‘Full of dogs’: 5 takeaways from Eagles-Bills a day later
Dec 28, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Philadelphia Eagles linebackers Jaelan Phillips (50), Zack Baun (53) and safety Reed Blankenship (32) tackle Buffalo Bills running back Ray Davis (22) during the third quarter at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
On a nasty evening in upstate New York, the Eagles walked away with a nasty victory.
It was a classic 2025 Philadelphia Eagles performance. One really good half offensively, and then a horrible one, with the defense doing the heavy lifting.
It is not easy to win a game when your offense has 17 yards in the second half, at any level. Especially in the NFL. But, somehow, the Eagles advanced to 11-5 with a 13-12 win, which came down to Josh Allen hooking a pass on the final two-point conversion.
While it was ugly, this was a big win against a Super Bowl contender in their building in horrendous conditions. However, we are once again leaving it with questions that may, at this point, just never be answered.
Here are my five takeaways a day after the win:
1. THIS DEFENSE IS incredible. I write it every week. The Bills are third in the NFL with 29 points per game, and the Eagles held them to a season-low 12 points, their fewest at home since 2022. Allen has the sixth-most touchdown passes in the NFL. He threw none on Sunday. Buffalo’s running game is second in the NFL at 5.1 yards per carry. Sunday, they averaged 3.6. James Cook, who leads the league in rushing, was held to just 74 rushing yards on 20 rushes.
This was such a big game for everyone involved. Cooper DeJean had a career-high nine tackles, Zack Baun made a big stop at the goal-line, Jihaad Campbell hustled what felt like 400 yards to recover the game-changing fumble early in the game, and the others did their thing.
However, this pass-rush got pressure on what felt like every-single play. The Eagles sacked Allen five times. Jalyx Hunt had two; Moro Ojomo, Jaelan Phillips, and Jalen Carter each had one. All five of the Eagles’ sacks against the Bills were with a four-man rush. The Eagles have 18 sacks over their last four games with a four-man rush, seven more than any other defense. Outside of a couple of lucky catches down the field, Allen could not make plays.
The Eagles have allowed 14.5. points over the last eight games. In the last three, the Eagles have allowed 30 points.
“Dogs,” Saquon Barkley said postgame. “Our defense is just dogs. Full of dogs. I mean, it starts from the top. Hell of a coach with Vic [Fangio] and literally every single one of our assistant coaches… who I can literally see being play callers or head coaching one day.
“They did an unbelievable job, and we’re gonna need them to continue to do a great job throughout this stretch of the season.”
2. HAVING CARTER BACK was a great sight. What was even better was seeing him at what we think is full strength.
He was all over the place in his first game in a month. He was being double-teamed and held all game and was still disruptive, getting a sack where he absolutely trucked O’Cyrus Torrence. He also had a tackle for loss, a pass knockdown, and a quarterback hit.
His biggest play of the day, though, was his blocked extra-point to make it 13-6. It ended up being huge, with the Eagles winning by one. He and Jordan Davis have saved and won games with their jump, reach, and arms on special teams this season.
“[The shoulders] felt good,” Carter said postgame. “Like, way better than before. I guess that shot really did its thing…
“I didn’t feel like this with the shoulders all season. Just to be able to strike blocks and not have too much pain when I’m coming off and my arms taking the heat. It felt good, man. I’m going to get it better every week. Work on it to get the strength back and go from there.”
3. IT IS TIME to start really looking at Hunt as a future elite pass rusher in this league. With two sacks Sunday and 4.5 in his last four games, Hunt leads the team with 6.5 sacks with a game to go. He also has nine quarterback hits over those four games.
Hunt had a 19-yard sack on a third-and-eight with the Bills at the Eagles’ 27, where he never gave up on the play, and chased down Allen to get the huge sack to force the punt.
Hunt has been head-hunting recently. He was last year, too. Now, in the spotlight with a bigger role, he is showing what he can be. It would be key to see some more consistency from the 24-year-old, but that will come.
I am really excited to see Houston Christian alumni’s future.
4. THE SECOND HALF offense was awful. The play-calling, the execution, everything. After scoring 13 points and earning 174 yards in the first half, they were shutout and netted 17 yards in the second half. How does that even happen?
Here were the second-half drives: 13 yards punt, no yards punt, two yards punt, four yards punt, minus two yards punt. They had terrible field position each time, Jalen Hurts was zero-for-seven, and the run blocking completely vanished against one of the worst run defenses in the NFL.
How did it happen? Here is how: it was another conservative second-half of play-calling by Nick Sirianni and Kevin Patullo. They were playing not to lose. They were fine going three-and-out, punting the ball to the Bills, and putting the game in the hands of the defense. Which they did — the time of possession in the second half marked the Eagles for 8:45 and the Bills for 21:15.
This “just do not turn the ball over and trust the defense” second-half method is old, weak, and pathetic. It allows teams like the Broncos, Cowboys, among others this season, and nearly the Bills to come back and steal wins.
This is not going to work in the playoffs. It should not be acceptable at any time of year, really. Just when it looked like they had figured it out, Siritullo have learned nothing through 17 weeks.
The defense is elite enough to win a Super Bowl. This offense is not good enough to get you through a playoff game.
5. JAKE ELLIOTT WAS able to nail some field goals on Sunday. They were not from a crazy distance, but it was a good confidence boost for him.
He nailed 28- and 47-yarders in the rain and wind, which was big.
Elliott had missed seven field goals in the Eagles’ last nine games and was 10-19 from 40+ coming in. Good confidence booster for him and the Eagles on Sunday.
Braden Mann was also punting his butt off. He averaged 56.3 yards per punt on a day he had to go to work.
Benjamin Goldstein
Benjamin has been covering Philly Sports for Philly Sports Reports since 2017. He is a podcaster, writer, and founder of Philly Sports Reports. Benjamin is also an intern at the WBCB Sports Network on 1490AM. Through Philly Sports Reports, Benjamin has gotten the opportunity to meet Phillies owner John Middleton in his suite and be honored as the Philadelphia sports fan of the week for KYW News Radio. He hopes to be reporting on Philly sports as a full-time job in the future.
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