PHILADELPHIA – For yet another week, the defense picked up the slack of a struggling offense, holding the second-highest scoring offense to just nine points as the Philadelphia Eagles (8-2) held on for a 16-9 victory against the Detroit Lions (6-3) Sunday night at Lincoln Financial Field.
With the win, Philadelphia remains the top seed in the NFC. However, the Eagles were outgained 317-272 in the victory, marking the eighth time in ten games that has happened. Yet, the defense held the Lions to a combined 3-for-18 on third- and fourth-down conversions.
The Eagles opened the game on offense with their first drive going into the direction of the wind. They started their first series with four straight passes. It was on the verge of becoming a three-and-out if not for A.J. Brown regrouping after slipping to make a 3rd and 10 catch for 12 yards for his first reception of the game. Philadelphia could not do anything more on the opening drive and was forced to punt.
Philadelphia’s defense made the first big play of the game on the ensuing drive. Jordan Davis tipped a Jared Goff pass into the air, and Cooper DeJean snagged it out of the night sky for his first regular-season interception of his career and returned it 21 yards to the Lions' 11-yard line.
The Eagles, who entered the game leading the NFL in scoring touchdowns on 80.9% of their trips to the redzone, stalled, settling for a Jake Elliott 27-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead with 9:43 left in the first quarter.
After that, both teams struggled to orchestrate much of anything on offense. The Eagles’ defense continued to dominate in the first half, holding the second-highest scoring offense in the league to six points and 144 yards and 0-for-4 on third downs.
After the interception on the Lions’ opening drive, the defense forced a three-and-out, a punt, a turnover on downs on a strong play by Moro Ojomo standing up Jahmyr Gibbs on a 4th and one on the Lions’ 48-yard line before sniffing out a fake punt by Detroit as Dan Campbell rolled the dice on Detroit’s 43-yard line where Ojomo once again delivered with a big stop.
Jalen Hurts and the offense were unable to capitalize on the momentum, running nine plays for just 27 yards before settling for a 34-yard field goal from Elliott to make it 6-0 with 6:02 left in the second quarter.
Jared Goff and the Lions’ offense finally heated up on the chilly Sunday night, connecting with Jameson Williams for a 40-yard touchdown. After excessive celebration led to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the wideout, Jake Bates missed the extra point to make it 6-6 with 5:05 left until halftime.
Philadelphia turned in their best-looking drive of the first half to respond, capping off a 10-play, 64-yard drive with a Tush Push to take a 13-6 lead with 16 seconds left in the first half.
Past the midway point of the third quarter, the Lions threatened to tie the game, marching all the way down to the three-yard line of the Eagles. On fourth and goal, Jaelan Phillips pressured Goff, forcing the quarterback to throw sooner than he wanted, and the pass fell incomplete to help the Eagles hold on to their seven-point lead.
The defense continued to hold strong for the Eagles, forcing a fifth turnover on downs when the Lions went for it on fourth and three from the Eagles’ 45-yard line. The Eagles' offense once again struggled to generate much of anything, moving the ball just 25 yards on 11 plays. The positive on the drive was their ability to take six minutes off the clock, settling for Elliott’s third field goal of the game, a 49-yarder, which was his longest of the contest, to give the Eagles a 10-point lead, their largest advantage of the night that they would never surrender.
Philadelphia is now 8-2 on the season as they have extended their divisional lead and continue to stand tall on top of the NFC with the Rams. The Eagles will travel to Dallas next week to take on the Cowboys at 4:25 p.m.
