Eagles’ Assist King Is Heating Up

Jalen Carter's elevated play has the Philadelphia defense looking like one of the NFL's best.

Nov 16, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (16) throws a pass under pressure form Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter (98) during the second half at Lincoln Financial Field. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA - The numbers are not necessarily there for Jalen Carter this season, but the Eagles’ second-team All-Pro defensive tackle remains the defensive player opposing teams are most concerned with.

The idea of Carter “assists” is becoming a thing on the Eagles’ red-hot defense.

Because of the attention Carter typically receives, he can often open one-on-one matchups for his linemates, or his penetration at the line of scrimmage can result in others garnering sacks or tackles for losses.

“Oh, yeah, we all give props to each other,” Carter said Thursday as the 8-2 Eagles continued preparation for Sunday’s game at 4-5-1 Dallas. “... Usually when somebody helps us make a play, we thank them. 

“If you seen last year with Nolan [Smith} trusting me to run that stunt versus the [Los Angeles] Rams [in the Divisional Round of the playoffs], I said, thank you for trusting me, man. 
Let's do it, stuff like that.”

Teammates acknowledge “assists.”

“They come to me and say, that's an assist,” Carter explained. “We give each other assists even though it's not in the stat sheet and stuff like that, but we get each other assists to know that ‘Hey, you're the reason that I got this sack or I got this tackle."

Carter, though, is on the cusp of a potential massive contract extension and admitted that he would prefer the splash stat, all things being equal.

"I would prefer a stat,” Carter smiled, "but I'm always here to help my teammate. I want to see everybody do good around me, so I'll take that too.” 

Dishing Dimes

Nov 16, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Jaelan Phillips (50) against the Detroit Lions at Lincoln Financial Field. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

The Eagles are on a heater defensively, allowing just 16 total points over the past two weeks against top-tier offenses in Green Bay and Detroit.

Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio explained that Carter’s elevated play has been a significant part of the Eagles’ defense hitting its stride.

"Vic ain't gonna lie to you,” said Carter. “I'm not going to be the type to be like, ‘Yo, it's all me, it's all me,’ No, Carter said. “We just got [Jaelan] Phillips. He's balling right now. 
So you can say it's him. You can say JD [Jordan Davis] Player of the Week. You can say anybody."

Sunday may be the toughest test to date for Carter and Co. against the Cowboys' No. 1 passing offense in a pristine environment that AT&T Stadium provides.

And you can expect more assists from Philadelphia’s most-talented defender. 

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