It was not pretty. There were some questionable coaching decisions. The offense did not look great. But in the end, the Philadelphia Eagles (7-2) once again found a way to win a tough game, holding on to a 10-7 win over the Green Bay Packers (5-3-1) to maintain the top seed in the NFC.
For the fourth straight season, the Eagles have started 7-2 or better.
Here are five takeaways from the victory:
The defense had to stand strong on two late drives, and it rose to the occasion, watching a Brandon McManus 64-yard field goal miss badly to end the game. Aside from the late touchdown surrendered in the fourth quarter, the defense held Jordan Love and the Packers in check, pitching a shutout for more than three-and-a-half quarters. Green Bay had 261 total yards of offense, with a bulk of it coming from the 75-yard touchdown drive late in the fourth.
Jaelan Phillps made his presence felt in his debut, recovering a fumble which was forced by Nakobe Dean for one of two forced fumbles caused by the defense.
With the Packers driving late in the fourth quarter, the newly added Eagle met Josh Jacobs behind the line of scrimmage on fourth and one for what would have been a turnover on downs, but Reed Blankenship came in and forced a fumble with 1:30 left in regulation.
Phillips finished with eight pressures, the most by an Eagles this season along with six tackles and two QB hits.
“I’m just glad I could come in and help the team win. I just wanted to earn the respect of my teammates, coaches and fans. All I can do is do my job, know my plays and play with fanatical effort. That’s what I do.” Phillips told the media postgame.
Dean finished with seven tackles including a sack and the forced fumble.
It was an uncharacteristically bad game from Jalen Hurts on Monday night. He orchestrated an impressive opening drive that ultimately came to a halt due to his own fumble—his first fumble lost since Week 3 and only his third giveaway of the season.
The fumble seemingly made Hurts and Offensive Coordinator Kevin Patullo conservative from that point forward. Hurts and the offense could not muster anything the rest of the first half with Hurts not being as accurate as he has been this season.
The rest of the half, the Eagles following drives resulted in:
Three-and-out
Three-and-out
Five plays and a punt
Those three drives totaled 24 yards.
A.J. Brown caught his only two targets for 13 yards while DeVonta Smith hauled in two of his four targets for 17 yards. Hurts was just 7-of -13 for 48 yards and ran for 21 more yards in the first half.
Smith and Hurts got into a rhythm in the second half and Hurts was able to dial it in when it mattered most, connecting with the wideout for a 36-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.
Smith finished the game with a team-high four catches for 64 yards and the score. Brown saw just one target in the second half being on the final offensive play for the Eagles which was a questionable deep shot on 4th and 6.
Hurts went 15-for-26 for 183 yards and a touchdown and was not sacked.
Smith is enjoying one of his best seasons as a pro and once again delivered in clutch moments to help the Eagles pick up the win. Of his four catches Monday night, three of them were either a third down conversion or a touchdown.
He is on pace to set a new career high in receiving yards and continues to be a reliable weapon for the offense. He leads the team with 652 receiving yards and 48 catches.
The wideout’s ability to win contested jump balls despite his stature at 6’0, 170 is remarkable and his knack to come down with clutch catches has been a hallmark of his season.
A lot of eyes were on the pass rush with the addition of Phillips along with the return of Nolan Smith and Brandon Graham. The pass rush was prevalent throughout the win and played a big factor into why the Packers were only able to score one touchdown.
Per NextGen Stats, the Eagles pressured Love on 40.5% of his dropbacks, the second-highest pressure rate he’s faced this season. The Eagles sacked Love three times while recording eight quarterback hits in the win.
Phillips played 53 snaps while Jalyx Hunt, who had a sack and two tackles for a loss and a QB hit, played 43 snaps. Smith saw 19 snaps in his return from injury and had two quarterback hits and a pressure while Graham featured on 10 defensive plays.
The pass rushing turning a corner can help this defense out across the board and will be needed when they return home to host the Detroit Lions on Sunday Night Football.
For another game, the offensive line had to play the majority of the contest without a key piece to their offensive line with Lane Johnson leaving midway through the first quarter with an ankle injury before returning with under six minutes left in the game. Fred Johnson came in as his replacement with the team already without Cam Jurgens having Brett Toth making a second consecutive start at center.
What had been a keystone of the team’s success last season, has been hard for to replicate due to the numerous injuries and some inconsistent plays.
