The Eagles put forth one of the most impressive defensive displays of the season at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday night.
The defending Super Bowl champions have long been renowned for their defensive capabilities. It’s not always a guarantee that those skills will translate against the league’s best teams.
Philadelphia has largely succeeded in those matchups, however. Facing the Lions — and their high-powered attack — on “Sunday Night Football” threatened to leave the Eagles exposed. Instead, Philadelphia fought fire with fire on the defensive side of the ball.
The Eagles recorded a 16-9 win over Detroit on Sunday night. Here’s how the result came to be.
MORE: How wins by Bears, Packers impact NFC North standings in Week 11
Eagles defense ranking
The Eagles’ defensive dominance isn’t merely sentiment. It’s also tangible, reflected in the numbers the team has put forth throughout the season.
Philadelphia has employed a “bend, not break” approach to defense thus far, surrendering the 13th-least yards in the league before Sunday’s game. By comparison, the Eagles have only conceded 19 touchdowns, the joint-fifth-best mark in the league. When it comes to preventing teams from scoring, Philadelphia’s rearguard is as good as it gets.
The Eagles showcased their might in Sunday’s win. They actually surrendered more yardage than the Lions did, giving up 317 yards in a little over 24 minutes of Detroit possession.
And yet, the scoreboard read just nine points come the end of the contest.
“One of the best performances I’ve ever seen,” Jalen Hurts said of the defense’s showing postgame.
There were extenuating circumstances, to be sure. Detroit coughed up a number of chances to score in the opening three frames, opting to go for it fourth-down rather than attempting a field goal to keep things close.
MORE: Updated AFC, NFC standings for Week 11
There was also the weather, which proved tempestuous as times. Wind whistled as it swept across Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday night, occasionally taking Jared Goff’s passes for captive, if only for a few moments.
Still, Philadelphia made life challenging for Detroit and its star passer, who completed just 14-of-37 pass attempts on Sunday night.
Goff was only sacked twice against the Eagles. But he faced relentless pressure throughout, regularly firing efforts away from his intended targets as the likes of Jaelan Phillips, Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter tipped his passes.
All that amounted to Goff’s worst game in terms of completion percentage. He missed his target on 16 of his final 18 pass attempts.
“Watching football today, I saw a lot of teams waiting to lose,” head coach Nick Sirianni said postgame. “Our team is waiting to win. Because they know how to win.”
Lions lowest points scored under Dan Campbell
The Lions have scored fewer points under Campbell’s tutelage than they did on Sunday night. But only once; Detroit went scoreless in a game, a blowout loss to the Patriots in 2022.
Detroit has just a handful of single-digit outings in its collection under Campbell. Sunday’s result added to that exclusive list.
NFC standings
- 1. Eagles (8-2)
- 2. Rams (8-2)
- 3. Bears (7-3)
- 4. Buccaneers (6-4)
- 5. Seahawks (7-3)
- 6. Packers (6-3-1)
- 7. 49ers (7-4)
- 8. Lions (6-4)
- 9. Panthers (6-5)
The Eagles’ win puts them at the head of the NFC standings through eight games, only besting the Rams on head-to-head record.
