Week 1: Eagles 47, Cowboys 28
The Super Bowl champions raised their banner, and began their title defense with a win. Less than a minute into the game, Jalen Hurts took his first pass attempt on a third and long, missing open receiver Jahan Dotson long as the pass skipped onto the Eagles’ sideline. That would be his last incompletion of the game. Jalen would finish 19/20, throwing for 291 yards and 3 TDs, earning himself a perfect passer rating. Devonta Smith, Saquon Barkley, Dotson and AJ Brown all had over 50 receiving yards in the air and the first 3 scored TDs. Zack Baun with a pick, deflection, and electric hit stick on 3rd and short. A 28 point avalanche in the second quarter, Saquon 142 on 17 attempts with a 73 yard TD.
Week 2: Eagles 45, Chiefs 21
Jalen Hurts looked impressive as he did another good job protecting the football, as Eagles won comfortably. Hurts was 14 of 19 with 257 yards in the air, while Saquon Barkley continued with 140 yards on 19 attempts. But, the reigning OPOY was also the star in the air, as the Eagles leading receiver with 2 catches for 82 yards. This would become a common theme throughout what would be another historic season from Saquon, this only served as foreshadowing what was coming as the weather would get colder. Not much stat-padding occurred on defense, as the starters were pulled in the 4th. Star LB Zack Baun did have 3 TFLs, while youngster Jeremiah Trotter Jr. followed in his father’s footsteps in making an impact for the Philadelphia Eagles with a pick.
Week 3: Eagles 52, Rams 6
Another blowout for the Birds, this one a massacre, which was aided by another 28 point avalanche in the second quarter, and 49 points between that and the third. Saquon Barkley barely eclipsed 100 total yards, as second year RB Will Shipley outgained him on the ground with some late carries to drain the clock once the score was out of hand. Devonta Smith was the star of the air with 7 catches for 127 and a TD. But the MVP of the game was second year CB Cooper DeJean, who recreated his SB 59 TD two separate times in this game with two different pick sixes. Two catches and two touchdowns would give him a better week than most receivers in fantasy football! They were the first two interceptions of his career in the regular season, as the ball had not found him until the Super Bowl the prior February.
Week 4: Eagles 37, Buccaneers 35
The closest game of the season to date. Hurts, who had done a tremendous job protecting the ball to this point, threw 3 interceptions, which would hint at some interception issues that would plague him in the coming weeks. But, the Eagles were able to stave off a late rally by the Bucs as a stoic Jalen led a game winning drive, culminating in a game winning TD to Dallas Goedert as time expired. Saquon added on to his MVP campaign with over 250 total yards and 3 total TDs. It wasn’t the prettiest game on tape for the Eagles, but it proved that if they were to be challenged as the bright lights came on, they would be ready.
Week 5: Eagles 51, Broncos 44
In a measuring stick game, the Broncos seemed to be a tough challenge to begin the game for the Eagles as both teams entered October 4-0, but yet another 28 point second quarter allowed the Eagles to distance themselves, aided by SIX TDs on the ground between Saquon Barkley and quarterback Jalen Hurts. The ground game was so dominant that it only required 139 yards in the air (with 3 picks from Hurts) to eclipse the half-century mark. A resilient Broncos squad did gain some ground in an attempt for a late comeback, but could not watch the Eagles ground game in the end.
Week 6: Eagles 57, Giants 29
Hurts rolled into a short week by throwing a couple more picks, but it did not matter as Saquon had a monster game, gaining another 260 on the ground with 4 TDs, despite the fact they were outgained by the Giants despite having 520(!!!) yards of their own. Despite the hemorrhaging of yards the difference was that the Eagles were able to keep the Giants out of the end zone, and forced 4 turnovers, including two picks from Zack Baun, and Sydney Brown. It was considered a breakout game for the latter as he added 3 TFLs. “Bend don’t break” was pushed to its absolute limit in this one, but the defense proved in this one that it could be a viable strategy for them as the season approached its halfway point.
Week 7- Eagles 31, Vikings 28
The Eagles high-powered offense was a little bit limited this game, but the defense showed up, limiting the Vikings to 28 points, and keeping the score a bit distant until late in the game. The performance was headlined by Reed Blankenship and Jihaad Campbell interceptions, along with 12 Sydney Brown tackles. Despite the season low point output to this point, Barkley was able to contribute over 150 total yards and 3 TDs while Hurts went for almost 300 in the air with 2 passing touchdowns, all while protecting the ball when they needed him to most in throwing 0 picks for the first time in about a month.
