The Eagles survived.
They dominated the first half, but then near fell apart in the second as the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars rallied.
More questionable calls from Nick Sirianni nearly cost them. So did a fumble recovery for a touchdown and a missed Jake Elliott field goal at maybe the worst possible times.
But between big plays from Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, DeVonta Smith, and the game-saving hero Nakobe Dean, the Eagles survived.
They beat the Jaguars 28-23 to improve to 6-2 and make it four straight wins on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.
They survived – but just barely.
Here were the plays that defined Sunday in South Philly…
Went for a spin
The Eagles opened with a punt after they couldn’t draw an offsides on a 4th and 1, instead getting tagged for a false start on the “Tush Push” attempt to send them five yards back.
That was no problem for Sydney Brown.
The second-year defensive back, who returned two weeks ago with the Giants game after a lengthy recovery from an ACL tear late last season, went in as the gunner on the punt unit and immediately got downfield upon Braden Mann’s kick.
Jacksonville punt returner Austin Trammell never looked nor called for a fair catch and got drilled immediately, sending the football flying out of his grasp for the fumble as Brown’s hit spun him around.
Kelee Ringo was there to recover it. The Eagles had the ball right back at the Jacksonville 20, and the offense wasted no time.
First things first
A check to recently anointed fullback Ben VanSumeren got the Eagles no gain to get started on their second possession.
Then Saquon Barkley ran a wheel out of the offensive backfield and Jalen Hurts lofted the ball up for him going toward the right pylon in the end zone.
The star running back pulled away from his coverage and tracked the pass straight into his hands as he fell in bounds to the ground for the score.
Eight games and nine weeks into the 2024 season, the Philadelphia Eagles had finally scored a first-quarter touchdown, and had gone up 7-0 over Jacksonville early.
Down, back, forward
The Eagles were faced with a 3rd and 6 in Jaguars territory early into the second quarter, and Barkley wasn’t going to be denied.
He took the screen pass from Hurts in the left flat, then juked, spun, and incredibly, backward hurdled over Jacksonville tacklers for 14 yards, a first down, and a roar from an astonished Lincoln Finacial Field crowd.
Faced with another third down a couple of plays later, this time at 3rd and 7, Hurts followed up with a first-down run up the middle where he too shrugged off a few Jacksonville tacklers to stay upright and keep the drive alive.
The Eagles only got a field goal out of the possession, from 43 yards out by Jake Elliott to go up 10-0, but they extended that drive for nearly nine minutes and kept themselves in the driver’s seat, all while Barkley kept producing for the highlight reel.
MORE: Eagles improve to 6-2 despite second-half stumble in win over Jaguars
Blanket coverage
Outside of Elliott’s second-quarter field goal and Barkley’s opening touchdown off of the fumble recovery, the Eagles and Jaguars spent the better part of the first half exchanging punts and the occasional turnover on downs.
Jacksonville never really came close to presenting as a threat to score though.
Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence had only 23 passing yards through the first half and was an unimpactful 4-for-11 in attempts through their first drive of the second half.
Jacksonville only had one first down through the midway point of the third quarter, and were getting crushed in the time of possession battle, 25:22-10:13.
They couldn’t move the football, and part of that was rookie cornerback Cooper DeJean continuing to look right at home within the Eagles’ secondary, first with a big 4th and 1 stop:
Incredible stand by the Eagles defense. They stuff the sneak on 3rd and 1 and then on 4th down Cooper DeJean avoids the pick and forces the incompletion.
It’s the 2nd week in a row DeJean has made a huge play on 4th and 1. pic.twitter.com/8eDrHLMRiK
— Shane Haff (@ShaneHaffNFL) November 3, 2024
And then a pass breakup on 3rd and 5 later on to force another Jacksonville punt:
The youth movement sparked between DeJean and fellow rookie corner Quinyon Mitchell has been a boon for the Eagles’ defensive backfield since both moved into starting roles on the depth chart.
And on Sunday, they gave the struggling Jaguars next to nothing.
Baun Breakker
Neither did linebacker Zack Baun, who had a big day himself from the word go.
He dropped into pass coverage and caused a breakup in the open field on the Jaguars’ first offensive play of the game, then went on to lead the Eagles defense with eight tackles (five solo) and one of them for a loss.
Late in the first half, with the Jaguars in the two-minute drill just trying to generate something, a Trevor Lawrence pass popped right out of the hands of Travis Etienne Jr. and up into the air.
Baun dove after it and got it for the pick.
