Another cold and muggy performance against an AFC playoff contender, the Eagles once again pulled a rabbit out of their hat and came away with the win. As the first half ended, many were expecting the top seed in the N.F.C to get punched in the mouth in a decisive defeat.
However, with untimely mistakes from the Bills offense and Jalen Hurts and D’Andre Swift reviving the offense, the Eagles narrowed out a 37-31 victory in overtime. Being that the Eagles were down 10 points for the most of the game, there’s plenty of blame to go around for their early struggles. And since they climbed through the adversity and ended the game with a win, there is also plenty of praise to go around and this week’s slays and bombs.
Philadelphia Eagles Bombs
Eagles De Brandon Graham (55) – Matt Slocum/ AP
D-line
The defensive front for the Philadelphia Eagles were surprisingly dull throughout the game on Sunday evening. Sure, Haason Reddick and Brandon Graham camped in the backfield for a moment or two with a sack. But every time the Bills had the ball, the o-line kept the edge rushers at bay.
Even when the front four got pressure, and forced Allen out the pocket, Allen would do Josh Allen things and evade the rushers for multiple first downs throughout the game.
The rush defense played no better as they allowed 173 yards (81 to Josh Allen) and 4.3 yards per attempt, both season highs.
Jalen Hurts (For the first half)
The lows for the first half shouldn’t be excused because of the highs of the second half. As impressive as this comeback was, there’s only so many times you can do it before it’s more than just a mere 10-point deficit. For the second time in a row, Jalen Hurts was the worst player on the field for the first half of the game.
Missing reads, taking sacks, and giving up turnovers was the normality for the first 30 minutes of the game as the Bills defense made Jalen Hurts look like a rookie who didn’t know the playbook.
Fortunately, teams have yet to realize that if you want to beat Jalen Hurts, you have to beat him in all four quarters.
Philadelphia Eagles SLAYS
Jalen Hurts(For the second half)
After an abysmal first half that included 2 turnovers and a 0.0 passer rating, Jalen Hurts redeemed himself both in the air and on the ground. Totaling 200 passing yards, 65 rushing yards, and 5 total touchdowns, including a walk-off rushing touchdown to win the game in overtime.
Jalen deserves all the criticism and animosity for his 1st half performance that put the Eagles down by ten. But he also deserves the recognition of coming back the way he did, as his mental resilience are one of the reasons why comeback victories are so probable.
Eagles QB Jalen Hurts (1) – Bill Streicher/ USA Today Sports
D’Andre Swift
Being that it was on a rainy day against the 24th-ranked rushing defense. It should come to no surprise that D’Andre performed the way he did against the Bills.
While the running back failed to reach 100 yards once more, amassed 6.3 yards a carry on 14 attempts.
Jalen Hurts also sputtered for the first half, Swift needed to put the team on his back and keep the game competitive before it got too out of hand.
James Bradberry
The cornerback duo of James Bradberry and Darius Slay has dipped in production and that could be seen in their defensive stats, being bottom 10 in just about every category.
However, Bradberry was the bright light in this shredded secondary, keeping both Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis at bay for most of the match.
The former all-pro allowed a 50.3 passer rating when targeted and a stellar interception in the Bills red zone that set up a spectacular touchdown by Jalen Hurts and Olamide Zaccheaus.
