playoff win.

“It was great,” Burks said. “I’ve just been looking for the opportunity. When one man goes down, the next man steps up. Huge loss with Nakobe. He was a big leader for the defense. I just want to do my job and my part to help the team win.”

During the week, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio suggested that Burks and rookie Jeremiah Trotter Jr. would split the reps in place of Dean but that didn’t happen. Trotter Jr. didn’t see the field on defense and Burks played most of the game.

All-Pro linebacker Zack Baun wore the green dot in place of Dean on Sunday and was impressed by the play of Burks next to him.

“Really good,” Baun said. “I thought he did a great job in coverage, great job in all of his responsibilities.”

Burks, 29, ended up with 6 tackles, 2 TFLs, 1 QB hit and 1 pass breakup. After a somewhat shaky performance in relief of Dean last week, Burks had a really solid game on Sunday.

“Yeah, we missed Nakobe like crazy. I love Nakobe Dean. I’ve made that very clear how I feel about him. Missed him,” Sirianni said. “But Oren, I had no doubt he was going to step in and play a good game. He is around great players on defense. (Linebackers coach) Bobby King helped him be successful in those moments, too, with the fundamentals that they work on. Vic put him in position to succeed, and Oren went out and played a good game and made some big tackles.”

With Dean out for the rest of the season, Burks will presumably get the start against the Commanders in the NFC Championship Game next Sunday.

Against the Rams, Burks had the type of performance that should instill some confidence going forward.

“It was great. I’ve just been looking for the opportunity,” Burks said. “When one man goes down, the next man steps up. Huge loss with Nakobe, he was a big leader for the defense. I just want to do my job and my part to help the team win.”

We’ll see what happens with Mitchell. 

His shoulder injury doesn’t appear to be serious and he could be back for the NFC Championship Game next week. But if he isn’t, then the Eagles will feel plenty comfortable rolling with Rodgers. The 27-year-old cornerback has played a ton for them this year as he approaches free agency this offseason.

“Without Isaiah we wouldn’t be this far,” Darius Slay said. “When guys go down, you don’t see no kind of drop-off. He’s amazing at what he do, man. I’ve been telling him, if he was on another team, he’d be easily a starting corner. Easily. But he wanted to be here to learn from me, as he told me. He said he wanted to learn from me. 

“I’m going to try to [get] him to the next level. I think he put a lot on tape for any of the other 31 teams that want him to show that he can hold up and be a starting corner in this league.”

Rogers has been the Eagles’ third outside cornerback all season and has mostly been asked to fill in for Slay. He instead got out there for Mitchell on Sunday. While Rodgers did give up some plays in coverage, he scooped up a fumble and returned it 40 yards to set up a key fourth-quarter field goal.

The speedy corner said he didn’t even think about falling on that ball. He was scooping and running it the whole way.

Rodgers said he talked to Mitchell after the injury, at halftime and after the game. Rodgers said he hopes Mitchell can get back soon because they need him.

But Rodgers will be ready to go no matter what.

“You want to do it for yourself but at the end of the day, it’s for the guys around me,” Rodgers said. “They believing in me that got to go out there and keep going and make plays, just do what they know I can do. It just comes down to me going out there and practicing all week as if I am the starter. You never know when your time will come.”

For Rodgers, this whole season has been special. He missed the entire 2023 season after being suspended for violating the league gambling policy.

A year ago, Rodgers was on his couch. On Sunday, he was scooping up a loose football in a game that punched the Eagles’ ticket to the NFC Championship Game.

“I’m still trying to figure out .... I’m still lost in the sauce right now,” Rodgers said. “Just accepting it for what it is. I almost felt like a tear was going to come out. Because from where I was last year. It feels good.”

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