NEW ORLEANS — The Eagles needed a stop.
They were leading the Rams by six points with 1:14 left in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs last month. The Rams had trudged their way down a snowy Lincoln Financial Field and faced third-and-two from the Eagles’ 12. Quarterback Matthew Stafford took a shotgun snap and was on his back within three seconds.
Defensive tackle Jalen Carter lined up over center Beaux Limmer, stutter-stepped and used a swim move, raising his right arm and throwing him to the side before sprinting straight ahead to sack Stafford and force fourth-and-11. On the next play, he pressured Stafford on an incomplete pass that clinched the Eagles’ victory.
Even more impressive was that Carter had sat out only two snaps in the entire game, a rarity for a defensive tackle, before getting his sack.
‘‘The part to me that makes certain players special is, they understand the moment,’’ Eagles defensive line coach Clint Hurtt said Wednesday. ‘‘To be able to raise their situational awareness in those critical moments.’’
Any Eagles highlight reel from their playoff run will lead with long-distance runs by running back Saquon Barkley. But they likely don’t make it to the Super Bowl without Carter sacking Stafford in the biggest moment of his impressive second season.
Carter was named to the Pro Bowl after notching 4½ regular-season sacks and playing a whopping 84% of the Eagles’ defensive snaps. Pro Football Focus grades him as the fourth-best pass-rushing defensive tackle in the NFL.
‘‘I think he’s the best defensive player in the league,’’ said Eagles linebacker Zack Baun, a fellow first-time Pro Bowl player. ‘‘That dude’s a monster.’’
The Bears had a chance to land that monster. They were on the clock with the No. 9 pick in the 2023 draft when they traded back one spot with the Eagles, who selected Carter out of Georgia. General manager Ryan Poles drafted right tackle Darnell Wright with the No. 10 pick. With the fourth-round pick in 2024 the Bears received in the trade, Poles drafted punter Tory Taylor.
The Bears didn’t want any part of Carter after a precipitous fall in his draft stock. Rated as the top player in the draft by ESPN’s Mel Kiper, Carter was involved in a fatal accident on Jan. 15, 2023, when a car he was alleged to be racing against crashed, killing a Georgia teammate and a football staffer. The next month, he left the NFL Scouting Combine early because he was being charged. He pleaded no-contest to misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and racing.
Because Carter left the combine, scouts took particular interest in his pro day. He showed up out of shape and couldn’t finish all the drills.
The Bears held the No. 1 pick and were in dire need of a defensive tackle after Poles had tried a year earlier to sign Larry Ogunjobi, only for him to fail his physical. Their trade with the Panthers moved the Bears down to the ninth pick, where Carter was still available. It didn’t matter. After the draft, Poles said he didn’t want to comment specifically about Carter, but he said, ‘‘Character’s always going to be important for us.’’ The Bears had enough questions about Carter’s to pass on his considerable skills.
‘‘Everybody makes their decisions,’’ Carter said this week. ‘‘If they felt like it was a smart decision, it was a smart decision. The Eagles picked me up, and I’m very thankful for that. You see where we’re at now. . . . I think we all know who made the smart decision.’’
Carter was limited in practice Wednesday with an illness, but Hurtt said he’ll play Sunday against the Chiefs. He remains the subject of civil lawsuits as a result of the crash, but he seems to have settled in on a team that has six Georgia alums on its roster.
‘‘He believes in his heart he was the best player in that draft,’’ Hurtt said. ‘‘It’s hard to discredit that.’’
Chiefs center Creed Humphrey compared Carter to Chiefs teammate Chris Jones, who is PFF’s top pass-rushing tackle, saying they were ‘‘both a little unorthodox in their movements.’’ Hurtt, a former Bears assistant, prefers to call Carter unique. The closest comparison to the way he uses his body, he said, was former defensive lineman Michael Bennett, who finished with 69½ career sacks.
Before the snap, Carter can read blockers’ stances and assess what they’re about to do. After the snap, he has creative ways of beating blocks.
‘‘When Jalen makes certain decisions in the game, he just doesn’t guess,’’ Hurtt said. ‘‘There’s a feel to it.’’
Earlier in the season, Carter used a swim move but came out of the gap he was assigned to cover. Baun tried to correct him and Carter barked back, saying he knew what he was doing.
‘‘As the season went on and I saw what he was able to do, what he was capable of, I’m like, ‘Bro, just do what you do,’ ’’ Baun said. ‘‘I’m going to be right behind you.’’
Eagles guard Trevor Keegan, a Crystal Lake South alum, is amazed by Carter.
‘‘He does so many things as a defensive tackle you just haven’t seen before,’’ Keegan said. ‘‘He’s Allen Iverson in a 3-technique.’’