The Philadelphia Eagles (7-2) are back at it on a short week playing in their second straight primetime game and second of four games in the national spotlight over the next five weeks when they welcome the high-scoring Detroit Lions (6-3) to Lincoln Financial Field Sunday night.
The Eagles are coming off a low-scoring 10-7 win at Green Bay where the offense struggled to move the ball while the Lions thumped the Washington Commanders 44-22 last time out scoring 34-plus points for the fourth time this season.
Both teams sit atop their respective divisions, however Detroit is tied with the Chicago Bears in the NFC North. In terms of the NFC picture, the Eagles are tied with Seattle for the best record in the conference while the Lions are even with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in terms of win-loss record making this a pivotal battle in South Philadelphia.
Here are five key matchups to watch in this NFC showdown:
In the Green Bay win, the pass rush for the Eagles looked arguably its best all season. It helps when you add a talented pass rusher in Jaelan Phillips via the trade deadline and also get reliable reinforcements in Nolan Smith and Brandon Graham into the mix.
That same pass rush, who pressured Jordan Love 40.5% of his drop backs, the third-highest rate this season despite a season-low blitz rate of 9.5% per NextGen Stats will need to generate a similar rate Sunday night.
Goff, a traditional pocket passer, has had a great season to this point, tied for second in the NFL with 20 touchdown passes while throwing just three interceptions. He is also ninth in yards and leads the league with his 74% completion percentage.
He has good weapons to throw to in wide receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams which has helped the Lions average the second-most points per game at 31.4 points per contest.
The pass rush will be paramount to the Eagles success in slowing down this high-scoring offense which is now led by Dan Campbell calling the plays.
As potent as the passing attack is for the Lions, they also have one of the best running back duos in the league. Jahmyr Gibbs is a threat to make a homerun play every time he touches the ball while David Montgomery is the bruising in between the tackles and red zone back.
In the 44-22 win over Washington, Gibbs ran for a season-high 142 yards on 15 carries and scored two touchdowns while adding 30 yards receiving and scoring another. It was the second time in three games that Gibbs surpassed the century mark in rushing yards in a game, racking up 136 yards and two scores against Tampa Bay in Week 7.
The talented running back now has 41 career touchdowns which is the fifth-most all-time for a player before his 24th birthday. Not turning 24 until the end of the season, he has a chance to surpass Hall of Famers Barry Sanders (47), Randy Moss (44), Emmitt Smith (43) and Jim Brown (42).
Last week, the Eagles allowed Josh Jacobs to rush for 74 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.
Detroit averages the sixth-most rushing yards this season at 136.3 yards per game while the Eagles are in the middle of the pack, allowing 118.6 rushing yards to opposing offenses which is 19th in the league.
This could be one of the biggest deciding matchups come Sunday night. Jackson got the start at the other outside cornerback spot over Kelee Ringo to play opposite of Quinyon Mitchell. Jackson held his own against the Packers earning praise from Vic Fangio.
“He’s a survivor,” Fangio told the media earlier in the week. “I think this is his ninth or tenth year, if you’ve survived that long, you’ve got a little something in you. Hopefully he can take that game, build on it and keep playing good.”
Jackson will need to survive the lethal speed that Jameson Williams has. The fourth-year wideout seemingly is turning the corner with Campbell calling the offensive plays last week, utilizing the speedy wideout on crossing routes over the middle of the field instead of just a deep threat sprinting down the sideline every route. Last week, he had his best game of the season, hauling in six catches for a season-best 119 yards and a touchdown.
Williams has found the endzone in three of his last four games and presents challenges to Jackson and this secondary.
Despite the struggle to find consistency on a week to week basis offensively, one aspect of the offense that has remained constant is the red zone efficiency the Eagles have enjoyed this season.
Philadelphia enters Sunday night’s game with the best red zone touchdown scoring percentage at 81%. Meanwhile, the Lions defense allows a touchdown in the red zone at a 67% clip, tied for 25th in the NFL. The Eagles will need to continue to capitalize on their trips inside the 20 and the inability the Lions have from keeping opposing teams out of the end zone in order to keep pace with this high-scoring Lions defense.
Dallas Goedert has been a fantastic weapon for the Eagles with six of his seven touchdowns on the season coming inside the red zone.
The two head coaches are arguably the most aggressive in the NFL when it comes to in-game decisions, especially when it comes to going for it on fourth downs. Both coaches have led their teams to success since becoming the head coach for their respective teams.
Sirianni, with a 55-22 record after Monday night’s victory, has the fourth-best regular season winning percentage at .714 among all coaches in the history of the NFL. He has led the Eagles to a pair of Super Bowls, winning his first last season and is now creeping up on surpassing legendary hall of fame coaches in Vince Lombardi and John Madden who are second and third respectively in terms of best winning percentage in the regular season.
Campbell was hired as the head coach in 2021 where he suffered a 3-13-1 record as a rookie head coach. Since that woeful season, fans in Detroit have enjoyed three straight winning seasons including an impressive 15-2 record last year where the Lions earned the top seed in the NFC. Injuries derailed the Lions come the playoffs and they were bounced in the divisional round by Washington.
The Eagles are the only NFC team Campbell has yet to beat since taking charge with Sirianni getting the better of his counterpart in each of the last two meetings in 2021 and 2022.
