Eagles Offense Bailed Out by Defense in Win Over Patriots

The Philadelphia Eagles offense scored only one touchdown, but four field goals and a solid performance from the defense helped notch the victory

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Jalen Hurts walked over to every member of the Philadelphia Eagles defense in their locker stalls and said thank you. 

The Eagles quarterback was grateful for the unit bailing out the team in a 25-20 season-opening victory over the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on Sunday evening.

It was far from a defensive masterpiece, but for a unit that has several new faces, including five new starters and a new defensive coordinator in Sean Desai, the defense was the biggest reason for the team sitting at 1-0 as it now prepares to take on an 0-1 Minnesota Vikings team in the home opener on Thursday night.

“I think that's a great, great win, a great win for us, being able to be resilient,” said Hurts, who was 22-for-32 with 170 passing yards, a touchdown, and a passer rating of 89.2. “…Winning is the only thing that matters. 

"I think we obviously have things that we need to work on and have to be better in those situations when the ball is in my hands, and I take full accountability for that. But good thing about it is we get the opportunity to play on Thursday.”

It was supposed to be the offense that carried this team, especially early on while the defense had time to grow together.

Instead, the offense was, well, offensive. The weather wasn’t the best, but the Patriots played in the same rain that fell throughout most of the game, too, yet somehow was the better offense on the field.

“I think as an offense, you try not to let the conditions of the game deter you from playing a certain type of way, and I just think for us, we just want to execute at a high level,” said Hurts. “We've got different guys getting opportunities to make plays and some guys, you know, it may not seem as much, but ultimately when you have an opportunity to make a play, take advantage of it.

“There was a lot to grow from in that and there's a lot for me to personally grow from as well, to continue to be a point guard of the offense.”

© Brian Fluharty, USA TODAY

The outing left head coach Nick Sirianni scratching his head and making an entry into his notebook. He conceded that maybe he will adjust his approach to the preseason when he didn’t play Hurts or an offensive line that is breaking in a new right guard in Cam Jurgens in any of the summer’s three games.

It had been since Feb. 12’s Super Bowl that many of the starters on offense saw any actual game experience.

“I'll definitely reevaluate some of the preseason stuff next year,” said Sirianni. “You know, I know they played the first two years that we were here, they only played one series against the Jets in 2022. Maybe I should have played him a series or two this preseason, and I already wrote that in my notes.”

That doesn’t help this year, but maybe one game against a well-coached defense will do wonders.

“Most of the time, they were doing a lot of weird stuff in the middle,” said A.J. Brown, who had seven catches for 79 yards. “Really fast, passing a lot of guys off and not really following each other.

"I took a big hit early in the game because they were just passing off into zero … We just gotta do a better job noticing things like that quicker."

The offense needed four field goals from Jake Elliott, who was good from 32, 56, 48, and 51 yards, to secure the win, and that performance should put the Eagles kicker in the driver’s seat to be the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week when those awards are announced on Wednesday.

The Eagles offense only scored one touchdown, a 5-yard throw from Hurts to DeVonta Smith. The other touchdown was delivered by cornerback Darius Slay's 70-yard interception return.

The Eagles' offense had just 17 first downs, none came in the second quarter. It had five straight, three-and-out drives. It had just 251 yards of total offense to New England’s 382.

More salt in the wound came on the ground, where a team that was tops in the league running the ball last year had just 97 yards on the ground.

Kenny Gainwell had 54 of those yards on 14 carries. Hurts had just 37 yards on nine runs, and he lost a crucial fumble late in the fourth quarter that gave New England the ball at its 41. The Eagles defense rose up to force a three-and-out, with the big play being the first sack from Jordan Davis, though he shared it with Josh Sweat.

Hurts hinted that maybe Patriots Hall of Fame head coach Bill Belichick did some things the Eagles didn’t expect.

“I think they are a really good defense,” said Hurts. “That's what the NFL is. The NFL is a huge league of disguises. That's what it is, you know what I'm saying, so for us, I don't think it's necessarily about anyone else.

“It's about us and how we control the things that we can. You know, that's always been the reality for us, so we've got to be able to execute at a better level and a higher level, and we have to be more efficient.”