It’s not often you can top a performance that helped you win NFC Defensive Player of the Week in the previous week, but Cooper DeJean might have done that on Sunday.
The Philadelphia Eagles‘ do-it-all cornerback was everywhere in their 13-12 win on Sunday, earning him Tom Brady’s LFG Player of the Game. While DeJean didn’t force a turnover as he did in the Eagles’ win over the Washington Commanders last week, he had a career-high nine tackles in the victory.
“Man, Cooper DeJean has been all over the field today,” Brady said in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s broadcast. “He plays corner. He plays nickel. He tackles in the run game. He’s a tremendous young player. He’s just perfect for this defense and does everything [Eagles defensive coordinator] Vic Fangio asks him to do.”
Tom Brady’s LFG Player of the Game: Eagles CB Cooper DeJean 🏆
DeJean’s ability to cover lots of ground is certainly a great tool to have, but it was vital in slowing down Bills star quarterback Josh Allen. The Eagles were able to contain Allen for much of Sunday’s game, with the Bills failing to score until there were just over five minutes left.
The second-year defensive back credited those around him, though, rather than taking the credit from Brady in their postgame chat.
“I think our guys up front did a great job at trying to contain [Allen] in the pocket,” DeJean told Brady. “It’s just rush and coverage working together. We were able to do our stuff in the backend, let the boys up front eat. I don’t know how many sacks we had today, but it had to be a few. It was just rush and coverage working together, just like it’s worked all year. We’ve got to keep it going.”
There were a pair of instances where the cohesiveness between the Eagles’ front seven and secondary was apparent. In the third quarter, the Eagles were able to stop Allen and the Bills on a fourth-and-goal from the 3-yard line as they had every receiver covered and the passing lane filled on the play. Philadelphia’s pass rush also forced Allen to scramble before taking him down at the 1-yard line.
On the Bills’ next drive, the Eagles had a 19-yard sack of Allen on third down to force the Bills out of field goal range. On that play, the Eagles’ defense didn’t give Allen anyone to throw to before linebacker Jalyx Hunt took down Allen.
That sack was one of two that Hunt had on the day, while the Eagles had five sacks as a team. They also logged six quarterback hits of Allen.
“A lot of guys that just love to fight and love to play for each other,” DeJean said of the team’s defensive performance. “That’s great. Anytime you get guys who play for each other and have fun out there on the field, it makes it easy.”
The performance from DeJean and the Eagles marked another strong showing for their defensive unit. The Bills only put up 331 yards of total offense on Sunday, which was 40 yards fewer than their per-game average that was top-five in the league ahead of Week 17. Philadelphia’s allowed just 30 points in its last three games, while it’s largely put up good performances for much of the last two months.
It’s certainly a unit that seems to be peaking at the right time, and DeJean is at the heart of it, just like he was when the Eagles won the Super Bowl last year. But DeJean remained humble when Brady asked him if there was anything he couldn’t do.
“There’s some things I can’t do out there,” DeJean said with a laugh. “We’re just having fun, though.”
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