Remarkable sack of Lamar Jackson highlighted another huge game for Jalen Carter originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Jalen Carter grabbed Lamar Jackson’s right leg and refused to let go.
You don’t see a lot of 315-pound interior linemen chase Jackson down and get him to the ground, but that’s exactly what Carter did in the second quarter of the Eagles’ win over the Ravens Sunday in Baltimore.
The Ravens, trailing by two late in the first half, drove deep into Eagles territory and had a 1st-and-10 on the 19-yard-line with 31 seconds left when Jackson dropped back looking for a receiver. He began drifting to his left, and Carter – who was engaged with Ravens left guard Patrick Mekari – diagnosed the play instantly and charged right at Jackson.
Jackson has world-class speed, but Carter is a flat-out beast, and he quickly closed in on the two-time MVP, leaving him without an escape route. Carter lunged for Jackson’s leg and held on for dear life.
There aren’t many interior linemen who can do what Carter did. He’s only the third defensive tackle to sack Jackson this year and he’s the first 315-pounder to sack Jackson in two years – and only the sixth ever.
Jackson tried to throw the football away on his way to the ground, and the play was initially ruled an incomplete pass and intentional grounding before a booth review ruled that his left knee was down before he let go of the ball, which turned the play into a sack.
“I have the mindset that nobody can outdo me,” Carter said after the game. “I see what he does. I see all the film. He had an opportunity to break that tackle, and I wasn’t going to let that happen. I said all week that if he tried to escape on me, I’m not letting him go.”
“It was a little stunt. You see it on film. We run a little stunt, and we saw Lamar about to scramble, so I took an angle and got there.”
Last week, Milton Williams had a career day with two sacks against the Rams, and Carter said it was Williams whose play on that snap paved the way for his sack.
“That was all thanks to my boy,” Carter said. “Y’all said I helped him get two sacks, but this time, he helped me get that sack. I’m thankful for him, and we had a little game plan going on, and Lamar scrambled. I came out, took an angle and got the sack.”
Carter is having a monster season with 4 ½ sacks, 10 tackles for loss and 12 quarterback hits. The 10 tackles for loss is most by any NFL interior lineman, his 4 ½ sacks are 9th-most and the 12 QB hits are 4th-most.
Fletcher Cox is a borderline Hall of Famer and he only had one career season with 4 ½ sacks and 10 tackles for loss, and Carter is the only interior lineman in the NFL this year to put up those numbers.
What may be most remarkable is how Carter’s drastically improved conditioning has translated into 52 snaps a game after he played just 35 per game last year.
There were questions about Carter’s fitness coming out of Georgia, but only the Chiefs’ Chris Jones is playing a higher percentage of defensive snaps among interior linemen – and only by half a percentage point (83 percent to 82.5). That’s also highest by an Eagles defensive lineman since Stathead began tracking snap counts in 2012.
Over the last three weeks, Carter has played a ridiculous 91 percent of the Eagles’ defensive snaps, and when he has left the game it’s only been because the Eagles have been up big.
This is already one of the finest seasons an Eagles defensive tackle has ever had, and Carter has five games left to add to it.
“I still have a lot to learn,” he said. “It’s only my second year. I know there (are) veterans that still know way more than me. I’m still learning from B.G. every day.”
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