The Eagles got the ball back again, this time at the Jacksonville 42 with just over a minute and a half left until the break.
Straight on through
Yet that setup looked like it was about to be stopped short and held only to another field goal.
Hurts extended a third-down play to find Johnny Wilson in the end zone for what would’ve been a touchdown, but Wilson pushed off his defender to get tagged for offensive pass interference.
That faced the Eagles with a long 3rd and 17, though still within the red zone.
Then the offensive line blew open a crater that on the Jaguars’ end, they just played horribly, and Barkley was free to run straight into the end zone for his second touchdown and a 16-0 Eagles lead.
An offside call on the point-after attempt moved the Eagles up close enough to try a Hurts QB sneak for two, but that try hit a wall.
Still, the Eagles were up two scores going into the second half and looked to be running away with it when Hurts ran in for an 18-yard score coming back.
A turn on a dime
But perhaps it was naive of anyone in the Delaware Valley to think that the Eagles could just coast on in to cruise control from there.
Another two-point try failed, and then Lawrence and the Jaguars finally got in gear with a 10-play, 61-yard scoring drive that included a successful two-point attempt to make it 22-8.
That alone wouldn’t have hurt too much had the Eagles’ offense stayed in control with another time-draining drive, but then Barkley tripped on the handoff and lost the fumble when he hit the ground. Travon Walker picked it up and barreled through everyone in Kelly Green to get into the end zone. The refs never blew the whistle until Walker broke the plane.
Even though the ground appeared to have caused Barkley’s fumble, the officials upheld the ruling and Walker’s ensuing score.
The Jaguars went for two again and got it on a pass from Lawrence to Evan Engram by the left side of the end zone.
Suddenly, it was a one-score game 22-16 late in the third quarter.
Game Overthinker
And it looked like the wheels were falling off. A.J. Brown had left the game with a knee injury and the Eagles were overthinking everything.
Hurts extended the next drive with a 21-yard run on 3rd and 9 – after what was nearly a devastating interception got ruled an incomplete pass instead – but after the offense made its way down to the Jacksonville 25, the Eagles got held to a 4th and inches scenario.
Nick Sirianni kept the offense out there. It was a clear QB sneak opportunity, but the Jaguars’ stop of it on the earlier failed two-point try appeared to have stayed in his mind. He was also leaving a Jake Elliott field goal try on the table once again.
The play call instead had Hurts drop back to pass. There was no where to go and he shifted around trying to keep the play alive until the pressure closed too far in. He threw it away to give Jacksonville the ball back.
Boos rained down.
The Eagles had gotten way too cute and it was shaping up to cost them.
Big-time players, big-time plays
But the Eagles’ defense managed a stop and a punt on the Jaguars’ next possession, and the offense, in trouble, fell back into the safety net of putting the ball into the hands of their elite playmakers.
Barkley got the next run started with a 21-yard rush to the right sideline, then Hurts aired it out for DeVonta Smith, first for a massive 46-yard gain:
And then for a pivotal – ONE-HANDED– 25-yard touchdown catch with the Eagles facing a 3rd and 22:
The Eagles’ best rung off three major plays to swing momentum back in their favor late…
Then of course they flubbed it going for two again, and Jacksonville swung right back with another touchdown of their own to stay within five.
Sailed it wide at the worst time
Then of course, with limited time left in the fourth quarter and the Eagles’ offense shifting into straight-up clock-killing mode, they get stopped for a 4th and 4 at the Jacksonville 39 and after the several times Sirianni kept Elliott on the sideline, he called his number here…only for Elliott to miss the 57-yard try that would’ve put them up eight…
The defense would have to survive one more Jacksonville possession.
Dean’s list
And they almost didn’t.
The Eagles had Lawrence and the Jaguars back into a corner after two incompletions, but on a 3rd and 10, Lawrence sailed one up for Engram along the right sideline. Avonte Maddox, who had subbed in and was on him in coverage, stayed with Engram but never turned around to look for the ball in the middle of contact.
The flag flew in. Defensive pass interference was the call, and the Jaguars had life in Eagles territory.
A 22-yard catch and run to Trammell brought Jacksonville down to the Philadelphia 13. The Jaguars were on the doorstep going for the win.
Lawrence made the throw for it toward the goal line looking for D’Ernest Johnson.
Nakobe Dean went up and grabbed it for the pick instead, saving the day and the win for Philadelphia.
They made it to 6-2 and four straight wins – just barely.
MORE: Defense looks good, Sirianni does not in win vs. Jaguars
Follow Nick on Twitter: @itssnick
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
