September 17, 2024
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images
Bryce Huff has as many sacks as his predecessor Haason Reddick after Week 2. Reddick hasn't played any football so far this season.
The ESPN broadcast keyed in on Bryce Huff before a snap on Monday night.
The edge rusher, who the Eagles guaranteed $34 million to in the offseason to replace Haason Reddick, was invisible in Week 1 against the Packers, but the logic was he could wake up what had been a surprisingly – and concerningly – dormant Philadelphia pass rush if he finally got going against Atlanta.
Instead on the snap, he locked up with his blocker with little resistance or movement as Falcons running back Bijan Robinson burst through the middle for several yards.
Huff impacted little, on that play and for all of Monday night's deflating 22-21 loss. The 26-year old has no sacks, no tackles for a loss, and credit for one combined tackle through his first two weeks as an Eagle. He has as many sacks as Reddick, who hasn't even played because he currently refuses to for the New York Jets until he's traded.
And it looks as bad as it reads.
Bryce Huff just got stonewalled by a TE for a solid 5-6 seconds. pic.twitter.com/HcXm9xKdGw
— Shane Haff (@ShaneHaffNFL) September 17, 2024
Josh Sweat, who prior to 2023 was improving year over year and was maybe one of the most underrated edge rushers in the NFL, was credited with four tackles on Monday night (two solo) and is only up to five on the young season.
Jalen Carter was getting constantly double-teamed inside as the only threat the Falcons, and the Packers the week before, took seriously and he hasn't found a way to overcome it, while fellow Georgia first-rounders Jordan Davis and Nolan Smith (unless you caught him eating a chip block) were practically nowhere to be seen to help take the pressure off.
Brandon Graham, who is 36, in his 15th and final season, and should be in a limited role, instead looked like the Eagles' most effective rusher, while Thomas Booker IV came up with two tackles for a loss and three in total playing in just nine snaps behind everyone on the depth chart.
Milton Williams had the only sack of the night, in a big third-down situation with all due credit, but against a very immobile Kirk Cousins coming off an Achilles tear and a very exploitable Falcons offensive line that the Eagles just...didn't.
Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio seemingly refused to apply any blitz pressure for the better part of the night, and when he did finally cave and called a play that sent everyone, Cousins immediately scorched them over top with a 41-yard touchdown pass to Darnell Mooney that put the Falcons back on top, 15-10.
Cousins to Mooney! @AtlantaFalcons have their first TD of the night
— NFL (@NFL) September 17, 2024
📺: #ATLvsPHI on ESPN
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus and ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/OYOWjShvSj
The Eagles' offense answered to take the lead back and set up a scenario where they could drain out the clock, but that opportunity slipped right through Saquon Barkley's fingertips, and the defense proved to be in no shape to hold the line.
"It's a wakeup call to never get lax with anything or anybody," linebacker Nakobe Dean said afterward.
And a sobering one from the optimism there was in training camp not even a month ago.
During camp, offensive players would harp after practices about how cleverly disguised and difficult Fangio's scheming was to pick up, and among a suddenly younger D-line after the retirement of Fletcher Cox and the trade of Reddick, Davis stressed that the future had to arrive now.
"Absolutely," the third-year nose tackle said back in August. "We're all the future. It don't move unless we go.
"We only have one D-line unit, and like I've been saying since OTAs: Ain't nobody coming to save us. So we all have to make sure that we do our part and be the best people that we can be, be the best defensive tackles that we can be."
But two weeks in, they're not moving.
Linebacker Zack Baun leads the team in sacks with two from Week 1 alone, and on the ground, the Eagles' D-line has been gashed for 163 yards by Green Bay and then 152 by Robinson and the Falcons.
The Eagles are 1-1, still in a very young season, but with high expectations and, so far, a defense with little bite despite the heavy amount of resources invested into it over the spring and summer.
But they have to figure something out quick, especially with a stunning offensive powerhouse of a New Orleans Saints team on deck.
Like Davis said, no one's coming to save them.
"As a defense, we were embarrassed," Graham said from his locker postgame. "We want to get it right."
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