As much as I love covering Lafayette College’s football team, I decided I needed to switch things up for a change — by covering a different nearby football team. Instead of spending my Sunday night rotting on College Hill, I spent it freezing my ass off at Lincoln Financial Field while watching my Philadelphia Eagles defeat the Detroit Lions 16-9 in a pivotal NFC matchup.
This was my first visit to The Linc since the Eagles won their second Super Bowl title nine months ago. With all of the electricity in the atmosphere, however, you would’ve thought they were just crowned champions yesterday.
When I arrived in Philly at 4:30 p.m., several hours before kickoff, the lots were filled to the brim with tailgates, a sure sign that Birds fans were bringing the energy that night. The flood into the stadium and the raucous screams during the pregame light show validated what I already knew: there is no better atmosphere than Sunday Night Football in Philadelphia, in case you need another reason to back the Birds.
As for the game itself, I have mixed feelings.
Defensively, the Birds were about as dominant as you could be against a team that was the NFL’s top-ranked offense last year. Cornerback Cooper DeJean set the tone early by picking off Lions quarterback Jared Goff on Detroit’s opening possession, and everyone else on the unit began to pitch in as well.
The Eagles held Goff to a career-low 38% completion percentage and deflected 10 of his passes. Three of those came from defensive tackle Jordan Davis — one of which led to DeJean’s interception — who was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance. Philly also shut the Lions down on all five of their fourth-down attempts, holding strong regardless of where they were positioned on the field.
Offensively, however, this game was a completely different story for the Eagles. First-year offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo has been running a frustrating offense all year, but the unit’s performance on Sunday was the line in the sand.
The Birds struggled to move the ball all game despite favorable field position. Remember DeJean’s interception? He returned it to Detroit’s 12-yard line, but the offense had to settle for a field goal after gaining only two yards across three plays. Two of the Lions’ turnovers on downs gifted Philly possession in Detroit territory, but again, the Eagles only mustered three points across both possessions.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts scored the Eagles’ sole touchdown of the day, capping off their only 50-plus yard drive of the day with his signature Tush Push. Although that was enough to decide the game, Patullo still finds new ways to piss me off, whether it’s abandoning the run game far too early and thinking that hitches and curls are the only two routes in football.
At the end of the day, defense wins championships. At this rate, there is no offensive unit that can challenge the Eagles’ brick wall. But with all of the firepower imaginable on the other side of the ball, there is no reason why Philly shouldn’t be scorching opponents for 30 points per game. There will be points in the season when the defense can’t hold up anymore and the offense has to back them up. If the Birds want to repeat as world champions, the offense needs to figure it out soon.
On the bright side, the Eagles are now 8-2 and 3.5 games ahead of the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC East race. And now I get to do my victory lap around my favorite Lions fan in the newsroom. Go Birds!