Vic Fangio on facing Jayden Daniels, linebacker snaps and more originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Jayden Daniels on Sunday will become the sixth rookie quarterback all-time to start a conference championship game.
Those first five are 0-5.
But the Eagles are definitely not taking the presumed Rookie of the Year lightly. The Commanders’ quarterback has been fantastic this season.
“He’s a young quarterback by birth certificate, not by the tape,” defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said on Tuesday.
“You know, the guy is playing extremely well. You can tell how much they think he’s playing so good by the volume of their offense and the things they trust him to do. He’s come through for them in a big way and he’s tough to handle.”
In the Week 16 matchup against the Eagles, Daniels threw five touchdown passes, including three in the fourth quarter to give the Commanders a 36-33 come-from-behind win over the Eagles in Washington. That was the third win of their now seven-game winning streak coming into Sunday’s NFC Championship Game.
Daniels, 24, was named to the Pro Bowl in his first NFL season. He threw for over 3,500 yards with 25 touchdowns and 9 interceptions in the regular season and has played well in the first two playoff games.
Against the Bucs and Lions in the first two rounds of the playoffs, Daniels completed 69.7% of his passes for 567 yards with 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. He also has 87 rushing yards.
Fangio has been in the NFL for decades. He was asked on Tuesday if this is the best he’s ever seen a rookie quarterback play.
“You know,” Fangio said, “probably. Yeah.”
The linebacker decision
In the wake of Nakobe Dean’s season-ending torn patellar tendon in the wild-card round, Fangio sure made it seem like the Eagles were going to split up Dean’s reps between veteran Oren Burks and rookie Jeremiah Trotter Jr.
But then the Rams game came and it was all Burks.
“We had planned to possibly play Trot some but Oren was doing OK, things were going OK, so we stuck with it,” Fangio said.
That makes sense.
Burks, 29, played 68 of 71 defensive snaps in the Eagles’ 28-22 win over the Rams and played well. He had 6 tackles, 2 TFLs, 1 QB hit and 1 pass breakup.
Based on that performance, you can probably expect to see Burks get another start on Sunday in the NFC Championship Game against the Commanders. If you’re wondering, Fangio on Tuesday said he thinks Burks and Trotter are “very similar” in coverage. So it doesn’t seem like a switch is coming for that reason.
But Trotter needs to be ready. Because if Burks starts to struggle, he could get thrown into the game.
Carter comes through
Jalen Carter saved the Eagles’ season with two huge plays late in the fourth quarter against the Rams. On both of them, he lined up over the guard and got the center to think he was running a stunt inside. As soon as he crossed the center’s face, he hit him with a swim move and got upfield on Matthew Stafford.
It was a thing of beauty.
“During the week we had run the stunt that he was faking in the first game with some success,” Fangio said. “So I think it worked because of that, what happened in the first game we played.”
Fangio said that Carter gets more freedom when opposing offenses get into those obvious passing situations and it’s clear that Carter has the football acumen to make the most of those plays.
Carter, 23, has a high football IQ.
“He’s grown,” Fangio said. “You play as much as he plays and he gets practice, he’s growing, you know. He’s a second-year player. He’s getting a lot of playing time. He should improve.”
Developing defensive linemen
You expect to see Carter wrecking games. It’s not a surprise to see the former No. 9 overall pick get two sacks in a playoff game.
But Moro Ojomo and Jalyx Hunt? That’s a testament to development.
And both Ojomo (a 2023 seventh-round pick) and Hunt (a 2024 third-round pick) came through with sacks on Stafford in the divisional round game. For Ojomo, it was hard to believe that was his first-career sack.
“Yeah, it’s been very valuable,” Fangio said. “They have improved. Mo has really done a nice job with the snaps he’s got over the last few months. We have total confidence in him when we’re in there. Nothing changes. He’s got some athleticism. He seems to show up. And Jalyx is getting better too.”
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