Eagles blossom with blowout victory over winless Lions, 44 to 6

The Philadelphia Eagles are 3-5 after beating the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on Sunday afternoon. Final score: 44 to 6.

Kudos to the Eagles for proving their doubters wrong and beating the tar out of a clearly inferior opponent. Kudos to Nick Sirianni for actually running the ball and allowing the offensive line to assert their will. Kudos to Jonathan Gannon for doing more than just sitting back and allowing the offense to do whatever they want.

Now, will the Eagles be able to sustain any of this success moving forward? That very much remains to be seen. The Los Angeles Chargers figure to be a much tougher test next Sunday.

For now, the Eagles can enjoy this win and hope that this effort is the root of a beautiful flower that’s yet to grow.

Read on for a recap and stay tuned for BGN’s postgame coverage.

FIRST QUARTER

• The Lions got the ball first and started at their own 34-yard line after a decent kick return. Jared Goff’s first throw was an 18-yard completion to T.J. Hockenson. The Eagles then forced the Lions to punt — wow, a defensive stop! — at 4th-and-5 from Philly’s 43-yard line thanks to a few good plays from Marcus Epps.
• The Eagles started out pinned at their own 4-yard line. DeVonta Smith dropped Jalen Hurts’ first pass. Too many of those from the rookie lately. Boston Scott took a carry to set up 3rd-and-5 and Hurts rolled right, as he often does, and overthrew a covered Jalen Reagor down the field for an incompletion. Hurts bailed the pocket with Jordan Mailata allowing pressure on the play. Mailata seems to be significantly hampered by his injury.
• The Lions took over at the Eagles’ 45-yard line after a decent punt return. The Lions picked up a first down but got set back to 3rd-and-13 after a Josh Sweat sack. The Lions ran a screen to Hockenson and then kicked a 47-yard field goal that was ... no good.
• The Eagles took over at their own 37-yard line. The Eagles moved into field goal range with a screen and then five straight runs; three by Boston Scott and two by Jalen Reagor (!). Hurts had a lot of time to find an open Quez Watkins to set up goal-to-go. Good. Hurts then ran out of bounds for a 12-yard loss because he stepped out before throwing the ball away. It was actually good he didn’t get the pass off, though, because it was originally ruled offsetting penalties but Philly’s illegal man downfield penalty didn’t count since it was deemed a running play. Galaxy brain. It was DeVonta Smith who drew the holding call to give the Eagles 1st-and-goal from the 2-yard line. From there, Reagor dove for the goal line a pop pass and it was ruled a touchdown before it was overturned upon review. Scott capped off the scoring drive instead. EAGLES 7, LIONS 0.

• Sweat picked up another sack where the right tackle stumbled and fell backwards out of the snap. Another punt forced by the Eagles’ defense.

SECOND QUARTER

• The Eagles pounded the rock with both Scott and Jordan Howard — no Kenneth Gainwell to this point — to enter field goal range. On 3rd-and-3, Hurts had a lot of time to throw before bailing a clean pocket and rolling left and having his pass tipped for an incompletion. Jake Elliott hit his 43-yard field goal attempt. Game? EAGLES 10, LIONS 0.
• The Eagles called a blitz on 3rd-and-8 and Derek Barnett picked up his first sack since Week 11 of the 2020 season (November 30th, so just over 11 months) to force another punt. A blitz! Nice to see that from Jonathan Gannon.

• Hurts had a nice first down run after shaking a cornerback blitz on 2nd-and-9. The Eagles ran a trick play with Gainwell taking a toss left and lateraling back to Hurts, who completed to Dallas Goedert on the right side of the field for a 15-yard gain.

The Eagles moved to goal-to-go territory and Howard punched the ball in for his first touchdown in some time. Rout time. EAGLES 17, LIONS 0.

• The Lions had a big passing play into the red zone negated by an illegal formation penalty. Detroit dink-and-dunked to get to 4th-and-inches from Philly’s 22-yard line with 0:13 on the clock. The Lions ... went for it (interesting decision) ... and Milton Williams picked up his first career sack. Beginning to suspect the Lions aren’t good.

THIRD QUARTER

• The Eagles faced 3rd-and-12 from their own 8-yard line (knocked back by a K’Von Wallace special teams penalty) and it looked like Hurts was in jeopardy of being sacked for a safety but he broke away for a 20-yard run up the middle. Hurts had a couple good throws to Goedert to move the Eagles to the red zone. Scott punched the ball in from the 3-yard line for Philly’s third touchdown. EAGLES 24, LIONS 0.

• The Lions got to 4th-and-11 from Philly’s 49-yard line and went for it. Goff threw the ball out of bounds. Lol. Terrible.
• Hurts hit DeVonta Smith, who ran a sharp route, along the sideline for the rookie’s first catch of the day. Hurts had a nice 21-yard run to get the Eagles to the red zone. Howard punched it in for Philly’s fourth touchdown. Blowout. EAGLES 31, LIONS 0.

• Avonte Maddox did a great job of punching the ball out of D’Andre Swift’s grasp to force a fumble that was recovered by Darius Slay for an easy touchdown. Slay with a TD in his old stadium. EAGLES 38, LIONS 0.

• Hassan Ridgeway forced a fumble, his first FF in 56 career games played, but Goff was able to recover somehow.

FOURTH QUARTER

• Javon Hargrave hit Goff as he threw to force an incompletion and turnover on downs on Detroit’s own 31-yard line.
• GARDNER MINSHEW ALERT! The Eagles’ new No. 2 quarterback entered the fray with the game well in hand. Lane Johnson and Jason Kelce also exited the game to rest with the offensive line looking like this from left to right: Andre Dillard, Landon Dickerson, Nate Herbig, Brett Toth, Jordan Mailata. Elliott made a 46-yard field goal but the Lions were penalized for leverage and the Eagles got a first down. Jack Stoll logged his first career reception to help set up a 26-yard field goal make. EAGLES 41, LIONS 0.
• The Lions moved to goal-to-go from the 8-yard line. Shaun Bradley had a nice pass breakup. But Jermar Jefferson had an 8-yard run up the middle to ruin the shutout. EAGLES 44, LIONS 6.
• Tarron Jackson notched the first sack and forced fumble of his career but the Lions recovered. The clock ran out two plays later. Fin.

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LINEUP NOTES

• Davion Taylor, T.J. Edwards, and Genard Avery were the starting linebackers. (Eric Wilson was a healthy scratch.)
• Marcus Epps, not K’Von Wallace, started in place of Anthony Harris.
• Boston Scott got the start at running back.

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INJURIES

• Nate Herbig replaced Jack Driscoll (hand) at right guard on Philly’s second drive. Driscoll was originally ruled questionable to return and didn’t re-enter the game.
• Jalen Reagor (ankle) was carted off after his touchdown play that got overturned. Reagor slipped without contact on that play. He didn’t return.

• J.J. Arcega-Whiteside (ankle) was originally ruled questionable to return. JJAW has been battling through injury issues all season.
• Jack Stoll got banged up late in the third quarter. He returned.