Eagles Ease Angst, End 3-Game Slide With Dominant Shutout Of Raiders

PHILADELPHIA – Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie was right. This isn’t 2023. That Eagles team, which folded down the stretch, isn’t this year’s team, proving that after stopping their three-game losing streak with a 31-0 win over the miserable Las Vegas Raiders on a sub-freezing afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday.

It was the Eagles’ first shutout since a 24-0 win over the then-Washington Redskins on Dec. 30, 2018. The 2025 version of the Eagles sacked their former quarterback, Kenny Pickett, making his first start with the Raiders, four times, with Brandon Graham notching two, giving him 78.5 in his brilliant career. That is third on the franchise’s all-time sack list behind Reggie White (124) and Trent Cole (85.5).

Nolan Smith and Moro Ojomoa also recorded sacks. It was Ojomo’s fifth of the season and the third for Smith. Linebacker Zack Baun added to the defensive effort with his second interception of the season, while fellow linebacker Nakobe Dean recorded a team-high eight tackles.

The Raiders managed just 75 yards of total offense and seven first downs.

Jalen Hurts Has Strong Response

The Eagles’ performance was so dominant that the first team was able to rest most of the fourth quarter. Tanner McKee took over for Jalen Hurts, who was brilliant in his response to the five turnovers he had last week against the Chargers.

He fired three touchdown passes – a pair of 4-yarders to tight end Dallas Goedert and a 27-yard strike to A.J. Brown on the first play of the fourth quarter that made it 31-0. He also got his legs into gear, running for 39 yards on seven carries, most of them designed runs and three that picked up first downs. Oh, and his passer rating was a stellar 154.9.

Goedert should have had three touchdowns, but he dropped a wide-open pass in the end zone that led to a 27-yard field goal from Jake Elliott. As it was, Goedert’s two scores give him nine this year.

Saquon Barkley added a 2-yard touchdown run with 1:57 to go in the second quarter that made it 17-0 at halftime. It was the second straight week Barkley has scored a rushing touchdown after going 52 yards for one against the Chargers last week. He has six rushing scores this season and he finished with 78 yards on 22 carries.

Lurie was confident that his team would not continue to slide like two years ago, when they lost six of their last seven, including a New Year’s Eve loss to a four-win Arizona Cardinals team. Lurie expressed his confidence during the week to The Athletic.

The win pushed the Eagles’ record to 9-5, keeping the 6-6-1 Dallas Cowboys at arm’s length in the NFC East. The Cowboys played on Sunday night against the Vikings.

They are back on track in trying to become the first repeat winner of the division since Andy Reid’s Eagles did it from 2001-04. The Eagles have three games left – two against the Commanders, with the first coming on Saturday (5 p.m.) in Landover, sandwiched with a trip to Buffalo three days after Christmas.

The Eagles did what they had to do against a two-win Raiders team. A close game, and you’d wonder if they were fully back in gear as December moves into its third week. The blowout shows that, yes, they may have indeed found the form that saw them race to an 8-2 start by beating some very good teams early in the season.

More NFL: Trying To End 3-Game Losing Streak, Eagles Open 17-0 Halftime Lead On Raiders