Jalyx Hunt Among Five Thoughts From Eagles' 13-12 Win Over Bills

Here are five thoughts from the Eagles’ 13-12 win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday:

Goal line stand. It was a fantastic effort from the defense to hold Buffalo out of the end zone on two Bills tries from the 2-yard line. Credit to Marcus Epps for bursting through the line to undercut a James Cook run for a loss of a yard. Then credit Zack Baun for not being faked out by Josh Allen’s attempted run. Baun held his position, fought off a block, and got an arm on Allen to drop him inches short of the goal line late in the third quarter to preserve a 13-0 lead at the time.

The Hunt. As in Jalyx Hunt, who continues to excel in his second season. How’s this for production? The outside linebacker collected a pair of sacks, one that he ran all over the place before leveling Allen 19 yards behind the line of scrimmage. The sack allowed him to take over the team lead at 6.5. He also made seven tackles, including two for loss, in just 36 (47 percent) defensive snaps.

The Eagles had five sacks in the game, which was the second-most Allen absorbed in a game this year, behind the eight times he was sacked earlier in the year in a 23-19 loss to the Texans. Philly now has 20 sacks since Week 13, which is the most in the NFL over that span.

“I said to the defense, we knew Josh Allen could continue to extend plays and the way we pursued to the ball showed how good of shape they’re in, it showed how relentless they are,” said head coach Nick Sirianni.

Eagles Made Life Miserable For Josh Allen

Tone-setter. That came from Jaelan Phillips, who was able to wrestle the ball away from Josh Allen for a sack just two plays after Allen connected with Brandin Cooks for a 50-yard completion to the Eagles’ 30 in the first quarter. Jihaad Campbell tracked down the fumble in Eagles’ territory, giving the offense the ball at the 45. Seven plays later, the Eagles grabbed a 7-0 lead.

Phillips played against the Bills and Allen twice a year during his four-plus year in Miami.

“I know how dynamic of a player he is, and how key it is to stop him if you want to win and beat the Bills, Phillips told reporters. “I thought we executed well.”

On his strip-sack, Phillips said, “He was rolling out. I was sitting in coverage, and just kind of triggered eventually. I didn’t realize the ball came out. It got kicked back like 30 yards … That’s obviously a great moment. He’s the only one I’ve ever strip-sacked in my career, so it was nice to get another one.”

Sirianni’s run. He’s never been the NFL’s coach of the year, but he should have been already. Say what you want about GM Howie Roseman’s ability to build a roster, but teams change every year, yet the Eagles keep winning, and now, Nick Sirianni has a chance to become the NFL’s all-time winningest coach in his first five seasons on the job.

The head coach won for the 65th time, counting playoffs, to tie Hall of Famer Don Shula (Dolphins, 1970-74) for the third-most wins in their first five seasons with a team. Ahead of Sirianni are Tony Dungy, with 67 (Colts, 2002-06), and George Seifert, with 68 (49ers, 1989-93). To break the record would mean winning next week against the Commanders and in the NFC Championship Game.

Among that group, only Sirianni (4-11-1 Eagles in 2020) and Shula (3-10-1 Dolphins in 1969) took over teams that won four-or-fewer games the year before being hired.

Super Bowl again? It’s hard to believe the Eagles have a long playoff run in them with the way the offense looked in Buffalo. That said, it wouldn’t be wise to rule out a return to the big game because this team has the heart of a champion. And a darn good defense, too. The Eagles have won in Kansas City, Tampa, Minnesota, Green Bay, and now Buffalo, doing it with an offense that failed to reach 21 points in three of those games.

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