Week 8- Eagles 52, Giants 49
The Giants came back for revenge, keeping pace in what would promise to be an epic shootout between the Jaxson Dart and Jalen Hurts-led offenses. Hurts was plagued by the turnover bug once again, but still managed to move the ball while Barkley managed to rush for 208 and 4 TDs on the ground. AJ Brown would contribute for 5 catches and 101 in the air and what would be his first triple digit yardage game all season. In an offensive game, the game was ended with defense, and CB Jakorian Bennett made a miraculous catch over Malik Nabers downfield, his catchup speed making up for his height disadvantage.
Week 9- Bye Week
The Eagles went there separate ways during a bye that fell right in the perfect spot at the end of October. Some went out of town for a few days, others stayed in the facility and stuck to the grind. No one player or coach enjoyed it the same, but they all acted with purpose in mind. The idea was simple: do whatever was necessary to get right, and prepare for the second half of he season to get where everyone wants to go. As reigning Super Bowl Champions, the only way to go was back to the place they just were. It was just as important to remember that for this week off as any other week.
Week 10- Eagles 59, Packers 49
The Eagles came out of the bye quite a bit rusty, surrendering two TDs in the 1st quarter and not scoring at all themselves. They were able to make up the difference by halftime and take a 14-all tie into the locker room. A 28 point 4th quarter would end up sealing the win. Hurts finished strong after a slow start with a couple picks, ending up also with 387 yards and 4 total TDs. Barkley added 327(!!!) total yards on only 17 touches, contributing 4 TDs as well. AJ Brown also had a particularly big game with 4 catches for 116 yards and 2 TDs of his own. Ten defensive star of the game would end up being LB Zack Bain, who tied for the team lead in tackles with 9, one being a TFL. Most importantly though he got on the board himself with a 61 yard pick six.
Week 11- Eagles 28, Lions 10
Coming back home for a marquee SNF matchup with the Lions on a short week, the Eagles defense looked good in their alternate all black uniforms and played even better, turning in their best defensive performance in about two months. The unit was able to stifle star running back Jahmyr Gibbs, allowing only 49 yards on the ground which forced Jared Goff to put it in the air. He turned in 232 yards, but no TDs and two interceptions. Outside of Barkley’s usual output (157 yards and a TD on the ground), the Eagles offense didn’t turn in their usual yardage, Hurts protected the ball with zero picks (albeit on only 12 throws), adding 186 yards and 3 total TDs, one of which being an explosive 75 yard TD to Devonta Smith in the first drive of the second half.
Week 12- Eagles 41, Cowboys 24
Not a night game, but the Eagles’ third consecutive primetime window was a 4:25 game in Dallas. Hurts showed out with his best game of the season to date, throwing for 319 yards, 4 TDs, and 0 interceptions. Barkley once again went nuts with 251 total yards and 2 TDs, while Devonta Smith led the receivers with 106 yards on 4 catches. The Cowboys were efficient on the ground, but forced Dak Prescott into a couple of mistakes, which kept the game from being close at the end.
Week 13- Eagles 59, Bears 56
The defenses went dark for this Black Friday fiasco, as this game was nothing but offense, with 1,364 yards (not a typo), 791 (also not a typo) of which came from the Eagles. While Hurts threw a couple of picks, this game was better than his last, as he threw for 635 yards (yes, you read that correctly) and contributed 5 total TDs. Barkley did his thing, with 277 total yards and 4 total TDs of his own. AJ Brown and Dallas Goedert got in on the fun, being the main recipients of Hurts’s crusade through the air. Brown had by far his best game of the year, with 208 yards on 7 catches and a TD. Goedert wasn’t too far behind, adding 8 catches of his own for 152 yards. Jahan Dotson, had one of the more quiet 80 yard receiving games you’ll ever see, scoring a TD of his own. The defense was basically nonexistent in this game, especially in the 4th where the Bears tried to stage a miraculous comeback, tying the game at 56 late in the 4th but thanks to a heroic throw by Hurts to AJ Brown, the Eagles were able to get into FG for Jake Elliott to hitting game winning chip shot. For as crazy as this finish was, an insane amount of damage was done during the middle quarters of the game where the Eagles went on a run, scoring 49 points between the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Thanks to Hurts’s heroic throw to Brown, the rough day for the defense didn’t cost the Eagles their perfect season, moving them to 12-0.
