Eagles-Lions Stock Market: Eagles Happy to Escape Detroit with a 'Dub'

The Eagles held on to beat the Lions in an unlikely shootout with Jalen Hurts accoting for 333 yards of total offense between running and passing with one rushing TD

DETROIT - The running game came to the rescue again.

With a defense leaking oil the Eagles got the football back with just under four minutes to go and ran a perfect version of the four-minute offense, siphoning the clock to hold onto a 38-35 win at a raucous Ford Field.

After scoring 44 points here last year on Halloween, Philadelphia nearly put together a 40 spot again and managed both numbers without scoring through the air, the first time that kind of production has happened against the same opponent since 1933.

Jalen Hurts, Miles Sanders, Kenny Gainwell, and Boston Scott all scored rushing touchdowns as the Eagles piled up 216 yards on the ground.

THE BULLS:

Off-schedule Jalen Hurts - Hurts remains incredibly difficult to deal with when the play breaks down and his ability to make something out of nothing is both a gift and a crutch at times for this Eagles offense.

The Eagles QB1 finished with 90 yards on 17 carries and his 1-yard sneak on fourth-and-1 with under a minute left sealed things. Combined with his passing yards, Hurts had 333 yards of total offense all by himself.

"I think in the run game, we did a good job against them. It was more of the pass, drop back, scramble situations that we weren’t able to contain him," Lions LB Alex Anzalone. 

"Obviously, that was a focus and a point of emphasis this week, so we’ve just got to figure out how to be disciplined and our rush lanes and where the help is in coverage situations and get it cleaned up.”

A.J. Brown - The Eagles' splashiest offensive acquisition in the offseason was more than advertised.

Brown's unique combination of size and speed gave the Detroit defense fits whether it was in the middle of the field or going deep right before halftime. Overall Brown caught 10 of 13 targets for 155 yards, the most ever by a Philadelphia player making his debut.

Deference - The Eagles defer too much when they win the coin toss but you saw the reason why they do it. When you sandwich the first and second halves with scores, it's typically game over in this league. And doing it against a bad team is smart even if the Lions were able to convert with their first opportunity and the Eagles' defense wilted about late.

Miles Sanders - Sanders was very effective running the football and also found the end zone for the first time Dec.  27, 2020. Sanders finished with 13 carries for a team-high 96 yards and the score, and had a big 24-yard run on the game-clinching drive in which he seemed bottled up.

THE BEARS:

Run support in even fronts - The Eagles really struggled early with their 40 fronts when it came to run fits and support. Only when Jordan Davis and Marlon Tuipulotu came in with a five-man overhang front did things calm down on that front.

Overall the Lions rushed for 181 yards of their own, 144 of them by Philly native D'Andre Swift. That's going to be a point of emphasis moving forward.

Game management - The Eagles didn't handle the noise all that well early and too often took time much time getting out of the huddle. It's rare in recent years that you've had to worry about the crowd of 64,537 but they showed up and were ready to go for Week 1.

The Eagles had two delay of game penalties, two 12-man in the huddle issues, and too often were coming out of the huddle late.

"The atmosphere was crazy," Brown said. "Too bad I couldn’t hear [Jalen Hurts]. But how he managed the game, I think he did really well. I’m sure he is going to say it wasn’t good enough. But that’s the mentality he has. It’s great he has that mentality because, for all of us, it wasn’t good enough. That’s how we are going to look at it.”

Passing Jalen Hurts - As usual, there was too much meat left on the bone like a poor pass to Kenny Gainwell left in the second quarter that turned an easy TD into a Jake Elliott field goal.

Hurts is also defaulting to the run too much, finishing with 15 carries, a number that is just not tenable on a weekly basis. Finally, there is the concern over getting locked in on certain targets and not pulling the trigger when it's warranted. 

DeVonta Smith - With Brown excelling, Smith took an 0-for, no catches on four targets.

STAGNANT STOCKS:

Quez Watkins as the kick returner: When we last saw Watkins as the KR he lost the gig to Jalen Reagor because he didn't make the kind of quick, decisive decisions that define the good ones. The Watkins who showed up Sunday in Detroit had the same issues.

Third Downs - Situational football is something that the Eagles' coaching staff harps on and Philadelphia was good on the most important down in football, converting 10-of-17 attempts. The defense, though, gave up 9-of-14.

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Sports. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talker Jody McDonald, every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube.com and JAKIBSports.com. You can reach John at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen