by Roob Observations: Saquon’s late magic caps victory in Baltimore, originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The fourth quarter was once again magical for Saquon Barkley and the Eagles, and if the Ravens and their No. 1 run defense can’t stop him, who can?
Nobody can.
No one had rushed for more than 63 yards against the Ravens this year and Barkley did it in the final 12 minutes.
The Eagles keep winning and after that statement in Baltimore against a very good Ravens team, I don’t know when they will lose again.
Or if they will lose again.
The Eagles are now 10-2 with an eight-game winning streak and watch out. They keep getting better.
Eagles 24, Ravens 19, thanks to a late Ravens touchdown that brought the score deceptively close. But in reality, it was a 24-12 game until the final three seconds and it was a spectacular performance in every phase for the Eagles.
1. Just a tremendous performance from the Eagles defense against an overloaded Ravens offense averaging 427 yards and 30 points per game and 7.0 yards per play. Against the Eagles until the last minute they managed 302 yards, 12 points and 4.7 yards per play, stats the Ravens supplemented with a meaningless last-minute drive. The Eagles held nothing back against a team that rarely turns the ball over, but they put pressure on Jackson and hit him early and often and contained him when he wanted to run. They kept Derrick Henry in check and got big saves in huge moments. They allowed nine points in the first quarter and three on the Ravens’ next nine drives. And they did it without their captains and defensive leaders Brandon Graham and Darius Slay, they did it largely without Reed Blankenship, who suffered a concussion in the third quarter, and they did it partly without Nakobe Dean and Quinyon Mitchell, who missed games. in the second half. But it was a monumental defensive effort and you look out there and Tristin McCollum is covering Mark Andrews and Avonte Maddox is running down the field to cover Nelson Agholor, and it’s not ideal, but the substitutes played well, the starters played were spectacular and if there were any questions previously asked about the quality of this defense – and there shouldn’t have been any – have all been answered. A defensive masterpiece.
2. And the defense kept the Eagles in the game until it was Saquon’s time and his 4th quarter heroics continued against the best run defense in the NFL, because why wouldn’t- don’t they? It’s Saquon. You can stop him for 30 minutes, 40 minutes, 45 minutes, but you can’t stop him for an entire match. At the start of the fourth quarter, he had 13 carries for 51 yards. The Ravens bottled it. Nowhere to run. The Eagles got the ball back four minutes into the fourth quarter and there was Barkley for 14 yards then 25 yards for the decisive touchdown with eight minutes remaining. No one had rushed for more than 63 yards against the Ravens this year and Barkley had 107 – 61 in the fourth quarter. It’s crazy how good he is and how well this offensive line blocks him. They are getting stronger and stronger as the game goes on and if the Ravens can’t stop Saquon in the 4th quarter, no one can. Person. He is the best player in the NFL and that was obvious to everyone watching this game. What he did on Sunday in Baltimore – what he’s done all year – is nothing short of magnificent. He’s the best player I’ve ever seen.
3. How about a shout out to Tristin McCollum, forced into action in the second half with Reed Blankenship suffering a concussion. McCollum had played all 93 career snaps before the game, in his third year undrafted by Sam Houston State, and on the Ravens’ critical fourth down — 4th and 8 from the Ravens’ 42 with 6:18 left and the Eagles in the lead. nine – it was McCollum who rejected a pass from Lamar Jackson intended for Zay Flowers to end the suspense. You have to give this kid a lot of credit. It was his 12th career game and he was ready for the moment. You have to love it. Nick Sirianni has a developmental period at the end of practice where guys who don’t get a lot of reps in practice or during games get extra work with the coaches and there’s no doubt that’s one of the reasons guys like McCollum are mentally and physically ready when they get the chance.
4. Jalen Carter gives the Eagles one of the best interior line plays they’ve ever had. And by always, I mean including Fletcher Cox, including Jerome Brown, including – hell, I go back to Bucko Kilroy and Floyd Peters. Not that I’ve seen them play, but Carter is currently playing at a simply astronomical level and his ability to impact the game snap after snap is mind-blowing. His disruptive nature doesn’t always show up in the box score, but it certainly showed on Sunday with a sack, two quarterback hits and three tackles for loss. He now has 4 ½ sacks, 12 tackles for loss and 12 QB hits in 12 games. All-Pro numbers for an interior lineman. Fletch has posted those numbers twice in a full season and he’s borderline Hall of Famer. What Carter is doing for this defense is absurd.