Week 14- Eagles 32, Chargers 20
The Eagles passing offense didn’t have as much spark this game fans had grown accustomed to over the last month or so, with no one receiver managing to muster any statline of significance, and Hurts having a rather unimpressive game through the air. But Saquon was reliable as always, going for 177 on the ground and 2 TDs, while Hurts added another one himself. A Chargers offense that seemed to be gaining steam by the end of the first half, along with a couple of gaffes by the Eagles passing offense seemed to point toward the Eagles’s perfect record being in jeopardy, but that’s worry ended just as fast as it came, with the defense coming up big in response to their poor performance the week before, with Nolan Smith wracking up a sack, and a late fumble forced by Cooper DeJean, which was recovered by Reed Blankenship to seal the win.
Week 15- Raiders 38, Eagles 35
Just as undefeated talk seemed to start in Philly, it ended with their most shocking result of the season. It was a sound game from the passing offense. Hurts was efficient, not throwing any picks as he threw for 263 yards. He was able to mix around touches and get everyone involved. The Raiders defense did their best to bottle up Saquon Barkley. The result? Good enough. Saquon did eclipse 100 total yards, but only got 80 on the ground on 16 attempts… not nearly on par with what he had done to this point, probably his second worst performance of the year to this point. More importantly, rookie phenom Ahston Jeanty, who seemed to be the only RB in Saquon’s realm all year outran him by almost 100 yards. Jeanty’s efficient day was supported by a 65 yard run before half when the Eagles’ defense was expecting a pass, which ended up being the difference. Geno Smith was cool calm, and collected, turning in a similar day to Hurts efficiency-wise. Despite all of this, the Eagles offense had a chance to go win the game with the score tied at 35, but they went 3 & out, leading to the Raiders driving down and kicking a game winning FG.
Week 16- Eagles 45, Commanders 24
The Eagles seemed to flush the loss to the Raiders out of their system pretty well, as they were able to beat the Commanders by 3 TDs, despite Saquon going out early due to getting banged up on the first drive. Saquon said after the game he was willing to finish, but Coach Bohmer and the Eagles, sitting at 14-1, deemed it unnecessary. The Commanders were handicapped as well, as Coach Que was unable to coach that week, so the absences balanced it out a bit. Due to Saquon’s absence, the Eagles turned to Hurts in the red zone, who scored 5 total TDs, 4 of them on the ground. This would ultimately lead to the Eagles’ most controversial moment of the season, where Hurts was suspended for this performance. He didn’t have a bad game in the air either, connecting with AJ Brown 7 times for 99 yards and a TD. The star of the game on defense was rookie Jihaad Campbell, who was all over the place with 5 tackles, 3 of which were TFLs, 2 of those were for sacks, and he had an interception which he returned for 36 yards all on top of that. This left the Eagles needing only 1 more win in the next 2 weeks to guarantee the 1st seed in the NFC, but they would need to do it without Hurts.
Week 17- Eagles 55, Bills 24
What if I told you the Eagles best QB performance of the season wasn’t by Jalen Hurts? He may have thrown for over 600 yards, but it’s certainly a debate. Enter Tanner McKee, the 3rd year backup out of Stanford. Called into action with Hurts suspended for good performance, he did not disappoint one bit. McKee finished 21-22 with 315 passing yards, and a perfect 158.3 passer rating. Amazingly, almost 200 of these passing yards came to HBs. Saquon was his normal self again in the absence of Hurts, gaining 200 total yards himself, pacing the Eagles out to a fast start, which forced the Bills to throw most of the game, which caused Josh Allen to throw 3 interceptions. Nolan Smith and Jalen Carter had their best game as a pair since their time in Athens, Georgia maybe, each contributing 3 TFLs and 2 sacks. The effort by the Eagles allowed their starters to be pulled in the 4th quarter, as by the game’s end, the 1st seed had officially been clinched, paying off their hard work.
