Eagles vs. Ravens: The good, the bad, and the ugly

The Eagles legitimized their rising place in the NFL with a very strong 24-19 victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium, where they once again started slow, and generated power as the game progressed.

It marked the eighth-straight victory for the Eagles to move to 10-2 and remain one game behind the NFC-leading Detroit Lions and 2.5 games ahead of the Washington Commanders in the NFC East.

Saquon Barkley’s 107 yards rushing marked the first time this season someone rushed for over 100 yards against the Ravens, who entered the game as the NFL’s No. 1 rushing defense (allowing 77.9 yards a game).

The Eagles overcame a 9-0 deficit and very poor first and third quarters. The Eagles held Baltimore, the NFL’s leading offense, to 2-for-5 in the Red Zone, helped along by two rare Justin Tucker missed field goals and an extra point. The Ravens entered the game averaging 30.3 points a game, which was No. 2 in the NFL behind Detroit (31.9). The Eagles held the Ravens to 19 points, which was the second-lowest amount the Ravens scored this season.

Still, the Eagles sacked Lamar Jackson three times for minus-31 yards.

The Eagles did this despite not achieving a first down for 75 minutes in real time, once Barkley slammed through the Ravens’ defense for a four-yard gain with 10:57 to play.

Jalen Hurts managed the game. He completed 11 of 19 passes for 118 yards and a touchdown.

There was a mountain of good, some bad, and a pinch of ugly in the Eagles’ very impressive 24-19 victory over the Baltimore Ravens.

Backup safety Tristin McCollum dropping back to swat away the Lamar Jackson pass intended for Zay Flowers on Baltimore’s desperate fourth-and-eight at the Ravens’ 42. The play erased any chance the Ravens had to come back with 6:18 to play.

Barkley’s 25-yard, fourth-quarter TD run. On a first-and-10 at the Baltimore 25, Barkley took a handoff right behind tackle Lane Johnson, who threw aside Tavius Robinson outside, and right guard Mekhi Becton, who sealed off Roquon Smith and Broderick Washington inside. That created the hole for Barkley to run through almost untouched, until around the 10. The TD came with 7:56 to play and pretty much seal the victory. Barkley became the first—and only—running back to have rushed for over 100 yards against the Ravens this season. Barkley finished with 107 yards rushing on 23 carries, with one touchdown.

Linebacker Nakobe Dean coming up to make the stop on the Ravens’ Justice Hill at the Baltimore 44 on a third-and-10 with 12:30 left in the game. It was an important stop that the Eagles reacted to well, dropping everyone and allowing Jackson to dump off to Hill, then converging on him. The stop came on the Ravens’ third second-half possession. Baltimore had crossed midfield on its first two second-half drives and were fortunate to see Justin Tucker miss two field goal attempts.

Rookie slot corner Cooper DeJean coming up to defend former Eagle Nelson Agholor on a first-and-10 at the Eagles’ 38 with 2:23 left in the third quarter. It was a great pass from Jackson and Agholor got his hands on the ball, before DeJean came up to break up the pass. The Eagles survived the drive with the second Tucker miss. DeJean later came up to stop human bulldozer Derrick Henry for a three-yard gain on a third-and-11 at the Baltimore 42 with 7:05 to play.

Edge rusher Nolan Smith Jr.’s four-yard sack inside of two minutes left in the first half at the Ravens’ 49 on a first-and-10. The Eagles then let Baltimore march down the field for a Justin Tucker 50-yard field goal, though were able to maintain a 14-12 halftime lead.

The Eagles’ second quarter. At the two-minute warning of the half, it was going considerably better than their putrid first quarter. The Eagles scored 14 points, gained 143 yards of total offense, while giving up just nine, ran off 19 plays to Baltimore’s six, and totaled nine first downs in the quarter to blanking the Ravens in that area.

The Eagles getting away with a false start penalty on Jalen Hurts’ one-yard go-ahead scoring plunge with 2:00 left in the first half. Left guard Landon Dickerson and left tackle Jordan Mailata cheated and released before the ball was snapped. For once, a break, no flags. The score put the Eagles up for the first time in the game, giving them a 14-9 edge.

Linebacker Zach Baun taking down the freight train Henry for a four-yard loss on the Ravens’ first drive of the second quarter. The play came on a third-and-two at the Baltimore 29, forcing the Ravens to punt for the third-straight time after Baltimore scored on its opening two drives. Baun’s 14-yard sack with 9:55 left in the third quarter at the Eagles’ 29 was another big play. It forced the suddenly unreliable Justin Tucker to miss a 47-yard field goal wide left to preserve a 14-12 Eagles’ lead.

