During this offseason, Brandon Graham's future with the Eagles was very uncertain -- his contract was up and in his aging state it was really starting to look like the Eagles were not going to re-sign him. Fans were preparing for a season without one of the cornerstones of the defense, but then Howie Roseman pulled some cap strings as he's known to do and signed Graham to a 3 year deal.
It's hard to say that Graham had made a serious impact this season, but most of us had a feeling that he still had it in him to turn things around. He broke out for three sacks against the New York Jets and hasn't looked back since. During the most recent game against the Buffalo Bills, Graham put on a clinic racking up 5 tackles (2 of them for a loss) and 1 sack. He was named to the PFF's team of the week (and rightfully so).
Here's what PFF had to say about Graham's performance against the Bills:
Among all NFL defensive linemen with at least 25 defensive snaps played in Week 8, Graham ranked first in overall grade (92.6) and run-defense grade (95.5). He had two defensive stops and a forced fumble defending the run on Sunday.
To all of us that were thinking that Graham was finished I would say he had proved us wrong. Guys don't have performances like this with talent alone; it takes a fire and will that only the truly best competitors have. In a time when the Eagles really needed him to step up he did, and now it's time for the rest of the team (both offense and defense) to see the heart the Graham is playing with. They need to start realizing that if they are going to play up the expectations that everyone had for them this season, then they will need to start playing with the same fire and intensity that #55 is showing on the field of late.
