Everything we learned from the Detroit Lions’ 24-23 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
This one appeared to be over. The Philadelphia Eagles had the ball, a 23-21 lead and there was only 2:41 remaining in the game. However, on 3rd and 2, Eagles’ running back Ryan Mathews took the ball around right end. He was stopped for a loss, before fumbling away the Eagles’ chances.
The Mathews’ fumble was forced and recovered by Detroit Lions’ cornerback Darius Slay. The Lions then took the ball over at the Eagles’ 45-yard-line, where Matthew Stafford led them on a game-winning drive.
Lions’ kicker Matt Prater knocked one through the goal posts from 29 yards out to give the Lions a 24-23 lead with 1:32 remaining. Eagles’ rookie quarterback Carson Wentz took over looking to make a game winning drive, but was picked off by Slay on his first play of the drive.
This was a back and forth affair that the Eagles seemed likely to win. However, the Lions escaped with an impressive 24-23 victory.
What did we learn from this game that we can use to judge these two teams going forward?
1. The Eagles are good, but not elite
The Eagles were one of the few undefeated teams, heading into this game at 3-0. This loss is obviously less than ideal, but this is still a good football team that could make some noise in the NFC.
That being said, they are probably a year or two away from being legitimate Superbowl contender. Wentz has been great, but the Eagles continue to make his life easy. A huge majority of his passes are short dump offs and he has been backed by an elite defense.
Entering this game, the Eagles’ defense was only allowing nine points per contest. They are still a good unit, but we all knew that they weren’t that good. This is a good team, but they are not among the very best.
2. Darius Slay is a major playmaker
The Lions’ defense has been struggling in recent weeks. They have been without star linebacker DeAndre Levy and talented defensive end Ezekiel Ansah. Without Levy and Ansah, the Lions have struggled to stop anybody, but they played pretty well on Sunday.
Darius Slay was a major reason for their success. Slay is a legitimate shut down option on the outside for the Lions and has shown the ability to make big plays. His two turnovers created in this game almost single-handily won this game for Detroit.
Slay is one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL and has a tendency to make the big play.
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3. Carson Wentz is for real
There is no way to sugar coat it, this was not Carson Wentz’ best performance. That late interception was absolutely devastating, but Wentz still played well for a majority of this game.
We pretty much knew this before, but nothing Wentz did in this game made me change my mind. He is a legitimate franchise level NFL quarterback who will the Eagles to success.