Eagles survive in Carolina thanks to a stifling defensive performance

The Philadelphia Eagles got their second win of the season thanks to a huge effort on defense and special teams.

The Philadelphia Eagles improved to 2-3 on the young season with a gritty performance, knocking off the Carolina Panthers by a final score of 21-18. After falling behind by a 15-6 score at the halftime break, the Eagles rallied in the second half behind Jalen Hurts, who had two touchdown runs in the second half.

But the day was largely brought to you by Philadelphia’s defense and special teams.

The Eagles intercepted Sam Darnold three times on the afternoon, and a blocked punt late in the fourth quarter gifted the Philadelphia offense incredible field position for the go-ahead touchdown.

The first of the three interceptions came on a great play from cornerback Darius Slay. He is at the top of the screen here, and the Panthers challenge his side of the field with a go/flat route combination. Slay plays it almost perfectly, constricting the throwing lane on the vertical route as he waits for safety help, but baiting Darnold with enough of a window. Darnold takes the bait:

Slay got to Darnold again in the third quarter, driving to the catch point and winning the football in front of receiver D.J. Moore:

This was a critical moment in the game, as Hurts had just thrown an interception of his own, giving the Panthers the football at midfield and a chance to push the Carolina lead to two scores. Instead, Slay stopped the bleeding, keeping the Eagles within a possession.

The next crucial play from the Eagles came via special teams. With Carolina leading by five with just four minutes to go, the punt team came on the field to try and pin the Eagles deep. Instead of punter Joseph Charlton pinning the Eagles deep in their own territory, he was soon looking to find the football thanks to reserve linebacker T.J. Edwards:

Edwards comes right down the chute here, getting to the launch point and blocking the punt. Linebacker Shaun Bradley had a chance to scoop-and-score, but recovers the loose football at the Carolina 27-yard line.

Hurts would cap the ensuing possession with his second TD run of the day. But the Eagles were not done defensively, and they had one more pick left in them.

It came from cornerback Steven Nelson:

As with Slay’s second INT, Nelson does a great job of driving to the catch point and stepping in front of the throw. Instead of the Panthers driving down to at least tie the game, the Eagles were now in a position to just run out the clock.

This is an incredible turnaround for the Philadelphia defense after the last two weeks. Back in Week 3 the Eagles allowed 41 points to the Dallas Cowboys, and surrendered 42 a week ago to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Things will not get easier, as they’ll take on a red-hot Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Thursday night on a short week. But on this day, it was that unit that kept the Eagles in position to win.