Batted balls helped the Eagles’ defensive front wreck the game for a ‘statement’ win over Lions

Jordan Davis clutched and cradled a commemorative football in his hands as Sunday night turned to Monday morning inside the Eagles’ locker room.

Davis was awarded the game ball by the Sunday Night Football broadcast.

Did you swat that ball, too, when they gave it to you?

“Nah, nah, nah,” a laughing Davis said. “I treat this one with a little bit more respect.”

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It was practically the only ball the 6-foot-6 Davis didn’t reject like a volleyball player. Davis swatted three passes during the Eagles’ 16-9 victory Sunday night over the Detroit Lions. Jalen Carter added two of his own. The Eagles’ defensive front wrecked the game and helped forced Jared Goff to have his worst single-game completion percentage (37.8%) performance of his 10-season NFL career. The latest defensive masterpiece by the Eagles started with a batted ball on Detroit’s opening drive.

Which brings us back to Wednesday, the first practice day of the week, the day the Eagles’ defensive front was introduced in film study to Goff’s arm angle. They noticed his arm slot was a little lower than others, and it presented an opportunity. Defensive linemen are coached to get their hands in the air if their rush is failing. But the Eagles also, according to Davis, spent time at practice this week working on deflections. The practice quarterback playing Goff rotated. Sometimes it was Nick Sirianni. Other times it was defensive line coach Clint Hurtt or player development assistant Matt Leo.

This is at least the second time this season where added drills at Eagles practice ended up paying off in a big way on the field. Prior to the Week 7 game in Minnesota, the Eagles sent their edge rushers through extra catching drills. Jalyx Hunt had dropped an interception a week earlier. Against Minnesota, Hunt dropped into coverage and returned an interception for a touchdown.

“It just shows you things that we do, things that we practice, it’s not for nothing,” Davis said. “It’s not just to waste time. It’s not just to go through the motions of practice.”

Practice paid off quickly. The Eagles sent four rushers on the Lions’ third play from scrimmage, a first-and-10 from Detroit’s 26-yard line. Goff had a rare clean pocket, and Davis was initially double-teamed. As he battled with center Graham Glasgow, Davis timed Goff’s release and got his hands up. The ball deflected into the air and fell into the hands of the waiting Cooper DeJean.

It was the start of what would become a long night for Goff, who was sacked just twice but was under duress for many of his drop backs. Newcomer Jaelan Phillips, whose arrival from Miami before the trade deadline has helped transform the Eagles’ front, notched his first sack with the Eagles six minutes into his first home game. But that play was mostly made by Carter, who bull-rushed right guard Tate Ratledge, attracted the attention of right tackle Penei Sewell, and allowed Phillips to have a free rush at Goff.

The Eagles held one of the NFL’s best offenses to just nine points six days after holding the Green Bay Packers to just seven points. Vic Fangio’s new-look defense played two opponents the oddsmakers and experts say could and should stand in the way of the Eagles reaching another Super Bowl, and it surrendered just two touchdowns across both contests combined.

Phillips’ addition is a big part of the equation, but there’s more to it. The Eagles have Nolan Smith back from injured reserve. They have Brandon Graham back from the podcasting studio and school drop-off lines. Nakobe Dean, who had a key sack in the fourth quarter, is looking more and more like the breakout player from 2024. The Eagles’ defensive front, which for parts of the early portion of the schedule looked like a weakness, is a big reason this defense suddenly looks capable of playing in February.

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“Just dominant,” Phillips said of his early impressions of the front. “Confident, dominant, game-wrecking, any adjectives you can describe positively.”

Moro Ojomo, who hasn’t missed a beat in a larger role after Milton Williams departed in free agency, said the Eagles are “young and we’re hungry and we want to be great.” The pass rush improvement, Ojomo said, has been boosted by the Eagles’ ability to stop the run. The Eagles held the Lions to just 3½ yards per carry Sunday.

Ojomo, who has four sacks on the season, had a key fourth-down stop and was in on another, when the Lions tried a fake punt early in the second quarter. The Lions were 0-for-5 on fourth down, and the front was a big part of that success. Phillips nearly picked up his second sack on a fourth-down stop near the goal line. He pressured Goff into an early throw to Amon-Ra St. Brown in the end zone.

Ojomo said the energy in practice has been “contagious.” He said Davis batted “10 passes this week” in practice. Ojomo said he read something Aaron Donald wrote recently about practicing how you play.

“I think that was reality for us today,” he said.

The Eagles’ defensive line, Davis said, has taken on a “team-first” mindset.

“We’re bonding,” he said. “I think that’s what makes good teams great. Because when you know what you’re fighting for, or who you’re fighting for, you’ll go 100 times harder.

“We talked about it all week, going out there, being physical, playing our solid game. They got to come through us. They got to come through Philly if they want to advance. We went out there and made a stand and made a statement on defense and I’m very proud of the guys.”