'One Of The Best Ever:' Eagles' O-Line Is Turning Heads

PHILADELPHIA - In came dual unprompted texts from two former NFL GMs hours after the Philadelphia Eagles dismissed the Los Angeles Rams, 28-22, in the Divisional Round of the playoffs despite amassing only 65 net passing yards.

There was some help with short fields thanks to the No. 1 ranked defense and the final would have been 30 in driving snow for most of the game had Jake Elliott not missed two extra points.

How do you put up that much offense with a passing attack with less teeth than a high school junior varsity team?

The sizzle was 285 rushing yards, 205 of those from Saquon Barkley, including 62- and 78-yard touchdowns. The steak was a pull block by Mekhi Becton or a reach by Cam Jurgens and a seal from Jordan Mailata, along with the punishing physicality of Landon Dickerson and Lane Johnson.

It's stipulated in a society obsessed with splash and low-hanging fruit that Barkley is having a historic season but that "2K SA" campaign that is threatening Terrell Davis' all-time single-season rushing record has been built on the foundation of Jeff Stoutland's offensive line, a group that might be the well-regarded offensive line coach's best, something amazing to debate coming off losing six-time All-Pro and future Hall of Fame center Jason Kelce to retirement.

Back to those texts.

"That's one of the best offensive lines I've ever seen," the first GM wrote. The second went even further: "The offensive line is one of the best ever."

Armed with that information, Philadelphia Eagles On SI asked Nick Sirianni about the group and the Eagles head coach couldn't help but smile.

"They're the guys that make it go up front," said Sirianni. "Saquon is phenomenal, but he can't be great without the greatness of others."

Offensive linemen are rarely stars with Kelce perhaps being the first crossover O-Lineman to compete with superstars like Barkley in things like merchandise sales and Q ratings.

The O-Line is usually the most engaging group in any NFL locker room and that sentiment is tied to their job description -- service to others.

"I love that about the offensive line, the selflessness," Sirianni said. "They don't score touchdowns, and sometimes on an offensive line – the stats that you keep on an offensive line are how many pressures you gave up and how many sacks you gave up. Those are the stats that we all know as an offensive lineman, so sometimes you only get focused on for the negative thing.

"But I love offensive linemen. I've always loved offensive linemen because of that selflessness they have. They're protectors, right? They're there to protect and serve other people. That’s the best thing you can say about a human being, is that you want to do well for yourself to do well for others."

The Eagles O-Line, from left to right: Mailata, Dickerson, Jurgens, Becton, and Johnson combines rare talent with that selflessness as a group.

Mailata was the highest-graded player in football this season by Pro Football Focus. Dickerson and Johnson were second-team All-Pros and the latter has his GPS set for Canton. Jurgens was a Pro Bowl alternate despite replacing a legend and Becton, once the No. 11 overall pick as a left tackle by the New York Jets, rebooted his career by moving inside and serving up more pancakes than the Penrose Diner in South Philadelphia on a Saturday morning.

"Obviously, we're highly talented there. We have really good players, and Stout coaches his butt off to get them to perform at a high level, Sirianni said. "So of course, yeah, I see them as having a historic season, being able to send three guys to the Pro Bowl, having two guys on the All-Pro team.

"That's a result of just all the hard work that they do. And I love when they get recognized because, again, like I said, sometimes you don't get recognized for that."

Sirianni then mused about attending Kelce's late-night ESPN show and loved an idea coming from former NFL offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth.

"I don't know if you saw it, but they had a conversation on there like, why do we give an offensive MVP, a defensive MVP, player of the year, but we don't give the offensive line award?" Sirianni recounted. "I'm like, man, they should do that. What a great idea that is."

The NFL's MVP is probably going to be Baltimore's Lamar Jackson for a third time. It might be Buffalo's Josh Allen and Eagles fans are going to be upset when Barkley gets Offensive Player of the Year instead of MVP.

However, the real answer to "Most Valuable Players" in the NFL is the Eagles' offensive line.

"This group is incredible," offensive coordinator Kellen Moore said. "Awesome people first and foremost. They work really, really hard. They're aligned. They work well together. I think they bring the physical tone and mentality to our entire football team. They set the foundation.

"We lean on those guys."

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