How the Eagles’ ‘sturdy’ defense weathered the storm in Buffalo to squeak by the Bills

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Jordan Davis considers the Eagles’ defensive line the “eye of the storm.” And there was a storm here.

It rained for most of the game, and conditions were only set to get worse after the Eagles escaped Western New York with a one-point victory over the Buffalo Bills.

On the field, though, the Bills were storming back. A 13-0 Eagles lead had nearly evaporated. The Bills scored a touchdown with Josh Allen on a Tush Push to cut the deficit to one. Sean McDermott opted to go for two. Enter the eye.

“While everything else is swirling around us, we’re in the middle,” Davis said. “We’re calm. Everything can be messy as hell, but when we’re in the eye of the storm, everything is calm. We have to keep ourselves composed, can’t let the moment get too big.

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“It comes down to that one play. What are you going to do then? It’s not like you’re out there and playing a whole drive. You’ve got one more play to play.”

Davis felt the calmness from the sideline. Then he watched his teammates execute. Vic Fangio called a simulated pressure. Cooper DeJean rushed off the left side, but Jalyx Hunt dropped into coverage from the right side of the line. Jalen Carter, whose hands were all over the end of Sunday’s game, ran a stunt with Jaelan Phillips, who got past right tackle Spencer Brown and into the backfield.

Allen had an open receiver, but the pressure made him backpedal and throw off-balance. The ball bounced in front of Khalil Shakir and out of the end zone.

“It was like slo-mo turning my head to see what happened,” Phillips said.

“It’s what we play the game for. In clutch moments like that, it’s what all the preparation, all the conditioning, all the hard work, it’s for moments like that.”

The Eagles bent but didn’t break. It was why they won Sunday. It is why they’ve won a chunk of their 11 victories this season. It’s why they won’t be a desirable opponent in January. The failed two-point conversion sealed the game, but the Eagles also had a fourth-down stop near the goal line. They allowed 120 rushing yards to the top rushing offense in the NFL, but they were good enough when it mattered. Buffalo was just 6-for-15 on third down.

“I think that’s just the character of our defense,” Phillips said. “We’re just sturdy, in any situation.

“I think it doesn’t fluster us when things like this happen. I think that’s crucial. The moment you start panicking, good offenses are going to take advantage of it.”

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Phillips credited the pass rush being disciplined in its rushing lanes with making sure Allen wasn’t able to beat the Eagles with his legs. Allen rushed seven times for 27 yards. He had one 17-yard rush and 10 yards on his other six attempts.

“We got after him and made him one-dimensional,” Phillips said.

Get after him, they did.

Carter’s return had an instant impact. He had one of the five Eagles sacks and also deflected a pass. Jalyx Hunt had two sacks, and Moro Ojomo and Phillips each had one.

The Bills wouldn’t have had a reason to go for two and the win if not for Carter’s earlier heroics. Allen’s 2-yard touchdown put the Bills on the board with more than five minutes left on the clock. But there was Carter leaping to block Michael Badgley’s point-after attempt. Nick Sirianni said the Eagles knew he had a lower trajectory. It was a similar story when Carter and Davis each blocked Joshua Karty in the fourth quarter of the Week 3 win over the Los Angeles Rams.

Carter, like he did in September, credited assistant special teams coach Joe Pannunzio with identifying the opposing team’s “fish,” or the player to target. The fish, Carter said, was on his side of the line, and the Eagles made the Bills pay.

“I guess that shot really did its thing,” Carter joked about the shots he had in both of his shoulders that sidelined him for three games.

Carter is back, and a defense that has returned to championship-level form appears to be more than ready for postseason football.

“We’re getting better every week, every day,” Carter said. “I don’t want to throw that out there, Super Bowl this, Super Bowl that. We’re playing a game at a time. When we get to the playoffs it’s all restarted. Win or go home.”

Said Phillips: “Gritty games like that are things you need to have to prepare yourself for the long haul.”

In other words, to get through the storm, whatever it may look like.

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The Eagles offense provided little help for its defense in the second half. That inconsistency may matter at some point, but it didn’t in the end on Sunday.

“We say on defense, we want to have one more point than the other team,” Davis said. “It’s on us. Whether they score a billion or they score two. It doesn’t matter. We just want to go out there and have one more point than the other team, and we went out there and we did that.”