Doug Pederson preached about identity Tuesday. He said he wants the Eagles to do the things that got them to this point.
Part of the Eagles' identity is gone. It shredded its ACL on a warm Los Angeles evening in December. Carson Wentz isn't coming back and they'll have to win without him.
But the other part of the Eagles' identity is still there. Jim Schwartz's defense has the ability to be a shutdown unit, starting with the big guys up front. The high-priced defensive line has been a motor for this team all season.
So with the season on the line, it's time for the line to show up.
"We're the highest-paid group on this team," said Fletcher Cox, who signed a $100 million contract last June. "Everyone looks to us to set the tempo and that's what we want to do. That's what we need to do."
The starting group of Cox, Tim Jernigan, Brandon Graham and Vinny Curry has been dynamic all year long. Then add Derek Barnett, Chris Long, Beau Allen and Destiny Vaeao, and there's the rotation that has helped the Eagles put together a 13-3 season.
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But after playing well for months, the Eagles' defensive line limped across the regular-season finish line. The Eagles piled up 38 sacks in the regular season but just two over the last two games. They also allowed their two highest rushing totals in back-to-back weeks to end the regular season. There were plenty of factors involved, including injury and unusual circumstances in a meaningless game.
But the extra week of rest has gotten the group healthy. Graham (ankle) returned to practice Tuesday. Jernigan (ankle) and Barnett (groin) are good to go as well. It's a good thing the unit is healthy because it's going to be relied on in the playoffs.
"We know it starts up front," Graham said. "That's every year. It starts up front. But that's our mindset. We just have to do us and everyone feeds off that energy.
"We're feeling fast, we're moving. We can't wait to show what we can do on Saturday."
The Eagles' defensive line will have a test Saturday. While the Falcons' offensive line is somewhat suspect at certain positions, the team still has a former MVP at quarterback in Matt Ryan and also features a pretty solid running attack as well.
The Eagles are going to need to get after Ryan and take down running backs on the way there.
"It's very important because we've got to go out there and disrupt and not let them get comfortable out there," Graham said. "That's our goal every week. But I think it's more important we get it done this week for sure, because it's win or go home."
While the Eagles' entire defense is predicated on getting pass rush without blitzing, the unit also ended up anchoring the best run defense in the NFL in 2017. The Eagles gave up an average of 79.2 yards. And that's after giving up 137 and 129 yards in consecutive weeks to end the season. The Eagles didn't allow a 100-yard rusher until Week 17.
Meanwhile, Atlanta was a good rushing team all year, averaging 115.4 yards on the ground. It piled up 124 on the ground in its wild-card playoff game. So something has to give Saturday.
"It's big," Pederson said about his defensive line. "The energy level obviously ramps up a little bit. I think what you're seeing, even in the wild-card weekend is the line of scrimmage, control the line of scrimmage, both offensively and defensively.
"Our defensive line is no different. We have to make sure that - this is a two-headed monster offensively with this running game that they have and we've got to be able to control that and sort of slow that down the best we can, and a lot of that falls on the defensive line."
Long, the most veteran of the group (a nice way to say he's the oldest), said the unit needs to ratchet up the intensity without trying to do too much. There's a balance to find. Because while the defensive line needs to show up Saturday, it can't have guys leaving gaps to try to make plays either. They're part of a fine-oiled machine.
But there's no question the guys up front want to make their presence felt in the playoffs. They need to be the group to lead the team.
"No doubt," Jernigan said. "I think every group on this team feels that way about themselves and that's the way that it should be. I think this week right here, we're going to treat it like any week and we're going to accept responsibility to set the tone up front. We believe if we can set the tone up front with our defensive line, it'll definitely pay off on the back end."
