NEW ORLEANS — The Philadelphia Eagles’ big-play offense has set the tone in the team’s last two playoff victories.
Jalen Hurts ran 44 yards for a touchdown on the first possession of the Eagles’ divisional victory against the Los Angeles Rams, and Saquon Barkley ran 60 yards for a touchdown on his team’s first play of the NFC Championship win against the Washington Commanders.
Two different players reached the end zone, but both plays had one very important element in common.
“The O-line got after it and put us in position to find lanes,” Hurts said Wednesday.
The ability of Philadelphia’s offensive line to create lanes for Hurts and Barkley also set the tone for the Eagles’ march to a matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX on Sunday at the Superdome.
Barkley has gotten most of the attention during his 2,005-yard rushing regular season, but Philadelphia had a standout offensive line even before he arrived.
“A lot of times when people are scouting, a big thing is critical factors such as size and a certain arm length, and we have all that together with (offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland’s) coaching and how he tries to tackle each game plan each week,” Pro Bowl right tackle Lane Johnson said. “The ferocity behind that, I think it motivates us to become the best we can be.”
Philadelphia ranked second in the NFL during the regular season in rushing yards (3,048), tied for second in rushing touchdowns (29) and fifth in yards per rush (4.9).
Johnson recalled his reaction when the Eagles lured Barkley to Philadelphia as a free agent after six mostly standout seasons with the New York Giants.
“My first reaction was ‘I don’t know how he ended up here,'” Johnson said. “He’s a player that didn’t need much to make (any play) a home run.”
It was an idyllic pairing of running back and offensive line. The Eagles’ running game already was one of the better ones in NFL, tying for fifth in rushing touchdowns (22), and ranking eighth in rushing yards (2,190) and tied for eighth in yards per rush (4.3) last season.
The unit is comprised of Johnson and fellow second-team All-Pro Jordan Mailata at left tackle, along with left guard Landon Dickerson, right guard Mekhi Becton and center Cam Jurgens.
Johnson is the senior member of the group and the leader not only on the field but during the offseason when he hosts teammates and other NFL players at the “Bro Barn,” a horse barn on his property that he converted into what the Eagles call “a world-class home gym” for competitive workouts.
The spot next to Johnson on the line was open last offseason when head coach Nick Sirianni and Stoutland put their heads together and decided to move backup tackle Becton inside.
“Every good idea comes from collaboration and communication,” Sirianni said. “We all saw that Mekhi had a lot of talent and we knew that we were pretty set at the tackle spots.”
Mailata is a former rugby player from Australia who didn’t play football until 2018 when he went to the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., to participate in the NFL International Players Pathway Program. The Eagles drafted him in the seventh round that year and he’s become a mainstay on the line.
“I don’t think any of it would have been possible if he didn’t have the character he has,” Johnson said of Mailata. “He’s always happy, he’s always eager to learn, and he put his time in.”
Johnson added that Mailata’s lack of a football background growing up had one advantage: “He didn’t have a lot of bad habits.”
Mailata said back home “there’s a lot of stigma involved with football in general with the pads” and because of an incomplete understanding of the sport.
“It’s all about playing chess, all about knowing the person that you’re going against across from you, knowing the scheme and then executing your goal,” he said. “That’s hard. There’s a mental battle before the play even begins, you have to dissect everything in about 20 seconds. I think offensive linemen in general are pretty smart players.”
–Les East, Field Level Media
