The Philadelphia Eagles are 11-5 after beating the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium on Sunday evening. Final score: 13 to 12.
It was the narrowest of wins for the Eagles, who were in position to blow a 13 to 0 lead with Buffalo opting to go for a two-point conversion after their touchdown with five seconds remaining in regulation. The Birds greatly benefited from Josh Allen missing a wide open target in the end zone to hang on for the win.
The Eagles’ defense, which mostly played a pretty awesome game, deserved that break. They came up with a takeaway and forced six punts while going up against one of the best quarterbacks and offenses in the NFL. Jalen Carter also came up with a huge blocked extra point right after the Bills’ first touchdown.
The Eagles’ offense did NOT deserve that break. They absolutely stunk in the second half, running 18 plays for just 16 yards for five punts against a Bills defense that ranks 25th in DVOA. Nick Sirianni’s all too conservative approach almost cost the Eagles a win in this spot. It’s been a common theme this season and it’s a very big concern entering the playoffs.
Speaking of the postseason, though, the Eagles are still currently alive for the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoff picture with this win. Now they need the San Francisco 49ers to beat the Chicago Bears on Sunday night to remain in the running for that No. 2 spot entering the final week of the regular season. If the Bears pull off the upset, the Eagles are locked into the No. 3 seed and will host the No. 6 seed in the Wild Card round.
Next up for the Eagles: a Week 18 home game against the Washington Commanders. It remains to be seen if the Eagles will be resting starters or not. Dan Quinn will apparently be out to avenge Washington’s Week 16 loss either way.
Read on for a recap and stay tuned for BGN’s postgame coverage.
FIRST QUARTER
- The Bills won the coin toss and deferred to put the Eagles on offense first. The Eagles got called for illegal formation on the opening kickoff return, which made them start at their own 28-yard line. Good to see them looking sharp from the jump! Jalen Hurts slightly overthrew Jahan Dotson downfield on the first play from scrimmage. Facing 3rd-and-10, Hurts completed a pass to A.J. Brown just shy of the marker. Three-and-out. Zero rushing attempts despite the Bills being one of the NFL’s worst run defenses.
- The Bills took over at their own 10-yard line after a Braden Mann bounced for a total of 54 yards. Josh Allen hit Dawson Knox over the middle for a first down and more. Then James Cook ran for a first down. Facing 3rd-and-4 a little shy of midfield, Zack Baun sacked Allen but the stop was wiped out by a defensive holding penalty on Marcus Epps. Tacky call but Epps shouldn’t have given the ref any reason to throw that flag. Facing 3rd-and-7, a stunting Jalyx Hunt got to Allen for a sack! Nice effort to buckle down and force a punt after giving Buffalo a free first down.
- The Eagles took over at their own 13-yard line. Saquon Barkley took his first carry for three yards. His second carry resulted in a first down. Facing 3rd-and-8 after Dallas Goedert couldn’t catch a ball away from his body in the heavy rain, Nick Sirianni brought the coward’s draw with Will Shipley back! How exciting to surrender. Shipley picked up four yards and the Eagles punted the ball. Disgusting lack of ambition.
- The Bills took over at their own 26-yard line. Brandin Cooks got wide open downfield with Epps and Cooper DeJean trailing for a 50-yard completion. Then Allen scrambled and the ball popped out with Jaelan Phillips in his face for a Jihaad Campbell recovery (really good effort by the rookie to get possession)! There was some thought it was a pass and not a fumble … but the replay confirmed the call!
- The Eagles took over at the plus 45-yard line. Hurts hit Darius Cooper (!) for a short gain and then Brown for a 27-yard gain into the red zone. Facing 3rd-and-1 after Hurts hit Brown on a bubble screen, Barkley took a carry up the gut for a first down at the 2-yard line. Two plays later, Hurts went under-center play-action and found an open Goedert in the end zone. Strong 7-play, 45-yard touchdown drive to take advantage of good field position after the takeaway. EAGLES 7, BILLS 0.
- The Bills took over at their own 20-yard line after Jake Elliott’s kickoff bounced in the landing zone and into the end zone.
SECOND QUARTER
- Facing 3rd-and-3, Allen took off running for a 17-yard gain. Good effort by Jalyx Hunt to make the shoestring tackle to prevent even more damage. The Bills picked up another first down with a Cook run but the Bills got called for holding (Dion Dawkins on Jalyx Hunt) to knock their offense back. Allen made up for it with a first down completion over the middle to Josh Palmer. Quinyon Mitchell was beat downfield by Brandin Cooks but Allen threw to the wide receiver’s wrong shoulder for an incompletion. Facing 3rd-and-8, Allen broke out of a Zack Baun sack and threw to Palmer for a would-be first down but Adoree’ Jackson helped to break it up. Jaelan Phillips was injured after the third down stop.
