Silver And Black Pride
All it takes is one big game to boost a particular statistical category.
In this case: Sacks.
Heading into the Monday night loss at the Los Angeles Chargers, the Philadelphia Eagles trailed the Las Vegas Raiders in total sacks 24 to 26. Then came a seven-sack evening for Philly and now they have 31 total heading into this Sunday’s home date with incoming Las Vegas. The leap in production now puts the Eagles at 16th in terms of total quarterback takedowns while the Raiders are ranked 23rd out of the 32 teams.
While Vic Fangio’s Eagles defense has been lighting up the stat sheet with sacks, it’s a group that creates havoc by pressuring opposing quarterbacks.
Philadelphia has 123 pressures, the fifth most in the NFL, according to Pro Football Reference. That mark trails the Dallas Cowboys (163), Seattle Seahawks (159), Denver Broncos (143), Indianapolis Colts (135) and Los Angeles Rams (125). The Raiders, meanwhile, are near the league cellar with just 86 pressures, good for 28th.
Expect the Eagles (8-5 overall, first place in the NFC East) to be salivating over Sunday’s home date with the incoming Raiders (2-11, last place in AFC West) as the Silver & Black are giving up the most sacks this season with 50 heading into Week 15 action. In the last four games, Las Vegas surrendered a whopping 28 sacks with usual starting quarterback Geno Smith sustaining 27 of them (three in Week 14, five Week 14, and a staggering 10 in Week 12). Backup Kenny Pickett, who is in line to start in Philadelphia, was sacked once in relief duty last week.
The Eagle are coming off a disappointing Monday night loss to the Bolts and are likely to take out their frustrations on the worst team in the AFC West. So expect Fangio to activate middle linebacker Nakobe Dean (a sack, two quarterback hits, seven total tackles) on blitzes this Sunday. The 5-foot-11 and 231-pound Georgia product was a menace and had an impressive bulldozing of Chargers’ running back Omarion Hampton en route to a strip sack of quarterback Justin Herbert this past Monday night.
But Dean is one of many defenders who can wreck an offense and the Raiders must be ready to contend with not only the linebacker, but an interior pass rush paced by defensive tackle Jordan Davis, who is tied for the team-lead in sacks at 4.5. Linebacker Jalyx Hunt is right there with 4.5 with Dean following with four. Defensive tackle Moro Ojomo also has four while linebacker Zack Baun has 3.5.
By The Numbers
Pass Rush
Philadelphia’s ability to make a noisy pocket, Raiders interim offensive coordinator Greg Olson knows his quarterback must be able to improvise. And Pickett — who was with the Eagles in 2024 — showcased that ability when...
