Moving forward, looking back — 5 takeaways from Eagles-Ravens a day later

We all knew it was going to be tight, ugly, and sluggish in Baltimore on Sunday afternoon.

In the battle of 95, the Eagles prevailed.

It was win No. 8 in a row for the Birds, 24-19 over the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium, with Eagles fans taking over at the end made the score look close, but this was a 24-12 game until the final seconds. This was the Eagles’ biggest test so far this season, and they passed the test, and are now 10-2.

It was a sensational game for the Eagles in all phases, and they just keep playing better and better football.

They may never lose again. Relax.

Here are my five observations a day after the win:

Jalen Hurts is a winner

Jalen Hurts has now beaten Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, Matthew Stafford, Aaron Rodgers, and now Lamar Jackson.

For the third straight season, Hurts and Nick Sirianni have started the season 10-2. Yes, we know what happened last year, but that was last year. Whole different team, vibe, and feeling.

Hurts may not put up the biggest numbers as he did in 2022 and early 2023, but he is winning the Eagles football games. On Sunday, Hurts completed 11 of his 19 passes for 118 yards and a touchdown. Those are not flashy, flamboyant numbers. But it won the Eagles a ball game.

Hurts is a proven winner.

The turning point in the first half was when the Eagles got the passing game going. A.J. Brown had five receptions for 66 yards, and Dallas Goedert got in the endzone for the score. Hurts was finding his open guys and completing the passes.

Was he destroying the 31st-ranked pass defense in the NFL that the Ravens have? No. But, Hurts won the Eagles the game. At the end of the day, that is all that matters.

The best defense in the NFL

The Eagles were going against the number-one-ranked offense in the NFL. Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry, a great offensive line, Zay Flowers. They average 427 yards and 30 points per game, with 7.0 yards per play.

Philadelphia dominated them.

Until the final minute, the Ravens recorded 302 yards, 1,2 points, and 4.7 yards per play. The Eagles kept Jackson and Henry in check, got big stops in huge moments, including that big one from Cooper DeJean on Henry on third down with seven minutes left in the fourth, which was so awesome, and gave up just three over the next nine drives after the first quarter.

Do not forget, this came without Brandon Graham, Darius Slay, and mostly without Reed Blankenship, who suffered a concussion in the third quarter. You had Tristin McCollum out there, Avonte Maddox, and they held their own.

And Zack Baun was all over the place again. 13 tackles, two pressures, a QB hit, a tackle-for-loss, and half a sack. The guy is incredible, and so is this defense. Vic Fangio has done miracles on us.

Saquon seals it, of course

The defense was keeping the Eagles in the game, especially with the Ravens having the ball for 7:42 more than the Eagles. But in the fourth quarter, when they needed to stick the dagger in, Saquon Barkley came through. Again.

The Ravens have the best run defense in the NFL. They kept Barkley pretty quiet for a large portion of this game. But you are not going to keep him silent forever.

The Eagles got the ball four minutes into the fourth quarter. Looking to pretty much end it, Barkley rushed in the clinching, 25-yard touchdown with eight minutes to go, breaking a few tackles in the process.

Nobody had rushed for more than 63 yards against the Ravens this year. Barkley had 107, 61 of them in the fourth quarter. 

Barkley is the closer, the best in Eagles history. He is still on pace to break the all-time rushing record.

I think we know who has the edge in MVP voting now between Barkley and Henry.

Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis are vicious

Jalen Carter is playing at an absolutely insane level right now. He has an incredible ability to impact the game every snap. It is incomprehensible.

A lot of Carter’s efforts do not show up in the scorebook. They sure did on Sunday. He had eight pressures, seven hurries, a sack, two quarterback hits, and three tackles for loss. In 12 games, Carter has 4.5 sacks, 12 tackles for loss, and 12 QB hits. Those are All-Pro, perhaps Defensive Player of the Year recognition numbers.

And Jordan Davis, who needed to have a big game against Henry and this run-heavy Ravens offense, played 24 snaps, 13 of which were designed runs. The Ravens gained just 39 yards on those 13 running plays, averaging just 3.0 yards per carry, with Davis on the field

Looking back

Nick Sirianni said that the Eagles are very boring. They do not look back. They only look at their next opponent — the Panthers, in this case.

But, I want to look back to Week 13 a year ago, where the 10-2 Eagles got dogwalked by the 49ers, 42-19, at Lincoln Financial Field. We all remember what happened following that game.

A year later? The Eagles win their eighth straight game in Baltimore to get to 10-2.

We all want to move on from last season’s collapse, but I think looking back is influential to see truly how far this team has come. A lot of credit for that goes to Sirianni. While he may have not had the hottest start to the season, on and off the field, he has transformed this team from a group of pouty losers into winners who blast Michael Jackson in the locker room postgame.

Sirianni and Howie Roseman pinpointed the woes of the 2023 Eagles and replaced them with young, positive, and mature players, along with smart coordinators, to turn the Eagles into a Super Bowl contender again.

Now, the farthest this team travels for the rest of the regular season is Landover in two weeks. The Eagles host the Panthers and Steelers, drive to the Commanders, and then welcome the Cowboys and Giants to the Linc to close out the year.

I am feeling good about the Eagles again.

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