Jalen Carter raves about Eagles' defense after impressive Monday Night Football showing

Defensive tackles don’t often capture the spotlight. They absorb blockers so that the edge rushers can cause havoc. Then again, most tackles aren’t Eagles’ rookie Jalen Carter, who one teammate already nicknamed Baby Rhino.

The Eagles defense harrassed the Bucs and Baker Mayfield on Monday Night Football. The Philadelphia D forced a couple of turnovers in the rain at Raymond James Stadium. And there was Jalen Carter crashing into Mayfield in the backfield for a sack. And on the next play, he punched out the ball from Rachaad White after Mayfield tossed him the ball.

“This defense is awesome,” Jalen Carter told reporters in his post-game comments. “I love the defense. Everybody trusts one another. Everybody plays their role and do what they got to do. And if somebody is going down, it’s that next man up and we are not worried about who the next man is. We trust him just as much as we trust the guy that’s starting the game. I love this defense.”

Check out the forced fumble. After the play, MNF announcer Joe Buck said the obvious: “That rookie is a star in the making.”

Teams really allowed Jalen Carter to just fall to the #Eagles…pic.twitter.com/OUxozVUbRz

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 26, 2023

Jordan Davis tied for second among NFL tackles for QB hurries

Overall, the Eagles defense held the previously undefeated Bucs to 174 total yards.

The game was a homecoming of sorts for Jalen Carter, the former Georgia Bulldog star. He grew up in Apopka, Fla., which is about 100 miles away from Tampa. Carter told reporters that a ton of his friends and family came to see him. So he needed to show out. His stat line for the game —  two tackles, half a sack, a QB hit and two forced fumbles. That fits the description of disruptive.

And the Eagles defensive line easily neutralized the Bucs rushing game. Tampa Bay ran for only 41 yards and one first down on 17 plays. And as the Bucs turned one-dimensional, the Eagles defense easily controlled Mayfield. The quarterback completed 15 of his 25 passes for only 146 yards, with a touchdown and an interception, his first of the season.

“I mean, they’re really good defensively,” Mayfield told reporters. “They’re front — I mean, they’re incredible.”

Jalen Carter finished with a team-high 5 pressures on 16 pass rushes in the @Eagles Week 3 win over the Buccaneers (31.3% pressure rate).

Through the first three weeks, the rookie is tied for 2nd among defensive tackles in total pressures (15).

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— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 26, 2023

The Eagles selected Jalen Carter with the ninth pick of April’s NFL Draft. If not for some legal issues while he played for Georgia, he would’ve challenged for the No. 1 pick and certainly the top five. The Eagles are using him in a rotation with fellow tackles Fletcher Cox and Jordan Davis, Carter’s former teammate with the Bulldogs.

As Next Gen Stats pointed out, Carter is tied with Ed Oliver for second among NFL tackles for quarterback pressures. Nice job by the rookie.