With Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis less than two weeks away, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick knows that his hands are full when his offense faces the stout defensive line of the Philadelphia Eagles., who are led by star defensive tackle Fletcher Cox.
In an article written by Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk, Belichick opened up about the challenges that New England faces against Philly's elite defensive line that contains the likes of Cox, Brandon Graham, Vinny Curry, Chris Long, Timmy Jernigan, and Derek Barnett.
“It’s a very disruptive group, hard to run against, hard to throw against, and they’re well-coached, very instinctive in their screens and plays like that that you think will take the edge of the pass rush, don’t look as good as you think — when you run them they don’t look as good as you think they will,” Belichick said. “Draws, screens, play action, they blow those plays up too. They have a lot of good players. They have good inside rushers, good outside rushers.”
Belichick especially offered high praise for Cox and what he brings to Philadelphia's havoc-inducing defensive unit.
“Cox is as good as anybody in the league at his position,” Belichick said. “He’s a very disruptive player, hard to block, run, pass, no matter what it is. They have good edge rush, and they come hard every play. These guys really play hard. There are no plays off, so you’re going to have to block them on every play. You can’t get away from them. There’s nowhere to go. You have to deal with that front down after down, and they wear you down. It’s a great group. That’s a huge strength for their defense.”
In 14 games this season for the Eagles, the three-time Pro Bowler made 26 tackles, 5.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries, and scored one defensive touchdown. His ability to crush the pocket around Tom Brady is pivotal to the Eagles taking home a victory in Super Bowl LII.
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