Cox on stopping Brady in 2018 Super Bowl: Can't let him 'bake pizzas back there'

The New England Patriots enter Super Bowl LII as the favorite in large because they have Tom Brady at quarterback while the Philadelphia Eagles have Nick Foles. For the Eagles to pull off the upset, their defense will have to negate the difference in quarterback play by getting after and harassing Brady, a recipe that the New York Giants followed in their Super Bowl upsets of the Patriots.

The Eagles' defense is well aware of their task. Take it from defensive tackle Fletcher Cox.

"We can't go out and just let him bake pizzas back there," Cox said, per ESPN's Tim McManus. "If we do that, it's going to be a long game for the back end."

One could make the argument that the Eagles' best chance to defeat Brady is to actually let him bake all the pizza he wants and then force him to eat the dairy and gluten -- two things that Brady avoids -- that are often baked into a pizza, but that's a story for another day.

Cox, of course, means the Eagles' defense needs to hit Brady in the pocket to make him uncomfortable.

"As I say every week, it's going to come down to the front four guys getting after the quarterback and making him uncomfortable in the pocket," Cox said.

The good news? The Eagles know how to get after the quarterback. It's the quality that makes their defense as dominant as it is (fifth in DVOA and fourth in points allowed). According to Pro Football Focus, the Eagles' defense generates pressure at a stunningly high rate (41.9 percent of the time). More importantly, the Eagles can generate pressure without blitzing. They've blitzed only 22.6 percent of the time, according to PFF. League average? 29.3 percent.

Their sack total is distributed pretty evenly, too. Defensive end Brandon Graham leads the way with 9.5 sacks, Cox has registered 5.5 sacks, defensive ends Chris Long and Derek Barnett each have five sacks apiece, and defensive end Vinny Curry has collected three sacks.

"It's a lot more than four," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said, per ESPN. "I wish it was four. It's about eight, nine.

"It's a very disruptive group -- hard to run against, hard to throw against, and they're well-coached."

The bad news? Brady is still pretty damn good under duress. According to PFF, Brady sports the league's highest passer rating under pressure (95.5). Against one of the best pass rushes in the AFC title game, Brady led a double-digit fourth-quarter comeback. So, getting pressure on Brady certainly doesn't guarantee anything. It just gives opposing teams a fighting chance.

Really, that's all the Eagles can hope for: a chance. Most people, like me, didn't give them a chance to win a playoff game after losing Carson Wentz to a torn ACL. Now, they're in the Super Bowl. It'd be foolish to write them off, but once again, it feels like they're outmatched.

Tom Brady vs. Nick Foles? Bill Belichick vs. Doug Pederson? Advantage: Patriots. But the Eagles' one advantage is their defense. And we've seen the Patriots come up short in years past against high-level pass rushes. That's why the Eagles have a chance.

Hoping Brady consumes gluten and dairy-filled pizza would also help their chances, but unless they're willing to poison his food, that option is probably irrelevant.

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