{"id":517145,"date":"2025-11-11T12:08:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T12:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/517145\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T12:08:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T12:08:15","slug":"how-jaelan-phillips-transformed-eagles-defense-in-week-10-win-vs-packers-at-lambeau","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/517145\/","title":{"rendered":"How Jaelan Phillips transformed Eagles defense in Week 10 win vs. Packers at Lambeau"},"content":{"rendered":"

Grading a trade after one game is premature, but it\u2019s clear that Eagles general manager Howie Roseman <\/a>hit a home run with edge rusher Jaelan Phillips<\/a>, who starred in the Eagles\u2019 Week 10 victory over the Green Bay Packers<\/a> at Lambeau Field on Monday night.<\/p>\n

Just one week after being acquired from the Miami Dolphins for a third-round pick, Phillips made an immediate impact both as a pass rusher and run stopper, helping Philadelphia\u2019s defense hold Green Bay to seven points.<\/p>\n

With 1:30 remaining in the fourth quarter, Phillips made the game\u2019s defining play, powering through Packers tight end Luke Musgrave\u2019s block<\/a> to stop Josh Jacobs on fourth-and-1 from the 44-yard line, preventing a potential game-winning touchdown drive. <\/p>\n

\u201cI just felt super grateful,\u201d Phillips said about his Eagles\u2019 debut. \u201cThis is the first time in a while that I\u2019ve gotten a little emotional before a game. … Coming here is my first time at Lambeau, walking out through that tunnel. I mean, it doesn\u2019t get better than that. So, yeah, I\u2019m definitely grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Getting Phillips for a late Day 2 pick could be a massive steal. <\/p>\n

Before Phillips joined the room, the Eagles\u2019 pass rush flashed potential but lacked consistency. Nolan Smith <\/a>returned to the starting lineup against Green Bay after five weeks out and recorded a sack, while Jalyx Hunt got his second sack of the season, showing great upside. But Phillips was the difference maker, posting eight pressures, seven hurries, six tackles, two quarterback hits and a fumble recovery.<\/p>\n

Soon, he could turn the Eagles\u2019 defense into a championship unit for the second straight year. <\/p>\n

\u201cFelt amazing energy from the guys,\u201d Phillips said. \u201cThere\u2019s just an air of confidence, and everybody played together. We had a great game. Honestly, super gritty. So, yeah, I\u2019m just grateful to be here, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phillips played with confidence, drawing on his familiarity with defensive coordinator Vic Fangio\u2019s system<\/a> from their time together in Miami during the 2023 season, plus a week of studying the playbook.<\/p>\n

On Green Bay\u2019s opening drive, Phillips bull-rushed Packers right tackle Zach Tom<\/a> into Jordan Love, setting up Hunt\u2019s sack from the left side. Phillips nearly brought down Love himself, but the quarterback spun into Hunt for the takedown. <\/p>\n

Right before halftime, Phillips drove Tom back into Love again as linebacker Nakobe Dean forced a fumble, which Phillips recovered, stopping the drive just short of the red zone.<\/p>\n

Not only does Phillips give the Eagles a true No. 1 pass rusher, he also strengthens their run defense with his 6-foot-5, 263-pound frame and power at the point of attack. <\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody talks about pass rush, but truly you can\u2019t rush the passer unless you stop the run,\u201d Phillips said. \u201cIt\u2019s a bit of a pride thing, really. You can kind of see pass rush is more finesse, more like sexy. But stopping the run is gritty. It\u2019s hard and it takes toughness. And that\u2019s what we showed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phillips\u2019 performance earned him a game ball from Eagles coach Nick Sirianni,<\/a> who praised his effort. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat fourth down play signifies the kind of physicality that the man has,\u201d Sirianni said. \u201cI think about his week of practice and how he goes about his business. Man, he loves football. He loves working. You could just see it. The way he was running around at practice. His motor is constantly, constantly running. (He\u2019s) with Wash (Eagles defensive ends coach Jeremiah Washburn) all the time, just pushing to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Philadelphia entered Week 10 ranked 23rd in total defense, but that number should improve over the final two months of the season. <\/p>\n

The Eagles boast elite linebackers, two top-tier cornerbacks in Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell, a talented interior defensive line, solid safeties, and now a loaded edge rush group led by Phillips, once considered one of the league\u2019s best young pass rushers before suffering consecutive season-ending injuries in 2023 and 2024.<\/p>\n

Now 26 and in his fifth season, Phillips could be poised to return to that elite trajectory. His pass rush ability could mask weaknesses at the second cornerback spot and also make star defensive tackle Jalen Carter\u2019s job easier. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe came up big, man,\u201d Carter said about Phillips. \u201cI couldn\u2019t really see him because I\u2019m fighting my own blocks. But every time I got up, he\u2019s always at the ball, he\u2019s hustling.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Grading a trade after one game is premature, but it\u2019s clear that Eagles general manager Howie Roseman hit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":448870,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2072],"tags":[75435,7,41,345,2514,2513,6,31185,428],"class_list":{"0":"post-517145","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-green-bay-packers","8":"tag-a1c00808","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-green-bay","11":"tag-green-bay-packers","12":"tag-greenbay","13":"tag-greenbaypackers","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-nflraw25","16":"tag-packers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115530989839214202","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/448870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}