- A Bills player tripped over Sydney Brown and into Britain Covey for a 15-yard fair catch inference penalty to have the Eagles take over at their own 23-yard line. Covey took a big hit to the leg and was hurt on the play. Hurts threw too short of an open DeVonta Smith to bring up third down. Facing 3rd-and-4, Sirianni called a timeout to talk over the third down play. Facing 3rd-and-4 for real, Hurts ripped a pass to DeVonta in a tight window for a first down. Great throw. Barkley took a carry for a loss and got banged up. Facing 3rd-and-10, Hurts danced away from pressure and hit Brown for a first down. Wowza. Another really good third down throw. The Eagles went with a Will Shipley run (why not Tank Bigbsy?!) for a loss. Then Hurts was pressured into a throwaway. Facing 3rd-and-12, Hurts took off running and took a shot along the sideline but there no was flag for that hit. How?! Happened right in front of the refs. There was a flag on the Bills for defensive holding to give the Eagles a first down. Brown dropped a one-handed catch attempt on a dime by Hurts … Brown couldn’t get his second hand on the ball due to pass interference that wasn’t called. Facing 3rd-and-9, Hurts checked down to Goedert. The Eagles brought Jake Elliott in for the 47-yard field goal attempt … and Elliott drilled it. Nice bounce back kick to take a two-possession lead. Bills fortunate they got away with some big penalties on that drive. EAGLES 10, BILLS 0.
- The Bills took over at their own 32-yard line with 4:57 on the clock. Epps flew in for a big tackle where it looked like Cook originally fumbled for a DeJean recovery but it was ruled that his forearm was down. Jalen Carter destroyed the Bills’ right guard to put a big hit on Allen for a sack. Facing 3rd-and-19, Reed Blankenship put a big hit on the checkdown option to bring up a Bills punt. Bunch of heat-seeking missles out there! Great stand by Vic Fangio’s defense. Three plays, -2 yards, punt.
- The Eagles took over at their own 29-yard line with 2:49 on the clock. They picked up a first down into Bills territory with two Barkley runs to reach the two-minute warning at 1:58. Hurts got hit as he threw but still managed to complete a pass to Brown for another first down. Hurts hit DeVonta for another first down to the 15-yard line. The Eagles called their second timeout with 0:23 left. The Bills then took their first timeout with the play clock running down on the Eagles. Facing 3rd-and-8, the Eagles went with a bubble screen to Goedert instead of trying to throw into the end zone. This end of second quarter drive was better than a lot of Sirianni’s give up attempts but still would’ve liked a better effort of getting into the end zone at the end. Elliott made the 28-yard field goal attempt to cap off a 10-play, 61-yard drive that took 2:41 off the clock. EAGLES 13, BILLS 0.
- Sydney Brown got flagged in off-setting unnecessary roughness penalties as the Bills took over at their own 25-yard line and Allen took a knee to end the first half.
THIRD QUARTER
- The Bills took over at their own 20-yard line after a 37-yard kick return was wiped out by a special teams holding penalty drawn by Cameron Latu. Facing 3rd-and-1, Khalil Shakir dropped a would-be first down on a bubble screen. Sean McDermott sent out the punt team instead of going for it on his own 29-yard line. Sirianni called a timeout to prevent a 12-men on the field penalty. The Bills ended up punting and not faking. Excluding the Bills’ end of half kneel, three straight Buffalo punts forced by Fangio’s defense.
- The Eagles took over at their own 22-yard line. Barkley ran twice for a first down. A Hurts throw to the sideline was put into harm’s way but not caught by Bills linebacker Matt Milano. Facing 3rd-and-12 after Pro Bowler Cam Jurgens got beat for a Barkley TFL, Hurts was pressured into a throwaway. Five-and-out.
- The Bills almost had to take over at their 1-yard line but Latu touched the ball as he stepped onto the goal line for a touchback instead. Brutal mistake. No need to even touch the motionless ball! The Bills instead took over at their own 20-yard line. Facing 3rd-and-9 after picking up two first downs, Allen hit Knox right ahead of the marker for a third first down with Blankenship trailing. Moro Ojomo got to Allen in a collapsed pocket for a sack of 8 yards. Allen was shown wincing after the play but he remained in the game. Facing 3rd-and-15, Nolan Smith helped to pressure Allen into an incompletion. Fourth straight punt for the Bills.
- The Eagles took over at their own 16-yard line. DeVonta made an awesome leaping catch on a ball thrown behind him in the rain. DeVonta got banged up after landing on the ball and the Bills challenged the catch, which DeVonta bobbled but replay did not show conclusive evidence that it was incomplete. And yet the ruling on the field was overturned. Absolute garbage. Facing 3rd-and-10, Hurts threw the ball away. Three-and-out after some bullshit officiating.
