The Eagles needed everything in a down-to-the-wire finish.
They needed to keep feeding the ball to Saquon Barkley, who now stands as the franchise's single-season rushing leader, they needed DeVonta Smith to step up in his return and for Grant Calcaterra to make some key catches in place of an injured Dallas Goedert, and they needed the defense to bend but never break against Bryce Young and a Carolina Panthers team looking to at least finish their year strong.
The Eagles hung on, beating the Panthers 22-16 to move to 11-2, but none of it came easy.
Here's how they held it together Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field…
Hitting your own wall
The Eagles' offense started Sunday like it pretty much has for every game: Slow and disjointed.
A sack of Jalen Hurts and then back-to-back incompletions nullified a 20-yard Kenny Gainwell run out of the gate to punt the ball back to Carolina for the Eagles' first drive.
On their second try, they went three-and-out with consecutive Hurts scrambles that left them nowhere, the latter of which ended with Hurts running straight into the back of Lane Johnson for a loss of three yards and a fourth down. The Eagles punted again, and with a 15-yard return from Deven Thompkins that placed the Panthers at the Philadelphia 47, Carolina flipped that field position into an opening field goal.
The Eagles' offense takes time to fully get going. That's par for the course now 13 games into the season, though no less frustrating for fans to keep seeing week after week, mainly because they do have a successful and consistent gameplan, but it's almost like it takes them a possession or two to remember it…
They have Saquon Barkley
So use him.
Barkley started the Eagles off with 7- and then 12-yard runs to begin their their third drive following the Panthers' field goal. Then, after a short completion from Hurts to DeVonta Smith, Barkley cut through over midfield for 11 yards to move into Carolina territory.
The Eagles' top offensive threat was settling into the rhythm, and as the old saying goes: use the run to establish the pass.
The Panthers were on alert about Barkley now, which started to open up some space over top for Hurts to work with.
The QB connected on a quick pass to tight end Grant Calcaterra for seven yards (after an initial completion was called back on an illegal man downfield call), then took a chunk gain for 27 yards on a comeback to Smith that brought the Eagles down to the Carolina 8.
Barkley took the ball again for a seven-yard run that was spotted just short of breaking the plane, and after another quick run to try and get Barkley the score was stopped short, too, the "Tush Push" took care of the rest to get the Eagles on the board.
Brotherly Shove or Tush Push?
Either way, it worked ¯_(ツ)_/¯@jalenhurts | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/tu2LIl9ox2— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 8, 2024
The Eagles ran 10 plays and moved 70 yards on the scoring drive. Barkley accounted for 37 of them.
He's the best running back in football right now and the Eagles have one of the league's strongest offensive lines in front of him.
So use him.
Thielen it
The Panthers came in having played both the Chiefs and the Buccaneers tough in the previous two weeks, and with Bryce Young turning a corner under center after a brutal start to the season, which has been helped greatly by a developing chemistry with wide receiver Adam Thielen.
They also boasted running back Chuba Hubbard, who has been no slouch on the ground this season himself.
Carolina entered Sunday with its season effectively over, but with the power to play spoiler, which can catch even great teams off guard – and has absolutely gotten the Eagles in the past.
So maybe it wasn't that much of a shock that Young and Thielen were able to connect on a big 24-yard gain to set up the Panthers' initial field goal.
Thielen cooked the rook, pic.twitter.com/jWQYJXZTr5
— John Ellis (@1PantherPlace) December 8, 2024
Or that they were able to respond to the Eagles' touchdown with a long, dink and dunk scoring drive of their own, capped off with a payoff on a 4th and goal gamble.
Bryce Young and Tommy Tremble deliver on 4th & Goal!
📺: #CARvsPHI on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/xE75i4uPHa— NFL (@NFL) December 8, 2024
Yeah, the Panthers weren't going to be put away so easily.
CJ's big day
Putting that much more emphasis on any potential turnover.
The Panthers' defense forced a three-and-out after the touchdown put them ahead 10-7, putting the ball back in Young's hands with the Eagle still working to figure out how to shut him down late into the first half.
On a 3rd and 3 from the Panthers' own 36, Young took a risk and threw one up for Thielen, but he put too much under it.
The ball sailed over Thielen and straight into the chest of C.J. Garnder-Johnson, who had space to work with over midfield and ran it a few yards back into Carolina territory.