Week 18- Eagles 55, Commanders 48
Coach Que returned for this game, but the defenses did not in another fun shootout. Hurts was still suspended, but many Eagles starters joined him on the bench with nothing to play for. That meant nothing to Tanner McKee, who somehow managed to outperform his amazing performance the prior week. He had his second straight performance of a completion percentage over 87%, 6 TDs, and a perfect passer rating. He became the first QB in NFL history to have a perfect passer rating in back to back weeks. The difference this time was he threw for 135 more yards. For the two games McKee started, he finished as 48-53 (91%), 765 yards, 12 TDs, and 0 interceptions. Truly remarkable. The question now really as the offseason looms is whether another team will want him, but for now the Eagles fans know they’ll be in good hands, should Jalen Hurts go down in the playoffs fresh off a suspension. Many of the receivers got in on the party, as Jahan Dotson had maybe the best Eagles receiving performance of the year, scoring 2 TDs on 144 receiving yards off of 5 catches. Devonta Smith also went for over 100 and a TD, while John Metchie III went for 86 and 2 TDs. TE Grant Calcaterra added a TD as well. The ground was a bit quieter than usual, but Will Shipley still went for 73 yards and a TD on 10 carries, an impressive 7.3 yards per carry. The Eagles’ twos on defense didn’t look as good as the twos on offense, but backup LB Khaleke Hudson scored on a 58 yard pick 6 in the third quarter, which ended up being the difference. Other standouts on defense included LB Smael Mondon Jr and CB Mac McWilliams, who both had exactly 10 tackles and 2 TFLs. DE Josh Uche added 4 TFLs and a sack as well. But most importantly, the unit came up with a stop to end the game, sealing the win. Although, some said this only happened because Jayden Daniels was pulled halfway through the 4th quarter as a precaution, as the Commanders had nothing to play for and were locked into the 5th seed in the NFC. This game may have not counted as much as the others, but it was definitely fun, and it got the Eagles to 16-1 finishing them tied with the Jaguars for the best record in the NFL.
Season Summary
Record: 16-1
The team was hoping maybe to get to 17-0, and become the first team to do so since the league added an extra game to each team’s ledger for the season. But as turns out that wasn’t meant to be, thanks to Raiders great effort in a cold December home game at Lincoln Financial Field. However, trophies aren’t given out for doing that (ask Tom Brady), and the goal remained to win THE trophy for the second year in a row. A 16-1 record was good enough to net them home field advantage in January, something they didn’t even know they’d have last year until the Detroit Lions were eliminated shockingly in the Divisional Round. This year it’s guaranteed, and the NFC will run through Broad Street and South Philly.
Team MVP: Saquon Barkley
This one was an easy one. Jalen Hurts didn’t have his best statistical season (he’s more known for getting it done when the lights are a little brighter anyway), and neither did the receivers. One could make a case for the offensive line, who played as great as ever. Many names on defense stood out too, such as Zack Barn, Cooper DeJean, Nolan Smith, and even rookie Jihaad Campbell. But the clear winner was Saquon Barkley, who topped 2,000 yards for the second year in a row. This time he smashed the rushing record in 16 games, and added plenty more in the receiving game as well, doing it all in only 16 games! He also left one injured on the first drive, so it could be considered 15 if you so choose. Some thought he was worthy of the Most Valuable Player Award, but the “QB Award” narrative seemed to apply as much as ever this year, so he’d have to settle for Offensive Player of the Year Award for the second year in a row. But like most of his teammates, Saquon hoped that this wouldn’t be his favorite trophy of the season.
Team Defensive Player of the Year: Zack Baun
This one was a lot more closely contested than Offensive Player of the Year was, but the award has to go to the engine that made this Eagles Defense go. The Bald Eagle’s second year as the defensive signal caller wasn’t as flashy as the first, but it wasn’t too shabby either, sill turning in 97 tackles (45 solo, 16 TFL, 1 sack), and to picks, one of which ended in 6 points for the Eagles. What he does that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet has to be mentioned too, serving as the connection between the defensive line and secondary. Honorable mentions have to go to Nolan Smith, who fell just short of 10 sacks, Cooper DeJean, who turned in a fantastic year from the slot CB position, Jalen Carter, lockdown CB Quinyon Mitchell, 21 year old rookie Jihaad Campbell, and Surprise! Sydney Brown, who actually registered the most tackles on the defensive unit from the safety position.
Team Rookie of the Year: Jihaad Campbell
There wasn’t a crazy amount of competition here, but don’t let that take away from what Jihaad Campbell was able to do for this Eagle defense. Forced into action from the get go due to a Nakobe Dean injury in last year’s playoffs that had him out through the middle of this season, Jihaad Campbell not only stepped up, but played well enough to earn himself a spot in the linebacker rotation once Dean was able to step back onto the field. As a 21 year old, he earned his honorable mention for team DPOY, as the rookie turned in 72 tackles (36 solo, 12 TFL, 3 sacks), 5 interceptions, 6 deflections, and a forced fumble. He did it all as he gave Zack Baun serious contention for best LB on the team.
What’s Next?
Well, that’s it for the regular season, stay tuned to see what happens in the post season, and see if all the yards, TDs, sacks, picks, and even suspensions will end up with the Eagles’s third trophy in Santa Clara come the second Sunday in February…
