The Philadelphia Eagles pulled off an improbable come from behind victory on Sunday afternoon, defeating the Carolina Panthers by a score of 21-18.
The Eagles were able to improve their record to 2-3, but it wasn’t pretty early on (at least offensively).
Their first 8 offensive drives went as follows:
- Punt
- Punt
- Field Goal
- Punt
- Punt
- Punt
- Safety
- Field Goal
At halftime the Eagles had mustered up 88 yards of offense, racked up 50 yards in penalties, and trailed 15-6.
The defense played stellar in the first half, giving up 13 points, snagging a Darius Slay interception (take that Glen Macnow), and forcing Carolina to punt on 3 of their 7 offensive possessions.
Then in the second half, something clicked for the offense.
The Eagles turned the ball over on their first two offensive possessions of the second half, but the unit continued to battle.
The defense continued it’s strong performance, with another Darius Slay interception at the 7:43 minute mark of the 3rd quarter.
Over the next 15 minutes, the Eagles showed a level of resilience and toughness that many didn’t think they were capable of.
A touchdown at the end of the 3rd quarter, a blocked punt, a 6-yard touchdown scramble by Jalen Hurts, and two point conversion, along with another interception (this time by Steve Nelson) later and the Eagles were winners.
The biggest takeaway from this game was exactly how the Eagles were able to come out on top. It was truly a team win, in that every phase contributed.
Darius Slay and the defense were the highlight of the day, T.J. Edwards and the special teams unit chipped in and awarded Jalen Hurts and the offense with amazing field position which they capitalized on.
This is the type of win that can galvanize a group. Nick Sirianni talked about this after the win.
“I saw their fight and their ‘next play’ mentality all game,” the coach said. “Sometime you win ugly, but it’s just a matter of keep fighting, keep going. It was emotional, it was a great win to get.”
If the Eagles defense can replicate even an ounce of this performance in which the quadruplet of Javon Hargrave, Josh Sweat, Derek Barnett, and Fletcher Cox each recorded at least 5 pressures, along with 3 combined interceptions from Darius Slay and Steve Nelson this Eagles team could begin to put together some wins.
Of course, the Eagles offense has to be better. The consistency and overall flow to the offense has to improve. Almost every other play on the first few offensive drives were WR screen passes, the running game was once again non-existent for majority of the game, and the tight ends (the Eagles have 2 very good ones) amassed 3 catches for 35 yards. They cannot consistently win with these occurrences
But, they found a way to win on Sunday.
In this win, we learned a ton about not only Jalen Hurts’, but the entire offense’s ability to battle adversity and overcome it. We learned that Jonathan Gannon can adapt and scheme to the strengths of his players. And we learned that Nick Sirianni has a team of players that will compete until the final bell.
It will be a quick turnaround for the Eagles, as they host the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football.
Cover Image Credit: Mike Comer/Getty Images
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