EAGLES DEFENSE TO THE RESCUE AGAIN – EAGLES DUMP DETROIT 16-9
- Al Thompson
- 8 minutes ago
- 7 min read
The Philadelphia Eagles defense led the way for a 16-9 win over the Detroit Lions Sunday night at Lincoln Financial Field.
For the second consecutive week, the offense scored one measly touchdown but walked away with the win.
The Eagles won because their defense played lights out for the second consecutive week. The unit gangster-ed Lions quarterback Jared Goff into arguably the worst performance of his ten-year career.
Goff was 14 of 37 for 255 yards, sacked twice, picked off once and had ten of his passed blocked including five in-his-face blocks that would no doubt impress Hakeem Olajuwon.
The Lions were three of 13 on third down and 0-5 on fourth down plays...an offense averaging over 31 points a game coming into the Philly game.
But the Eagles offense wasn't that bad, but it continued to struggle.
The Birds lost Pro Bowl center Cam Jurgens and All Pro right tackle Lane Johnson to injuries during the game, Saquon Barkley rushed 26 times for a disappointing 83 yards.
The Eagles (8-2) lone TD came on a one-yard “Tush Push” by Jalen Hurts who finished 14 of 28 for 135 yards, one sack and no turnovers.
“I'd like to win every game by 30 points,” head coach Nick Sirianni said after the game. “I don't think that's the reality of the NFL. I think we take a lot of pride in just winning, period. That's all this thing's about, right?
“I've been on the other side where you lose and you're sick about it, right? That doesn't mean that you don't go to work like a madman the next day and try to fix everything that made it not a big two-score win or three-score win.
“I think the answer really is we take pride in winning. I think our guys have this knack of knowing. As I watched football today, I feel like I saw a lot of teams waiting to lose. Our team's waiting to win because they know how to win. There's something to be said for knowing how to win and knowing how to figure out ways to win."
Siranni acknowledged the elephant in the room regarding his offense.
“Do we want things to be better? Yeah, of course,” he said. “You're in a constant quest of getting better and we're going to be, like I said, crazy tomorrow about the things that-- we are working tomorrow.
“I don't care what time the game ended or whatever it is, we're working tomorrow to get better and that will be our mission. You sense it in those moments from the coaches and from the players and from myself. We know how to win and we're going to figure out a way to win the game.”
The Lions solved the “Tush Push,” for one day. Except for the Hurts touchdown, the visitors stopped it at least three times Sunday night, but there was little satisfaction for that because the Philadelphia Eagles walked away with an ugly, flawed win, raising their NFC-leading record to 8-2 and kept the No. 1 seed in Philadelphia for at least one more week.
Lions (6-4) head coach Dan Campbell did take a bow for one of the few bright spots for his team.
“Yeah, we got guys that play with leverage,” Campbell said post game. “They're strong, they're stout (DJ) Reader and (Roy) Lopez and (Alim McNeill), we’ve got some tree trunks in there.
“They know how to grow roots and anchor in there and that's where it always is going to start. So I thought the guys handled it well, did a great job, and it really, it paid dividends today. It gave us a chance.”
The first half was almost as forgettable as the entire game against Green Bay last Monday.
No question both defenses led to the 13-6 intermission score.
Both team would trade field goals in the second half.
Detroit running back Jahmyr Gibbs had a big night with 107 yards receiving on five catches and another 39 yards rushing on 12 caries.
His effort was thrown in the trash by Campbell for going for it on fourth down five times including a try from the Eagles three-yard line with 5:14 left in the third and down by one score.
Campbell was asked about the disconnect on all the fourth down misses that were thwarted by Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.
“No, they really didn't do anything different,” Campbell said post game. “I mean, like what Fangio does is he mixed his calls and he's got a few that he rolls through and he does a good job of variety there, but yet I wouldn't say it was anything exotic or anything we haven't seen or talked about.
“We were just a little off. I mean, it really was kind of one of those days. I hate saying that, but it was just a little bit of one of those days and I mean it’s a rarity that Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown don't connect more than that.
“That's just a rare thing because those guys have such a good connection. But again, man, we're all involved in this. We all have a hand in it. For me, the coaches, all of us, man, everybody that's part of this offense, we have to be better.
"Especially on a day like today when you're playing that kind of defense, that kind of team, the margin for error is so small, man.
“You don't have the luxury of – like, we get in the red zone, we have to score a touchdown, man, we can't come away not scoring seven there. We have to convert at least two or three of those fourth downs. You have to, and we were a little off. We just couldn't get our rhythm there.”
Hurts was asked abut whether he thinks this team just seems to have a knack to win and where it comes from.
“I think it comes from the band and the familiarity within the building,” Hurts said. “You've heard me talk a lot about those Georgia guys on the other side of the ball and how familiar they are with one another.
“I think they bring a special energy to the defense and into the team. You see it out there today with all those guys making plays. The defense was playing lights out, it was one of the best performances I've ever seen.
“So a really, really big time game on that side of the ball and to be able to do what they did on fourth down against a really good offense or a potent offense that's capable of doing really, really special things and I have a lot of respect for that.”
Hurts was asked about the Lions having this game circled on their calendar and whether he feels like teams are giving their best shot because of what the Eagles have accomplished:
“Absolutely. Absolutely,” Hurts said. “And what more do you expect, that's exactly how it's going to be. When you accomplish the things that you've accomplished, everybody wants to take your place and we just have to continue to improve so we can maintain where we are.” *
If you ask teams about champions getting preferential treatment from referees, you won't get an argument from Lions players.
With 1:51 left in the fourth quarter, the Eagles faced a third-and-eight from their own 37-yard line, the game was not decided. If the Lions hold, they would get one last legitimate crack at winning the game.
Hurts dropped back and threw a pass to A.J. Brown near the first down marker. Brown was being defended by Rock Ya-Sin.
Ya-Sin and Brown had contact during the short route. But the contact looked incidental. The ball sailed passed Brown. Fourth down, right?
Pass interference was called, basically ending the game. Head referee in a post game pool reporter interview backed up the call to be legitimate.
“It was a call,” Ya-Sin said at his locker after the game. “I’m a seven-year vet. I’m going against an All-Pro player like A.J. Brown and he gets those calls. I have to do a better job and get my head around maybe attacking the ball. The refs made the call. It is what it is.”
Ya-Sin said he played the way he's been coached for years, especially with Dan Campbell team.
“It goes back to what we preached in OTAs, to camp and now during the season, is to hold the line,” Ya-Sin said at his locker. “It doesn't matter whose out there. A standard's a standard. We go out there and compete at the highest level and try and help out team win games.”
Ya-Sin continued.
“That's a good team,” Ya-Sin said. “ We went out there, we fought to the end...from the first snap to the lat whistle. We executed but came up short. We'll learn from it and get better.”
MORE QUOTES
Adoree Jackson:
“Defensively, to be able to hold a team, this is propably one of the high -powered offenses in this league the way we did is something you think about when you start playing defense in this league.”
Jalen Carter:
“Our goal is 16 points or less,” Carter said. “For real, wee don't want to let a team score at all. I congratulate the defense for what we're doing and keeping them under our hard goal. We still don't want them to have no explosive, not nothing...give the ball to the offense, more turnovers, et cetera.”
Saquon Barkley:
“Shout out to the defense,” Barkley said. “It's expected. WE hold each other to a high standard. We may go against them again, we know what they're about. We've had some new additions (on defense), they're making play, stepping up for us. We've got keep getting better.”
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