Zack Baun Among 10 Thoughts From Eagles' Blowout Of Raiders

PHILADELPHIA – Here are eight thoughts and leftovers from the Eagles’ 31-0 drubbing of the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday afternoon:

Needed blowout. The Eagles did more than just beat the Raiders. They blew them out. That’s exactly what they needed to do to. A close win and there’d still be questions about this team. Maybe there still are, but destroying a two-win team should alleviate many of them.

History. It’s amazing to think that it has been seven years since the Eagles earned their last shutout and even more amazing that it's been 70 years since they last held a team to under 100 yards of total offense, which they did against the Vikings, holding them to just 75.

“Goose egg is always great,” said linebacker Nakobe Dean. “Not letting them score, only holding them to under 100 yards, that’s our style of football.”

Schedule stuff. The final three games will come against playoff teams from last year. Anyone thinking the Eagles will beat the Commanders twice in three weeks may be in for a rude awakening. Remember, Washington got smoked in the NFC Championship game and would like nothing more than to play spoiler. Then there’s the Bills.

The Eagles’ schedule this season has been brutal, with 11 games against playoff teams from 2024. So far, they are 6-2 against them, with the losses coming against the Broncos and Chargers. As a reminder, they have not played back-to-back home games all year, an unusual form of torture delivered by the NFL schedule makers.

Zack Baun pass defense. The Eagles linebacker is having an encore season after his breakout year in 2024. For much of the game, he was locked up with Raiders tight end Brock Bowers and made his second interception of the season while guarding him to foil a promising drive Las Vegas had going to start the second half that reached Philly’s 35. Bowers was targeted eight times, making six catches, but for just 28 yards.

“It was kind of cat and mouse there the whole game between the two of us,” said Baun. “I’m trying to read what he’s doing, he’s trying to read what I’m doing, and I got the best of him on that one.”

Dallas Goedert Added To His TD Total

Rushing nitpick. The Eagles ran for 183 yards, so this might not be the time to cast stones, but one has to be thrown in the direction of Grant Calcaterra. He whiffs on too many blocks in the run game. Why not give Cam Latu a shot at being the second tight end? I don’t know if he can block better, but he’s got an inch on Calcaterra and about five pounds, too.

Cam Jurgens isn’t right. The center let Thomas Booker rip by him in the third quarter, which led to a 1-yard loss for Saquon Barkley. The play came right after a 32-yard completion to Dallas Goedert. The hope is he can get right this offseason and return to the Pro Bowl player he was last year, especially after the Eagles showered him with a big contract extension in the offseason.

Tackling strength. There isn’t a better tackler in any team’s secondary than Cooper DeJean. He would’ve made a great college wrestler. He’s always in a ball carrier’s legs. The secondary joined him in being sure-handed tacklers on Sunday.

The shovel. Dallas Goedert caught two of them for touchdowns and he now has nine. He would’ve had a hattrick but had a bad drop in the end zone when he was wide open. According to NFL Research, five of his touchdowns were thrown behind the line of scrimmage this season, the most by a non-running back in the Next Gen era.

Darius Cooper. The spare receiver is quietly having a strong stretch. All five of the undrafted rookie’s receptions have come in the last four games. He had two catches for 29 yards on Sunday and could be this team’s third receiver next year.

Repeat winners. The Eagles can repeat as NFC East champions with a win over the Washington Commaders on Saturday and clinch their nith trip to the playoffs in the last 10 years. That's an amazing run of success.

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