Cre'Von LeBlanc Showed Up When a Play Needed Made

PHILADELPHIA - No Jalen Mills, no Ronald Darby, and Avonte Maddox got hurt early and struggled to return. Into this cornerback void for the Eagles stepped Cre’Von LeBlanc last Sunday against the New York Giants.

LeBlanc hadn’t seen the field much since returning from Injured Reserved on Nov. 30. In a win over Dallas two weeks ago, he never even made it onto the field. In the three games prior to playing the Cowboys, LeBlanc played just 23 snaps.

“Obviously early in the season it was the injury, and then we had him back and he was back in the sort of a dime type role, him and Avonte both playing in that inside position,” said defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz on Tuesday. “And, it was really just game plan from week to week. One week we didn't use that package at all, and other weeks we used it sort of sporadically I guess you’d say.

“But we've always had a lot of confidence in him, and with the injury situation we had, he had to go out and play just about every snap in the game and really came through for us; he's a really good tackler; tough finishing at the ball. Our ability to win that game had a lot to do with Cre'Von.”

LeBlanc, whose season was sidetracked with a Lisfranc sprain early in training camp, made eight tackles with two passes defended. He played 59 snaps (80) percent.

Schwartz would not commit to how many snaps LeBlanc would play on Sunday when the Seattle Seahawks visit for a 4:40 p.m. wildcard playoff game, with Mills is expected to play after missing last week with ana ankle injury, but there will likely be a role for LeBlanc.

“It felt good to be out there,” said LeBlanc. “Definitely for me, I’m the type of guy when my number’s called, to go out there and do what I have to do and do what I gotta do for the guys on the back end who believe in me and have faith in me. It felt good out there.”

LeBlanc derailed three New York Giants with three very good defensive plays.

Here they are:

Cre'Von LeBlanc played so well on Sunday and came up with a number of key stops in clutch moments. Pass game, run game, didn't matter, LeBlanc BATTLES in the slot #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/JZcWiTtIxW
— Fran Duffy (@FDuffyNFL) December 31, 2019

THIRD-AND-SEVEN

The Giants drove to midfield on their first possession of the game. The Eagles could ill-afford another one of those slow starts that plagued them earlier in the season, and New York looked like it had something cooking.

That is until LeBlanc, playing man-to-man coverage in the slot against Golden Tate, undercut the inside slant pattern to break up the throw from Giants quarterback Daniel Jones.

New York punted, and on the Eagles ensuing possession they marched down the field for a Jake Elliott 31-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead.

THIRD-AND-THREE

New York was gaining momentum. They had just evened the score at 10-10 with 9:41 to go on the third quarter on a 20-yard touchdown throw to Tate, who beat Rasul Douglas in the end zone. The Eagles couldn’t do much offensively on the ensuing possession after that score and punted away the ball.

The Giants moved from their own 19 to the Eagles’ 35-yard line, with the big play a 33-yard completion from Jones to Darius Slayton with Douglas and Malcolm Jenkins in coverage. Defensive lineman Anthony Rush stuffed Saquon Barkley for a three-yard loss, pushing New York too far away for a field goal attempt and too close to punt.

The Giants went for it on fourth-and-four. It was the right decision, but LeBlanc, playing zone defense, foiled the try when he made a nice break on a pass to Sterling Shepherd, arriving just as the ball did to break up the play.

The Eagles took over from there and went 62 yards in nine plays to take a 17-10 lead on a seven-yard run by Boston Scott.

FOURTH-AND-TWO

New York was in desperation mode, trailing 27-17 when they came to a fourth-and-two with eight minutes to go in the game. They had to go for it, even though the ball was on their own 39.

Enter LeBlanc once again. This time he cut down a running play to Barkley. First, he had to defeat a block by Tate. Once he did, Barkley was toast, stopped before he could gain even a yard.

“I know he had a swing pass (earlier in the game) and I tried to hit him low and he bounced off, so on this one I just kind of wanted to bring my hips a little more and get up underneath of him,” said LeBlanc of the play. “I know we had to get off the field and I just laid it out on the line.”