Eagles Win Game of the Year, Beat Bills 37-34 in Wild Finish

Another game, another three and a half quarters, or in this case, four and a half quarters of utter stress until the Eagles came from behind and got the job done yet again improving to 10-1 by beating the Buffalo Bills 37-34. On a rainy night in Philly, the stars were out and the Eagles came away with the victory.

It was a similar recipe to many games that have transpired over the season. The Eagles offense struggles early, mistakes are made by Hurts, and the team goes down, but yet find a way to turn some of the most disastrous games into a winning effort time and time again. The Eagles started the scoring with a Jalen Hurts one-yard-touchdown but the Bills would score 17 unanswered to gain the 17-7 lead at halftime. Hurts struggled in the first half and the offense led by Brian Johnson was stagnant. As I mentioned in my preview, they needed to utilize D’Andre Swift and they did not do so in the first half which allowed the Bills to control the time of possession and take commanding drives down the field while keeping the offense off the field. Nevertheless, when the Eagles seemed at their worst after a late first-half fumble followed by a brutal third-down touchdown by Stefon Diggs, the Eagles continued to follow their mindset to never be out of a game. They began the third quarter with a three-and-out and all hope seemed lost with the Bills’ next drive entering Eagles territory. However, a Tyler Bass missed field goal seemed to spark the offense into existence. Their next three drives resulted in a touchdown, including one off a Josh Allen interception (the lone Bills turnover of the game), and retook the lead 28-24. The three touchdowns were accounted for by A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Olamide Zaccheaus turning Hurts’ slow start into a bright outing with electric plays to get the Eagles back into business. Another key in my pregame article was James Bradberry, who came up with that interception that led to the second touchdown of that span for the Eagles

A few punts were exchanged on the next drives. After that, the action never stopped until the final whistle. Bills QB Josh Allen led the Bills on a 10-play 74-yard scoring drive in 5 minutes and 14 seconds to give Buffalo a 3-point lead late in the fourth quarter. Enter Jalen Hurts and Jake Elliot. The composure of Hurts led the Eagles down into field goal range quickly and allowed the Eagles to obtain 3 or maybe 7 to win the game, or so we thought. A few rare mistakes by Jason Kelce backed the Eagles up to almost outside of Elliot’s field goal range. Elliot trotted on for a 59-yard field goal in the blistering rain and drilled it just inside the right upright. A fierce yell erupted on the Eagles sideline as fans and players alike were pumped at even the aspect of overtime after the team’s performance tonight.

The Bills received the ball to start overtime and Brandon Graham said in the huddle, “It don’t matter.” Graham, who snapped the record for most regular season games played for the Eagles with his start tonight, recorded a sack in the win and knew his team would prove victorious entering OT. The Bills did their usual number, chunk plays led them down the field into field goal range and Tyler Bass was able to nail a 40-yard kick. Note that Gabe Davis and Josh Allen had a crucial miscommunication on third down that could have won them the game. Hurts and the Eagles regained the ball for their final possession. I can’t say I’m surprised anymore. Clutch decision after clutch decision led the Eagles right down the field and D’Andre Swift had a crucial run to lead to the game-winning score by Hurts to win the game over Buffalo and allow the Eagles to become the first team to 10 wins in the NFL season.

They have also become the first team to clinch a playoff berth and maintain a two-game lead over the Cowboys in the NFC East and a two-game lead over a plethora of teams for the number one seed.

Josh Allen is now 0-6 in overtime games and Hurts improves to 8-0 over his last 8 games when trailing by 10 points. He has outgrown any doubt of mine and has proved he is the leader of the Eagles. He capped the victory with a shrug in his postgame interview on social media.

Hurts finished with 5 total TDs and 265 total yards, while Josh Allen 420 yards and 4 total TDs. Truly a quarterback duel for the ages, but the Eagles came out with the victory.

Now three games through “the gauntlet”, the Eagles take on San Francisco next week at home at 4:25 PM.