Connor Barwin had just finished off one of the best games we’ve seen from an Eagles linebacker in a couple decades, and all he could talk about was Fletcher Cox.
Barwin has 10½ sacks this year, including 3½ Monday night.
Cox, the Eagles’ third-year defensive lineman, has been playing terrific football but didn’t have a sack all year. That was until Monday night, when he joined Barwin and seemingly just about everybody else on the roster in obliterating Cam Newton.
“It feels great, but the happiest moment for me was definitely Fletcher Cox getting his (sack),” Barwin said after the Eagles improved to 7-2 with a 45-21 win over the Panthers at the Linc.
“That’s what’s good about our group up front. I know that the guys are happy for me, but the best part of the night was Fletcher finally getting one because he’s been so close so many times this year.”
A tireless beast on the field, a selfless humble teammate off the field.
Barwin is having a Pro Bowl season for the Eagles, who haven’t had a Pro Bowl outside linebacker since William Thomas in 1996.
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And Monday night, in the Eagles’ 45-21 win over the overmatched Panthers, he was at his best.
With Barwin leading the way, the Eagles registered a nine-sack avalanche, third-most in franchise history.
Barwin wasn’t blitzing Monday night. Three of his sacks came when he was spying Newton. The hobbled two-time Pro Bowl quarterback was overmatched, getting sacked a franchise-record-tying nine times. Frank Reich was sacked nine times by the Falcons in 1995.
“We thought we could take advantage of their offensive line,” Barwin said. “It was really just about being disciplined up front. We knew we could win our matchups. It was just about not being selfish and leaving a lane there for him to get out. We were really good as a group.”
The Eagles now have 32 sacks, second-most in the NFL, and are on pace for their most sacks in a season since 1991.
Barwin on Monday night passed Trent Cole (eight last year) to set an Eagles record for sacks in a season by a linebacker.
“When we see Connor out there flying around and getting there, I was feeding off of that energy,” said Brandon Graham, who added 1½ sacks of his own.
“Everybody was just trying to get after him, because we knew if we got after and stopped the run, then we would come out with a W.”
Barwin had 11½ sacks back in 2011 with the Texans, then just three in 2012 and five last year.
Incredibly, despite playing just 25 games in an Eagles uniform, he’s already third in franchise history among linebackers with 15½ sacks, trailing only Seth Joyner (37) and Thomas (33).
“I think I’m a better player than I was last year,” Barwin said. “I think we have to improve every year, but I think my numbers are a bigger result of what we’re doing as a group up front.
“I’ve had an opportunity to get some more numbers, but it’s more about what we’re doing as a whole up front.”
Nonetheless, Barwin is second in the NFL in sacks, trailing only Chiefs linebacker Justin Houston, who has 12.
Barwin joined Reggie White, Clyde Simmons, Dennis Harrison and Jason Babin as the fifth Eagle with two three-sack games in a season.
Barwin's 3½ sacks Monday night are the most by an Eagles linebacker since Garry Cobb had four against the Falcons in 1986 and matched the most by any Eagle since Hugh Douglas had 4½ against the Chargers in 1998.
“He does what the scheme asks him to do, and he doesn’t try to do more than his job,” safety Malcolm Jenkins said.
“Those sacks and those jump balls that he knocks down, all that stuff, comes with him doing his job and that’s the same stuff he does every day in practice. So when he comes out here in a game, it’s nothing surprising.
“He comes to work, he works hard, he’s a leader on this team and he had a big game for us.”