Eagles offensive line has hands full with Rams' Aaron Donald, Ndamukong Suh
Josh Friedman
Jason Kelce's never seen a better pair of defensive tackles than the one he'll square off with Sunday night in Los Angeles.
"I've faced some good duos through the years, but this is about as good as it gets for me," the Eagles' center said Wednesday of Rams linemen Aaron Donald and Ndamukong Suh. "… As far as both of them being dominant, game-wrecking-type players, this is a unique situation."
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How difficult is the task at hand?
Donald is the presumptive Defensive Player of the Year favorite, as well as an MVP candidate. He leads the league in sacks at 16.5 and yards lost 155 (the next closest is 95).
"Probably a first-ballot Hall of Famer," guard Brandon Brooks said.
Suh hasn't had Donald's numbers, but the three-time First Team All-Pro is still making an impact, according to Rams head coach Sean McVay.
"Ndamukong has done a great job of playing really a lot of different roles," he said. "He's playing end, he's playing inside and he's definitely influencing and affecting the game in a variety of ways."
Together, they're a challenge the Eagles aren't accustomed to seeing.
"We got our work cut out for us inside to say the least," Kelce said.
Donald, in particular, is drawing a lot of attention.
Normally, defensive tackles fall into one of two categories, Kelce explained.
There's either the big body that comes in on first and second down, might have some explosiveness but is generally filling space, or the third-down sub rusher that's more of a penetrator and is looking to get up field.
There are a few studs too, like Fletcher Cox.
"I just think about how disruptive he is," McVay said. "One of the things I really respect and appreciate about him is just the relentless effort that he plays with. Clearly, he's a powerful guy that can work edges, an extremely strong, explosive player. But I just think certain guys, where you're just watching the tape even if you're not really locked in on certain players, they kind of just jump off the screen. Fletcher has been one of those guys who has done that consistently."
But Donald's on another level.
"It's unique to see speed and power," Kelce said. "… Very rarely do you see the combination of gifts that Aaron Donald possesses."
Kelce felt Cox compared more to Suh than Donald.
"Fletch has a certain amount of power," he said. "His game works kind of off of that. Aaron's got power as well, but his speed and his quickness is what really sets him apart as a player."
Cox agreed with that assessment.
"I think we're two totally different players," he said of Donald, who he speaks with regularly as they share the same agent. "He's a lot smaller than I am and he's moving around a lot quicker than I do and I'm more of a power guy."
That means practicing against Cox isn't going to give the Eagles line a better understanding of what to do against Donald.
"I don't know if there's ever been an interior player who's really that good all a way around," Brooks said. "Probably the last one maybe was, what, maybe Warren Sapp?"
The good news for the Eagles is the defensive tackle duo does seem to have a weakness. The Rams are allowing 124.2 yards per game on the ground this year, which is 23rd in the league.
"They get so much penetration that there leaves gaps and stuff between them and the second level," Kelce said.
If the Eagles can exploit that, they'll have a good chance at knocking off the team tied with the Saints for the best record in the NFC (11-2).
If they can't, Donald and Suh can feast on whichever quarterback is dropping back for the Birds.
"They get your attention pretty quickly," offensive coordinator Mike Groh said Tuesday. "They're really talented up front; very disruptive. Worthy of all the praise that they've gotten."
Josh Friedman; @JFriedman57; (856) 486-2431; jfriedman2@gannettnj.com
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