Seven Eagles Leftovers From 9th Straight Win, Including Cooper DeJean's Education

The Philadelphia Eagles took down the Carolina Panthers, 22-16, and here some afterthoughts from the triumph.

Dec 8, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) looks on against the Carolina Panthers at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA – Here are some leftover thoughts/notes from the Eagles' ninth straight win, a 22-16 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Week 14.

Canales connection. Jalen Hurts played a turnover-free game and has only one interception during the team’s nine-game winning streak. That gets overlooked after seemingly hesitant to pull the trigger a couple of times in the passing game, particularly to A.J. Brown.

Here’s something to consider. Panther coach Dave Canales spent last year with Todd Bowles in Tampa and Bowles is known for shutting Hurts down. The Buccaneers coach is 4-1 against Hurts. Perhaps Canales knew how to “read” Hurts and confuse him.

Mangled drive. The Eagles had a chance to end the game on offense until a promising drive that had reached the Panthers’ 36 ended when the Eagles were called for delay of game on second-and-eight. Hurts explained what happened, and maybe this is the Canales effect.

“I was assessing protection and made a mistake I really never make and letting the clock run out,” he said.

Hurts also took a terrible 9-yard sack on the drive when he rolled right and simply slid down, but the Eagles overcame that.

“Had our RPO scheme on, so I didn't want to risk the line of being downfield,” Hurts said of the decision. “So, I just took the sack instead of throwing the ball away.”

McCollum’s first start. Tristin McCollum made his first NFL start and logged a career-high 68 snaps (96 percent), making four tackles, one solo with one pass defended. He also delivered one of the better quotes to come out of the locker room.

“Carolina had a couple good outings the past few weeks, so we knew they were on the climb,” he said. “They wanted to come here and make it a Disney story. It was good to put that fire out and get to next week.”

Reed Blankenship could return against the Steelers, sending McCollum back to the bench with more experience on his resume.

Dec 8, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Carolina Panthers wide receiver Adam Thielen (19) makes a catch against Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean (33) during the second quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

DeJean education. Cooper DeJean, the 21-year-old rookie, struggled for the first time in his young career, and it came against a veteran receiver in Adam Thielen, now 34, who seemed to catch every third throw and had his best day of the season with nine catches for 102 yards.

“He’s tough, tough, tough cover,” said DeJean, who had five tackles and one for loss. “He challenges you, he’s physical, and uses his hands real well to get off press coverage. He’ll definitely make me better.”

Maddox shows up. Avonte Maddox gets more grief from the fan base than he deserves. The versatile defensive back stepped in twice when C.J. Gardner-Johnson left with an injury and the defense didn’t sag during his 11 snaps. He also made a terrific play on special teams, catching Braden Mann’s punt to pin the Panthers at the 3-yard line with made a terrific play with 2:58 to play in the game, leaving them 97 yards with no timeouts to try to win the game.

Game wrecker. Jalen Carter continues to wreak havoc while playing nearly every snap. Per Next Gen Stats, he tied a career-high by generating six pressures on 38 pass rushes (15.8 percent). Four of Carter's pressures came in the first quarter, the most in a single quarter by any Eagles defender this season. He played 62 defensive snaps (89 percent playtime rate), his fourth straight game with 50 or more defensive snaps. He had two tackles for loss and three quarterback hits.

Finally…

-The Eagles are the first team since Washington in 1983 with at least 100 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in 12 of their first 13 games of a season.

-Hurts has 36 career games with a rushing touchdown, tied with Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve Young (36 games) for the third-most by a quarterback in NFL history. Only Cam Newton (64) and Josh Allen (50) have more.

-Hurts has 13 rushing touchdowns this season,  his third consecutive season with at least 13 rushing touchdowns. He becomes the fourth player since 2000 to record at least 13 rushing touchdowns in three or more straight seasons, joining Pro Football Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson (six straight seasons from 2002-07), Shaun Alexander (five straight from 2001-05) and Priest Holmes (three straight from 2002-04).

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