5. The sign of a great team, a Super Bowl contender, is winning on the road, and the Eagles are now 5-1 on the road and 6-1 when including the home opener in São Paulo, and it is simply remarkable. Those six wins came by an average score of 30-13, which is insane. They are now 24-11 under Nick Sirianni on the road and 22-9 since the middle of 2021. That’s the sign of a prepared, focused team that doesn’t get distracted by the crowd or the travels, who learned to win in all circumstances. This is only the second time in franchise history that the Eagles have had a road winning record in four consecutive seasons, the first time they have done so in a coach’s first four seasons . And they don’t just win, they crush people. It’s rare that a team systematically goes to opposing stadiums and leaves with resounding victories. And they do it week after week.
6. A significant moment of this game was the Eagles’ brilliant defensive stand early in the second quarter. With the Ravens leading 9–0, Sydney Brown downed a Braden Mann punt at the one-yard line three minutes into the quarter, and three plays only netted the Ravens five yards. Reed Blankenship stopped Mark Andrews after a five-yard gain on first down, Nakobe Dean and Zach Baun stuffed Derrick Henry for no gain on second down – Jordan Davis blew the play up – then Jackson threw incomplete on third down. Just fantastic team defense. If the Ravens go down and score there, things could get out of hand quickly. But instead, the Eagles got the ball back at midfield and they needed just six plays to get into the end zone on Jalen Hurts’ 17-yard TD pass to Dallas Goedert. Before this stand, the Ravens had dominated the Eagles 9-0. After ? The Eagles outscored the Ravens 24-3 until that meaningless late drive. Big saves at big moments. It was one of them.
7. Really surprised the Eagles were never able to get the passing game going against this 31st ranked Ravens pass defense. Even without DeVonta Smith, there’s no excuse for the passing game to be this shredded against a secondary that hasn’t stopped anyone this year. Jalen Hurts was 11 of 19 for just 118 yards with a touchdown against Dallas Goedert but without a completion of more than 17 yards. This is a Ravens defense that had allowed 278 passing yards per game entering and 22 passing touchdowns – 3rd most in the NFL entering the weekend. Part of the problem might be that the Eagles just haven’t executed many plays. They never had the ball. It’s hard for a quarterback to find any rhythm when he’s sitting on the bench for two-thirds of the game. This was a matchup I thought the Eagles could really exploit. The pain wasn’t bad. I didn’t turn the ball over and had some good first runs. But he never followed any rhythm. AJ Brown had 66 yards – all in the second quarter – and the only other wide receiver to catch a pass was Jahan Dotson, who caught a seven-yard throw. At some point, they will have to run the passing game. DeVonta Smith can’t come back soon enough.
8. I can’t say the Eagles stopped Derrick Henry. He was 19 for 82 on the floor. But given the season he’s having? Henry is one of only three running backs in NFL history with 1,300 rushing yards, a 6.0 average and 10 touchdowns in 12 games (the other two are Jim Brown in 1963 and Saquon Barkley this year). Henry can kill you. He had three runs of at least 50 yards, 14 runs of at least 20 yards, and he didn’t have a single run of 20 yards on Sunday. He is a member of the Hall of Fame. But after getting off to a promising start – 6 for 38 in the first quarter – he averaged just 3.4 yards per carry for the rest of the game, going 13 for 44, with a long gain of 10 yards during the Last 45 minutes. The Eagles approached Sunday so well. You have to go low on Henry because if you try to attack him high he keeps his legs moving, breaks tackles and gets out into the open field and that’s where he’s so dangerous. The Eagles made sure that didn’t happen. A simply exceptional tackle. Cooper DeJean, Zack Baun, Nakobe Dean and Reed Blankenship in particular were so solid and made sure Henry never really got going. If Henry and Saquon Barkley were both MVP candidates, it’s pretty clear who the better player is.
9. We talk about Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata all the time, who are two of the best offensive tackles in the league, but those three interior guys have also played at a very high level. Mekhi Becton is still new at guard and he’s playing better and better each week. What a find it turned out to be. His run blocking just took it to the next level. I need to get it signed again. Landon Dickerson remains one of the best guards in the NFL and still plays tough, physical football. Cam Jurgen over the last month has really raised his level of play in his first year as an NFL center. And it’s amazing that this offensive line lost a Hall of Fame center and may be playing better as a group this year. And the whole band plays so well together. And they keep getting better. Scary.
More to come…
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