Tight end Dallas Goedert’s 17-yard, second-quarter touchdown reception from Jalen Hurts with 8:04 left in the first half. Until then, the Eagles had not moved the ball at all. They had 23 yards of total offense up to that drive, and had not crossed midfield. Hurts was three-for-three on the drive for 32 of the Eagles’ 49 yards. Goedert later came up with a big nine-yard reception on a third-and-7 at midfield with 9:52 to play. It prolonged the Eagles’ drive, which resulted in Barkley’s 25-yard touchdown with 7:56 to play.

Defensive tackle Jalen Carter’s three-yard tackle for loss on Zay Flowers on the Ravens’ first drive. The play came on a second-and-six at the Eagles’ 16. Carter’s play was the only positive the Eagles had in the first quarter. It forced a Baltimore field goal. Carter later had a 12-yard sack with :21 left in the half on a first-and-10 at the Eagles’ 32.

The Bad
The Eagles’ third quarter. They could not get off the field, and they could not stay on the field. The Ravens picked up 88 yards to the Eagles’ 3, and zero first downs to the Ravens’ seven. Baltimore ran off 24 plays to the Eagles’ six, although the fortunate bottom line was that Justin Tucker missed two gimme field goals for him.

Center Cam Jurgens getting beaten bad inside by Ravens’ defensive tackle Travis Jones taking down Barkley for a one-yard loss at the Eagles’ 36 on their first drive of the second half. It set up an Eagles’ third-and-11, which the Eagles failed to convert when Hurts was forced out of the pocket and threw an incomplete pass intended for Barkley.

With 11:34 left in the third quarter, Baun’s helmet smacking into the side of Quinyon Mitchell’s left knee forcing the excellent rookie corner off the field for a series, with the Eagles already down Darius Slay. Mitchell was replaced by Kelee Ringo and returned the following series.

Seven penalties in the first half for 50 yards. One defensive holding call came on third down on Baltimore’s first drive, giving the Ravens new life and led to a field goal. Two flags came within the first 110 seconds of the game, giving Baltimore good field position after the Eagles’ opening drive. This goes under bad, because the Eagles were able to survive their own undoing with successive touchdown drives in the second quarter. Otherwise, six penalties for 45 yards in one quarter and seven overall for 50 yards in a half is a recipe for a loss.

The Eagles’ first quarter. Hurts went 1-for-5, and 0-for-4 on the Eagles’ first two drives. The Eagles had one first down to Baltimore’s 7 over the first 15 minutes, with 22 total yards of offense on 10 plays, averaging a weak 2.2 yards a play over 5:05 in time of possession. Defensively, the Eagles could not stop the Ravens, allowing Baltimore to score on its first two possessions and a 9-0 Ravens’ lead. The Eagles ran off four plays their first drive, and went three-and-out the following two. Baltimore piled up 133 yards of total offense, averaging 7.8 yards a play. The only positive was a very rare Justin Tucker missed extra point. The Eagles did not cross midfield until there was 10:55 left in the half—and that came courtesy of a Baltimore punt after the Eagles stopped the Ravens at their 10 on their fourth series.

The Ugly
The Eagles’ anemic pass rush giving Jackson five seconds—seemingly an eternity to a veteran NFL quarterback—on his 14-yard, first-quarter touchdown pass to Mark Andrews with 3:49 left in the first quarter. Jackson received the ball at 3:56 and threw at 3:51—from the Eagles’ 29. No one was within four yards of him. He could have had breakfast, lunch and an early dinner back there.

On the Ravens’ fourth play of the game, Jackson escaping the pocket with Nolan Smith Jr. from the left, Josh Sweat from the right, Jordan Davis converging on him from the middle. As Jackson rolled left, he threw off Milton Williams, one of Brandon Graham’s rotational replacements, and flung the ball 40 yards down field to a wide-open Zay Flowers at the Eagles’ 17.

Nickel corner Avonte Maddox getting flagged for defensive holding on the Ravens’ first drive. It stung coming on a third-and-five at the Baltimore 38, negating a Josh Sweat eight-yard sack, and compounded by prolonging the drive that resulted in Justin Tucker putting the Ravens on the board with a 34-yard field goal. Maddox, if you recall, has had problems on crucial third downs this year. Against Jacksonville, he was flagged for pass interference on third-and-10 at the Jacksonville 47 with 1:54 to play. The play gave renewed life to the Jags.

Getting hit with 25 yards in penalties in the first 110 seconds of the game on special teams. The Eagles were flagged for 10 yards on a holding call on a punt on their first series of the game, when Kelee Ringo nailed Tylan Wallace and was hit with a personal foul call after Wallace signaled for a fair catch. Not a bright move.