Eagles nearly lose 22-point lead, escape with win over Jags – NBC Sports Philadelphia

It would have been one of the worst losses in franchise history. That really would have done it. Wasting a 22-point lead in the second half in your own stadium against an injury-prone two-win team?

The Eagles escaped with a 28-23 victory over the Jaguars, but oh yeah…that was a little scary.

Let's get started with our 10 instant observations.

1. With every chance the Eagles had to put a stop to this game, you could see the Jaguars becoming more and more confident. When you're 22-0 up, you just can't let that happen. You can't let the other team think they have a chance. And that's exactly what the Eagles did. The two failed at the two-point conversion. Saquon Barkley's fumble. The ridiculous failed 4th-and-inch late in the third quarter. All of these Eagles misfortunes gave life to the Jaguars. Gave them hope. If you want to be a great team, you push teams away when you're 22 points ahead for crying out loud. It's great that Nakobe Dean made a play and the Eagles escaped, but they never should have been in that position in the first place. You must learn from it and not put yourself in the same situation again.

2. Speaking of Nakobe Dean…wow. This kid is playing so well, and for him to play through with a minute and a half to go and save the game – who knows, maybe even save the season – is just the reward for all the work he's put in. The expectations for Dean were so high. In 2022 he is from Georgia. Then he didn't play as a rookie and got hurt last year, and I'm honestly not sure what to expect this year. He made a good impression in camp, but the first few weeks weren't good. But man, he's settled in and is just playing great football, and that interception was the result of an incredible amount of preparation and film study. He knew exactly what the Jaguars wanted to do there and he was ready for it, and it was also a pretty athletic play for his first career interception. Kudos to the Eagles for sticking with Dean, and good on Dean for never falling over himself during a challenging few seasons. Great game.

3. We're really seeing some special play from Jalen Hurts as he continues to put together clean, efficient and productive games. He was brilliant on Sunday, going 18 for 24 for 230 yards with two touchdown passes, his fifth straight game with no interceptions and his fourth game with no turnovers. His passer rating of 132.3 makes him the first Eagles quarterback ever to play four straight games with a passer rating of 119 or higher. With his fifth play-caller in five seasons, it would take some time, but when it clicked with Kellen Moore, it clicked. Hurts lets the game come to him, just like he did with Shane Steichen in 2022. He makes quick decisions, he plays the ball precisely, he doesn't force anything, he throws the ball spectacularly deep and he plays with his legs again. This is about being decisive and running before the defense is ready. And he just looks faster than at any point in the last year. That 18-yard touchdown run was his longest since a 22-yard run against the Bears in Week 15 of 2022. This team can do a lot with this Jalen Hurts.

4. This DeVonta Smith touchdown is one of the greatest catches I've ever seen. And it wasn't just the one-handed stab into the back right corner of the end zone with Ronald Darby in solid coverage, it was also Smith who somehow had both feet just inches from the back of the end zone, making the whole spectacular one-handed catch . With AJ Brown out of the game in the second half, the Eagles needed Smith to come up big, and he did, and it was incredible. This is an impossible game, just fooling around with your friends in the schoolyard. To do it in an NFL game? Stunning.

5. Hey, Howie…get Zach Baun a contract. Now! Man, what a discovery he was. Baun is getting better and better at a position he's never played before, and on Sunday he was unreal. Player of the week type stuff. 10 tackles, two pass breakups and the interception just before halftime that set up Saquon Barkley's 19-yard touchdown. Baun played well all year, but this was next level. The Eagles gave him a one-year contract as an off-ball linebacker based on a handful of snaps Vic Fangio saw him play with the Saints. Which in itself is crazy. But he's not just playing a new position, he's playing completely crazy. That interception was something wonderful. He reacted the moment the ball bounced off Travis Etienne's hands, diving fully outstretched and somehow managing to get his hands under the ball and maintain control. Baun has shown intelligence, instincts, toughness and playmaking – everything you want from an off-ball linebacker. The toughness of DeMeco Ryans and the athleticism of Mychal Kendricks. A damn good combination. The Eagles can't afford to lose him.

6A. Saquon Barkley just keeps delivering and it's incredible to watch. He was battered, sore and beaten up and just kept responding to the tune of 159 rushing yards, 40 receiving yards and two more touchdowns. The fumble was bad – I'm not sure it was actually a fumble – but I love that Kellen Moore went back to Barkley as soon as the Eagles got the ball back and he never let up. In the second half, he carried 14 carries for 98 yards. On the day the Eagles honored the greatest running back in Eagles history – LeSean McCoy – Barkley showed why he is on pace to have the best season of any Eagles running back. The numbers are insane: He already has 925 rushing yards in half a season, 5.9 yards per carry, 1,071 scrimmage yards, eight touchdowns and we still have nine games left. It's overwhelming how good he is.

6B. As far as Barkley's fumble goes, it certainly looked like Ventrell Miller hit Barkley's ankle on the way to the ground, meaning he's on the ground from contact and the ground caused the fumble. But it was an all-around strange day for the replay booth. On that first Eagles two-point conversion attempt, Hurts clearly had the ball over the plane. A strange day for the referees.

7. Young, fast, aggressive, physical, athletic. Five words no one would have used to describe the Eagles' defense last year. But here we are, and this revamped unit, now stripped of unnecessary weight and infused with youth and enthusiasm at every level, has quickly developed into a great young unit. They still have to do it consistently every week, but during this four-game winning streak, the Eagles' defense has played remarkably well. There's nothing this group doesn't do at an elite level. Stuff the barrel. Coverage at a consistently high level. Put under pressure. Hit. And now they're even forcing turnovers – they've scored five takeaways in the last two games after scoring just seven in the last 14 games. And every week you see more and more young guys like Cooper DeJean, Quinyon Mitchell, Nolan Smith, Nakobe Dean, Jalen Carter and even Zack Baun, who is 27 years old but is a rookie as an off-ball linebacker. They were a little loopy late Sunday, but the bottom line is that they allowed 215 yards and 15 scores on Sunday, and in the last four games they have 3.6 yards per rushing attempt, 141 passing yards per game, 215 total yards per game and allowed just 45 points – that’s 11.3 per game. That is remarkable. This is just the third time since 1998 that they have held four straight teams to 280 or fewer yards. To go from what we saw last year to this? Incredible. And they only get better.

8. I give Jahan Dotson so much credit. I can't imagine the pressure he felt after the Eagles traded a third-round pick to Washington for him in August and he only had 35 yards rushing in his first seven games. But you can tell that the boy is a class act. He never put himself down, he never complained about not getting enough goals, he never blamed anyone else for his lack of performance. And when AJ Brown had to leave the game early in the third quarter, Dotson made a circus catch for 36 yards – more yards on a catch than in his first 7½ games as an Eagle. Dotson showed tremendous concentration and concentration, securing the ball after it bounced off cornerback Tyson Campbell and then fighting for a few extra yards. Huge game in a big moment. Dotson was talented enough to be the 16th pick in the draft two years ago, and he signed through 2025, so he'll be around for at least another year. Plays like the one he made on Sunday only give Kellen Moore and Jalen Hurts more confidence in Dotson, and I would expect Dotson to see even more big plays in the second half of the season. You will need it.

More to come…

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