Supporting Cast Stepping Up Next To Eagles All-Pro Defensive Tackle

The Philadelphia Eagles are getting help from many places along the defensive line, particuartly from a paoir of 23-year-olds in win over Los Angeles Rams.

Jan 19, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) is sacked by Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Moro Ojomo (97) in the second half in a 2025 NFC divisional round game at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA – The Eagles mantra this postseason has been, “Let’s Hunt.” So Jalyx did. So did Moro Ojomo. The two young defensive linemen collected a sack each in the Eagles 28-22 win over the Rams in Sunday’s Divisional Round of the playoffs.

“They have improved,’ said Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio on Tuesday. “Mo’s really done a nice job with the snaps that he’s gotten over the last few months. We have total confidence when he’s in there. Nothing changes, and he’s got some athleticism, and he seems to show up. And Jalyx is getting better, too.”

While Jalen Carter continues to wreck games, his supporting cast continues to develop, including Hunt and Ojomo, who are just 23, the same age as Carter.

“Moro was moving out there,” said Carter “He was ballin’. Sleeping on him is crazy. I saw a (social media) post where somebody said we’re talking about Jalen Carter a lot, but we need to mention the other guys, Milton (Willams), JD (Jordan Davis), Mo, and I totally agree with that. Those boys need some love, too, because I’m not out there by myself.”

Ojomo had never had a sack in his 388 snaps so far this year or his 68 during his rookie season last year.  He played 19 defensive snaps against the Rams (27 percent) after getting 23 against the Packers in the wildcard round.

“I felt (the ablity to get the sack) and came up big, said Ojomo, who is considered undersized for a defensive tackle at 292 pounds. “…so many things have to happen for a play like that to work.”

Ojomo said the emphasis was to hit Stafford. And the Eagles did six times, sacking him five times, which was the same number of sacks they had in their 37-20 win over L.A. on Nov. 24. He said playing the Packers a week earlier helped, since Green Bay’s coach Matt LaFleur is from the McVay coaching tree, so a lot of the offensive schemes were similar.

Name a better way to start the week.
You can't ‼️@novacare | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/nuIJ0evAem

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) January 20, 2025

As for Hunt, the rookie had 1.5 sacks in the regular season and notched his first of the playoffs, tracking down Stafford who was trying to keep the play alive as long as he could on third-and-goal from 13. Hunt caught up to him and forced a 34-yard field goal that tied the score at 13-13 with 7:37 left in the third quarter. He played 17 defensive snaps and 17 more on special teams.

“I just thought he gave relentless effort,” said head coach Nick Sirianni about Hunt’s play. “I think he really has taken to that. He's been giving us a lot of good reps, Jalyx. He started off as a really good special teams player for us because of his motor and how hard he goes.

“I would love to just sit here and talk about how hard Jalyx plays. I could talk about it forever and keep giving you play examples. But he has this relentless effort to the football, and relentless effort to beat blocks, and relentless effort to tackle.”

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