Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis are ready to contain 49ers star Christian McCaffrey

Late during the Buffalo Bills’ overtime drive on Sunday, defensive tackle Jalen Carter was transported back to his college football days at Georgia.

Carter watched his 6-foot-6, 336-pound former Georgia teammate Jordan Davis run Bills quarterback Josh Allen out of bounds on second-and-10 for a mere 4-yard gain instead of a conversion, ultimately helping the Eagles to a 37-34 victory. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Davis reached a top speed of 16.96 mph in pursuit of Allen. The play brought Carter back to Sept. 11, 2021, when Georgia clobbered Alabama-Birmingham, 56-7. During that contest, Davis ran down the UAB quarterback and tackled him, putting every bit of his 4.78-second 40-yard dash time on display.

“It felt like old times, man,” Carter said.

While Davis’ play may have resembled his college football days, his snap count did not, and neither did Carter’s. Through regulation and overtime, the Bills ran 95 offensive plays, with Carter on the field for 76 snaps (80%) and Davis on for 62 (65%). Their respective totals represent career highs for both players.

» READ MORE: Eagles’ James Bradberry takes the high road after 49ers’ Deebo Samuel doubles down on calling him ‘trash’

Carter and Davis took on increased responsibilities when veteran defensive tackle Fletcher Cox went down with a groin injury midgame. The future of the interior defensive line, Carter and Davis both came up big in critical moments throughout the game, including Carter’s blocked field-goal attempt in the second quarter.

“They took on the reins and they took on the ownership, they knew they would have to play a little more because the rotation got a bit jammed up,” defensive coordinator Sean Desai said. “They did that. They took ownership of it. And they went out and did the best they could to help us win that game.”

The duo will look to continue to build on their performance when the San Francisco 49ers take a trip to the Linc on Sunday afternoon for an NFC championship game rematch. Cox’s status may be in question for the game, as he did not participate in practice on Wednesday or Thursday.

Coming off his best performance in the running game this season with four stops, according to Pro Football Focus, Davis will meet 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, who leads the league with 939 rushing yards. But McCaffrey isn’t just Davis’ issue alone. He’s a talented runner and receiver, leading the league in all-purpose touchdowns (16 rushing, five receiving).

“He’s a dynamic player,” Davis said of McCaffrey. “He can attack you from any level, whether he’s flexed out, whether he’s in the box. He’s a great player. And we have to make sure that we keep our eyes on him, make sure that we know where he is at all times. Because I’ve seen a lot of film where he killed a lot of teams, because it was just him, he was doing all the work. Well, not all the work, but he was doing a lot of heavy lifting.

“As long as we just contain those star players and make sure that we do our jobs and rush and coverage work together, we just let the results speak for itself.”

While McCaffrey and the 49ers’ offensive line have found success in the running game this season, the players up front are susceptible to allowing pressure in pass protection, which the Eagles’ defensive front could take advantage of on Sunday. Last week against the Seattle Seahawks, the 49ers offensive line did not allow a sack. But according to PFF, the Niners allowed 11 pressures on 33 dropbacks, ranking 19th in pass-blocking efficiency in Week 12.

After generating just one pressure per game in Weeks 8 and 9 against the Washington Commanders and Dallas Cowboys, Carter has made more of an impact in his last two games. He had five pressures against the Bills, but he’s still looking for his first full sack since Week 5, when he had two against the Los Angeles Rams.

» READ MORE: Jordan Davis is a big talent on the Eagles’ defensive line. Turns out, he can sing too.

“They’ve got a tough offense, strong,” Carter said. “They’re well-connected, especially with the offensive scheme they run. We’ve just got to be more physical up front and working at executing our plays well.”

From Athens, Ga., to Philly, Davis is proud of the growth that he and Carter have experienced together this season. But with six weeks remaining in the season and plenty of formidable foes like the 49ers left to be faced, Davis refuses to get complacent in his game alongside Carter on the interior.

“You don’t want to get too high, too low,” Davis said. “But we just have to continue doing it. We’ve been doing it for this long. How many more weeks can we do it longer? Can we do it all the way to the end of the season? Can we do it all the way to the postseason, where we’re trying to get to? That’s just the name of the game.”