The Eagles need to thank all of their lucky stars after that one. The defense put up another masterclass effort with one stop after another until late. The offense returned the favor by completely shutting down again in the second half, not even moving the ball a total of 20 yards. Then Josh Allen threw it out of reach. The Eagles hung on 13-12 to improve to 11-5.
They still have a chance to move up in the NFC playoff seeding, but after another infuriating offensive stall-out, Jalen Hurts, Nick Sirianni, and Kevin Patullo have bigger things to worry about. Here’s how the Eagles survived up in Buffalo.
### Tuck and Run
The rain was falling and the football was getting slippery in Buffalo. The Bills took over after an Eagles punt late in the first quarter, but then Josh Allen bobbled the first snap and had to fall on it before recovering on the next play with a 50-yard deep ball over the middle to receiver Brandin Cooks.
The Bills had jumped straight into Eagles territory, but looking to capitalize, Allen rolled right out of the pocket to try and extend a play that wasn’t offering up an opening. Allen slowed up and pump-faked, still waiting for something to happen. As he did, edge rusher Jaelan Phillips, who was covering the line of scrimmage, made a move and barreled down toward Allen for the sack.
Phillips made contact, the ball slipped out of Allen’s hand, and it rolled toward midfield. Jihaad Campbell won the race for the recovery as Allen was arguing for an incompletion, but no whistle blew until the Eagles’ rookie linebacker grabbed the ball.
**Fumble. Eagles’ ball, and they were in business.**
Jalen Hurts hit A. J. Brown for a 27-yard pass into Buffalo territory, then after pushing to the 1-yard line on second down a few plays later, Hurts ran the play-action fake and lofted a pass to a wide-open Dallas Goedert in the end zone for the touchdown.
The Eagles took the first lead, 7-0. Goedert set a single-season franchise record for a tight end with his 11th score, and Allen was just beginning to get familiar with the Philadelphia defensive line.
### Hit Stick
Hurts bobbed and weaved around the Buffalo pass rush to push the Eagles far enough down for a 47-yard field goal from Jake Elliott to go up 10-0 late in the first half.
Falling behind, the Bills were starting to feel the pain both on the scoreboard and directly on the rain-soaked field. On the ensuing Buffalo drive, James Cook took a run up the middle, but Eagles safety Marcus Epps cracked down low, while linebacker Zack Baun stayed high, grabbed Cook, and slammed him to the grass, attempting to jar the ball loose. The fumble was overturned as down by contact.
On the next snap, Jalen Carter, returning from a procedure on both shoulders, looked back to his normal, game-wrecking self. The star defensive tackle flushed right past his blocker and crushed Allen for the sack with no time to react, forcing a 3rd and 18.
Allen flipped a short pass to receiver Khalil Shakir, but as soon as the Buffalo wideout caught the ball, Reed Blankenship charged in and knocked him backwards to keep him well short of the marker, forcing the punt deep in Bills’ territory.
The Eagles’ defense was punishing in that sequence, and the offense managed to turn that into a few more points with another Elliott field goal from 28 yards out to take a 13-0 lead into halftime.
### Stay Right There
The Bills came back from the half needing to get something going. Down two scores, they had to start airing it out despite the poor weather conditions. That left Allen back in the pocket against an Eagles pass rush that’s been on an upswing in recent weeks.
The Bills generated a few chunk yardage plays on a first-down run from James Cook, then completions of 12 and nine yards by Allen. But then Moro Ojomo had enough. He brought Allen down eight yards backward on a 1st and 10 for his team-leading sixth sack of the season, effectively killing the Bills’ drive and forcing another punt.
It was another clutch defensive play from an interior tackle who has been excellent all season, especially in the absence of Carter. It also kept Allen and a typically effective Bills offense from going anywhere on their own home field.
### End Zone’s Closed
Allen started tossing the ball up, and the Bills got two gifts as the clock ticked down in the third quarter.
He launched a pass down the right sideline for Joshua Palmer. Quinyon Mitchell stuck to the receiver in coverage and broke up the play, but after the nearest official took a moment, a flag was thrown for defensive pass interference. The Bills were pushed a free 26 yards down the field from their own 32 to Philadelphia’s 42.
Then Allen took another deep shot along the right sideline into the red zone. Mitchell was in coverage again against receiver Tyrell Shavers, and though he got a hand in, Shavers stayed with the ball as he fell to his back and maintained possession for the completion.
The Bills were at the Philadelphia 7, knocking on the door. But that was as far as they would go.
Allen tried to force a quick slant on the next play, which fell incomplete across the middle. He fired another quick throw to Shakir on second down, but Epps was there to drag him down short of the goal line. Cook took the handoff on third down but was knocked back a yard further away.
Going for it on fourth down, Allen dropped back but had nothing. Starting to scramble to run it in himself, Allen faced a fierce Philly defensive front that was ready for him.
Rolling right, Carter and Jalyx Hunt jumped to take away his middle options, and Baun shifted down to the line of scrimmage to make the tackle, bringing Allen down before he could break the plane.
Allen, trying to will his momentum forward, spun onto his back—just a yard short.
The Eagles took the ball back on a turnover on downs.
**Quick 6.**
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With another rugged defensive performance and timely offensive plays, the Eagles managed to survive a tough matchup in Buffalo and keep pace in the playoff hunt. But the offense has clear work to do if this team wants to make a deep postseason run.
https://www.phillyvoice.com/eagles-bills-highlights-jalen-hurts-josh-allen-jaelan-phillips-dallas-goedert-jihaad-campbell-pivotal-plays-playoff-seeding/