Lovely, that's our ball now 🙂↕️@CGJXXIII | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/jTQfJaHzms
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 8, 2024
It was the game's only turnover, that Hurts and the offense exchanged for a 44-yard touchdown drive to move ahead 14-10 before the half and with the ball coming back to them.
Options were opening up, too. Hurts was starting to get the ball to A.J. Brown, running through into space, and then hitting Smith on the short out at the end for the go-ahead score.
WELCOME BACK SMITTY 6️⃣@DeVontaSmith_6 | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/cjE3zHklcH
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 8, 2024
The Eagles had all the momentum to pull away going into the break.
Something's amiss
But of course, it wasn't that simple.
The Eagles took the ball to start the second half, pushed down into Carolina territory, but then hit a wall at the Panthers' 34.
Jake Elliott ran out for the field goal, a 52-yard try, but sliced it wide.
Last year, that kick would've been automatic. This year, Elliott's 0-for-5 from field-goal attempts at 50 yards out or greater.
With that miss, Eagles K Jake Elliott is now 0-for-5 on 50+ yard FG attempts this season.
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/UXx6mULXDS— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) December 8, 2024
Something's not right here, and the concern now this late into the season is what happens when the Eagles need three in a potential do-or-die situation.
Elliott suddenly isn't the safe bet he used to be, and that might cost them.
Stay ahead
The Panthers capitalized on Elliott's miss and put together another touchdown drive on what had been a stout defense for weeks to pull back ahead, 16-14 – with the blemish of a missed PAT.
The Eagles had to keep pace, and stuck to the plan.
They fed the ball to Barkley, to the doorstep of the team's single-season rushing record, Hurts continued to scramble into openings, then at the goal-to-go range, Calcaterra cut across the middle of the end zone and hauled in his first career touchdown.
The Eagles were back up, 22-16, after Barkley punched in the play for two.
🚨 FIRST NFL TOUCHDOWN GRANT CALCATERRA 🚨
@grcalcaterra | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/5q3d1Jh4v0— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 8, 2024
But they were far from in the clear.
Make a stand
They needed a stop, and at this point, they knew it wasn't going to come easy.
Young and Hubbard went straight back to chipping yards away, moving into Philadelphia territory until a Gardner-Johnson tackle of Hubbard, a young incompletion, and then a six-yard Hubbard gain brought the Panthers to a 4th and short.
They waived the field goal try to go for the gamble again. They lost. Darius Slay stuck to Xavier Legette in coverage and batted the pass on the short slant away. Eagles ball.
THAT'S A BIG PLAY SLAY 🔥@bigplay24slay | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/VwUYLY8qnL
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 8, 2024
Setting the offense up to do what it does best: Drain the clock.
The Eagles held the ball for 10 plays and 5:37 of game time to bring the regulation clock down to 3:05, and in the process, Barkley broke for a run that put him past LeSean McCoy for the franchise's single-season rushing record.
There was just no time to stop and celebrate.
The Eagles' drive stalled out again to a 4th and 8 at the Carolina 36, which got pushed back another 5 yards on a delay of game that made the distance far enough for Philly to opt to punt instead of letting Elliott go for a long-distance kick again.
The scenario itself was handled expertly. Braden Mann kept the punt short, and Avonte Maddox got downfield to down the ball at the 3 and pin the Panthers back deep.
The Eagles' defense just needed to hold them there.
Hold on
Instead, the Panthers brought it down to the wire.
The pass rush was getting pressure on Young and forcing Carolina into tough third-down situations.
But every time the Eagles had the Panthers on the ropes, Young found a way to escape the pocket and away from trouble, to extend a broken play into a huge gain, and to keep his team moving further and further downfield.
He got them as far as the Philadelphia 32 with only 37 seconds left.
It got dicey, but the magic did run out.
The Eagles forced another third and then a do-or-die fourth down from four yards out for a fresh set. The Panthers struggled to get the play call out in time and a delay of game moved them back.
Young needed to make something happen again, and went looking for his top-target in Thielen.
Slay stuck to him and jumped in the way of the pass again.
The Eagles held on.
Follow Nick on Twitter: @itssnick
Follow Nick on Bluesky: @itssnick
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