- The Bills took over at their own 32-yard line after Mann’s 62-yard punt was returned for 10 yards. Facing 3rd-and-10 after Campbell helped to break up a second down pass, Allen aired it out to Palmer incomplete … but Quinyon Mitchell was flagged for DPI. Wasn’t nearly as egregious as what Tre’Davious White got away with on A.J. Brown earlier in the game. Tyrell Shavers made an insane leaping and bobbling catch against tight coverage by Mitchell for 32 yards into the goal-to-go. Looked like it may have not been a catch but Sirianni didn’t get a challenge flag in as the Bills hurried up to run another play. Facing 3rd-and-goal from the 3-yard line, Epps flew in for a TFL on Cook. Great run fit there. Facing 4th-and-goal, Allen took off running and came up JUST short of the goal line for a turnover on downs. WOW. Incredible stop by the defense. Credit to Baun for helping to get Allen down.
- The Eagles took over at their 1-yard line and went Tush Push to gain some breathing room. Then Barkley ran for a short gain. Facing 3rd-and-6, Hurts avoided taking a sack for a safety and ran for a loss. Three-and-out. Would’ve liked trying to actually pick up the first down.
- The Bills took over at the Eagles’ 42-yard line. Allen completed a short pass to end the third quarter.
FOURTH QUARTER
- Facing 3rd-and-8 after Baun was in good position to prevent an Allen completion to Cook on the wheel route, Allen was coverage sacked by Jalyx Hunt for a 19-yard loss (!) out of field goal range after trying to scramble around. Ended up being a five play drive for the Bills that resulted in -5 yards and a punt! Fangio is so good.
- The Eagles took over at their own 20-yard line. Two Barkley runs set up third down. Facing 3rd-and-6, Hurts scrambled away from a sack and threw the ball away. Third straight three-and-out. Fourth straight punt.
- The Bills took over at their own 46-yard line. They slowly but surely moved into field goal range. Then into the red zone. Then down to the 3-yard line. Facing 3rd-and-1, the Bills went Tush Push for the touchdown. Reminder that coward Sean McDermott tried to ban the Tush Push last offseason. Hypocrite. Carter got up high to block the Bills’ extra point attempt to limit the Bills to just six points! Big block to keep it a seven-point game. EAGLES 13, BILLS 6.
- The Eagles took over at their own 30-yard line. Barkley was tackled for a loss. Barkley gained a yard. Facing 3rd-and-12, Hurts threw downfield to DeVonta and the ball went right through the receiver’s hands. Not an easy catch to make but he has to make it. The throw is there. Yet another three-and-out.
- The Bills took at their own 17-yard line with 3:21 on the clock. Facing 3rd-and-9, Cooper DeJean blew up a bubble screen. He didn’t make the tackle but he disrupted the play to allow the rest of the defense to rally for the TFL. Facing 4th-and-10, Allen completed a pas s short of the sticks and the Bills went hook-and-ladder for a first down into Eagles territory. Great play-call and execution by Buffalo. Cooks somewhat recreated the David Tyree helmet catch to move the Bills to goal-to-go. Two plays later, Allen hit Knox for the touchdown. Or not! Replay showed Knox’s forearm was down with the ball just short of the goal line. The Bills took their final timeout at 0:08. The Bills went Tush Push again for the touchdown. Then the Bills lined up for the two-point conversion to try to win the game … and Allen’s pass was INCOMPLETE. Wide of his wide open target. Insane miss with the game on the line. Eagles so fortunate to get that break.
- The Bills went with an onside kick that was easily recovered by Goedert. Victory formation to win the game.
FINAL SCORE: EAGLES 13, BILLS 12
EAGLES LINEUP NOTES
- Will Shipley was on kickoff return duty despite his struggles in Week 16.
EAGLES INJURY NEWS
- Jaelan Phillips got banged up early in the second quarter. He limped off the field and into the medical tent. Phillips exited the tent with his helmet in hand. He returned to the game.
- Britain Covey got banged up early in the second quarter. He returned to the game in time for the Eagles’ next punt return.
- Saquon Barkley got banged up midway through the second quarter. He returned to the field on the same drive.
- Fred Johnson got banged up early in the third quarter. He got his ankled taped on the sideline.
- Jalyx Hunt was being evaluated for trainers near the middle of the third quarter.
- DeVonta Smith got banged up after landing on the ball in the third quarter.
- Jalen Carter visited the medical tent in the fourth quarter. He returned to the game.
- Cooper DeJean appeared a little banged up (holding his groin) later in the fourth quarter.