PHILADELPHIA – Jalen Carter saw snow once. He had to migrate slightly north from his central Florida hometown to Georgia to see it. Not that the University of Georgia campus will ever be confused with a winter wonderland in January or February.
The Eagles defensive tackle saw it on Sunday. A lot of it. Snow began in the second quarter at Lincoln Financial Field and never fully stopped. It was piling up enough that players were on their hands and knees cleaning spots for kickers to kick in the second half.
“I’ve always been ready for snow,” said Carter. “…I never played or practiced in it, but I knew this whole week we were going to play in the snow. They talked about it snowing three, four inches, I’m like, ‘I’m ready.’ I’m not going to let that stop me. It was fun out there.”
Carter didn’t just play. The second-year DT dominated. He had two sacks and a forced fumble in the Eagles’ 28-22 win over the Los Angeles Rams to qualify for their second NFC Championship Game in three years, where they will host the Washington Commanders on Sunday at 3 p.m.
His forced fumble led to a 40-yard scoop return from cornerback Isaiah Rodgers to set up the Eagles with a first-and-goal at the 10.
“He’s (second team) All-Pro for a reason,” said Rodgers.
PHILADELPHIA – Jalen Carter saw snow once. He had to migrate slightly north from his central Florida hometown to Georgia to see it. Not that the University of Georgia campus will ever be confused with a winter wonderland in January or February.
The Eagles defensive tackle saw it on Sunday. A lot of it. Snow began in the second quarter at Lincoln Financial Field and never fully stopped. It was piling up enough that players were on their hands and knees cleaning spots for kickers to kick in the second half.
“I’ve always been ready for snow,” said Carter. “…I never played or practiced in it, but I knew this whole week we were going to play in the snow. They talked about it snowing three, four inches, I’m like, ‘I’m ready.’ I’m not going to let that stop me. It was fun out there.”
Carter didn’t just play. The second-year DT dominated. He had two sacks and a forced fumble in the Eagles’ 28-22 win over the Los Angeles Rams to qualify for their second NFC Championship Game in three years, where they will host the Washington Commanders on Sunday at 3 p.m.
His forced fumble led to a 40-yard scoop return from cornerback Isaiah Rodgers to set up the Eagles with a first-and-goal at the 10.
“He’s (second team) All-Pro for a reason,” said Rodgers.
If there were a redraft from the class of 2023, Carter would probably go No. 1. Maybe No. 2 behind C.J. Stroud. But the Eagles got him ninth overall when some red flags, that haven’t yet revealed themselves since he arrived in the league, caused him to drop slightly.
I’ve matured, of course,” he said. “You see what’s going on in the locker room and everything and obviously on the field, but I’m still me. I’m still chill. In college, I stayed home, played games and I’m still doing the same thing in the NFL. Right now, I’m just chilling, a young, 23-year-old, playing football trying to get a Super Bowl for the guys.”
Carter’s second sack basically won the game, but he needed one last pressure to seal it, and he got that, too. The Rams were 13 yards away from winning the game and faced a third-and-two. That’s when Carter did a swim move past center Beaux Limmer and dumped Matthew Stafford on his backside before Stafford could move an inch.
“It wasn’t nothing special, but what I did worked,” said Carter.
Now fourth-and-11, Carter blew by the overmatched Limmer again and sprinted toward Stafford, who knew better than to take a sack this time, so he threw before he was ready and the ball didn’t get anywhere near his intended receiver, Puka Nacua. Just 26 seconds were left and all quarterback Jalen Hurts had to do was take a knee to wrap up the win.
“I was focused on trying to finish the game,” said Carter. “After that sack, I was trying to get everybody together to tell them we had one more play left to make. It came down to the last second and now everybody can celebrate.”
Carter had five tackles and three hits on Stafford. Teammate Moro Ojomo, who had a sack, called Carter the best defensive tackle in the league. Head coach Nick Sirianni called him special.
“Jalen Carter, I can’t say enough good things about his development as a player,” said Sirianni. “That just doesn’t happen because of talent. He’s talented as you guys see. He’s so talented. But, in this league, there are a lot of guys that are talented. It takes more than talent to reach your potential, and he’s continuing to rise. That speaks a lot to Jalen Carter.”
