The Eagles have been saying that a lot in different ways this season. The team escaped a rain soaked Buffalo in the win column for a third straight week as this championship caliber defense had to once again carry the team to a victory after a dud performance in the second half.
You hear it from Nick Sirianni, you hear it from the players. It does not matter how they get the wins, it matters that they are getting the wins.
Here are five takeaways from the game:
The defense deserves all the flowers and then some for the way it performed against Josh Allen and the Bills. On the road in a hostile environment, against the reigning MVP, the leading rusher in the NFL in James Cook, it was going to be a tough task for Vic Fangio’s defense.
Yet, once again, his unit was ready for the challenge and they delivered.
The defense held the Bills scoreless for three quarters before surrendering the late touchdowns in the fourth quarter. It is almost understandable that the points were given up. The defense had little to no time to rest with the offense failing to sustain a drive for longer than three minutes in the second half.
They sacked Allen five times, the second-most by any defense this season and became just the third defense in the last three regular seasons to sack Allen five or more times in a game. The Eagles limited Allen to 262 yards passing and no passing touchdowns. His two rushing touchdowns came on quarterback sneaks.
The 12 points were the fewest in a game this season for the Bills who entered the game averaging nearly 29 points per game.
“This was a great battle test for us, because it’s going to get real hard every week,” Brandon Graham said postgame.
“It’s about to get real hard every week. Whoever is up, we have to make sure we stay together. What I love is how we are building this together.”
Cooper DeJean set a new career-high with nine tackles.
Jalyx Hunt had a breakout game with two big sacks and now leads the team in that department with 6.5. Over his last 10 games, Hunt has racked up 36 tackles, 19 quarterback hits, two interceptions and his 6.5 sacks.
Penalties were killing the Eagles for the majority of the season. Whether it was costly holding calls on big gains, or procedural penalties, it was becoming a serious issue and putting an already inconsistent offense behind the sticks which is not a good recipe for success, which was apparent.
During the three-game losing streak, Philadelphia racked up 27 penalties. Over the last three weeks where they have won three straight, the number of infractions has dwindled to 11.
On Sunday, the Eagles had three penalties, with two being on defense and one on special teams.
The Eagles have a chance to clinch the #2 seed on Sunday when they host the Washington Commanders at Lincoln Financial Field with a win and a Chicago Bears loss against the Detroit Lions.
It wasn’t a stellar first half, but the Eagles eventually got into a rhythm after their first two drives resulted in punts. The final three possessions in the first half resulted in points for Philadelphia, including a seven-play, 45 yard touchdown drive capped by Dallas Goedert’s franchise record setting 11th receiving touchdown and two methodical drives of 13 and 10 plays respectively, resulting in a pair of Jake Elliott field goals.
It certainly seemed like the offense had a good beat on what was required to be successful. Then, the second half came and the offense went. Quite literally.
From poor offensive line play, to predictable play calls, Jalen Hurts and the offense mustered just 16 yards of total offense across five drives in the second half. The Eagles had four consecutive three-and-outs after their first possession of the third quarter lasted just five plays ending in a punt.
Hurts did not complete any of his six pass attempts in the second half, which is the second time that has happened in a game this season for the quarterback. Miraculously, the team is 2-0 in such games with a win on Sunday and in Week 4 at Tampa Bay.
“I put it on myself,” Nick Sirianni said.
“I’ve got to help with some things there, with some things that I know we want to get called. Kevin [Patullo] did a good job in the first half. But I’ve got to help in that second half a little bit, get into some things we want to get called there.”
The Eagles defensive line and pass-rushers did a nice job to fill the void left by the star defensive tackle while he missed the prior three games after going for procedures to help heal his injured shoulders. Carter returned to the field on Sunday and made his presence felt.
He had a sack, a pass deflection and more importantly blocked another extra point which played a big role in the game, ultimately forcing the Bills to go for a two-point conversion to try and win the game instead of playing for the tie forcing overtime.
Having Carter back obviously improves what has become one of the top defenses in the league since the trade deadline and adds another weapon to the pass rush which has improved vastly in the second half of the season for the Eagles.
What a story Hunt has been. If you are not familiar, the third-round pick in the 2024 draft started his collegiate career at Cornell where he played safety before moving to the defensive line at Houston Christian where he became the first player to be drafted out of the program.
Fast forward to Sunday, Hunt had a breakout game with two sacks to go along with seven tackles and three quarterback hits. He now leads the Eagles with 6.5 sacks and 24 quarterback hits. He has become one of the best pass-rushers on this defense a year after Howie Roseman allowed Josh Sweat and Milton Williams to leave in free agency.
Over his last 10 games, Hunt has racked up 36 tackles, 19 quarterback hits, two interceptions and his 6.5 sacks.
The Eagles have a chance to clinch the #2 seed on Sunday when they host the Washington Commanders at Lincoln Financial Field with a win and a Chicago Bears loss against the Detroit Lions.
