Those final 15 minutes were enthralling and, hopefully, a sign of things to come for a young Eagles team that surged to a win at the end. Carolina increased its lead to 18-13 on a 50-yard field goal from Zane Gonzalez with 8:29 remaining in the game, and it was all Eagles after that. Philadelphia's next offensive drive stalled, but the defense stopped Carolina on a three-and-out series and the special teams came up huuuuuuuugggge when T.J. Edwards burst up the middle and blocked Joseph Charlton's punt. Spiked it, in fact. Shaun Bradley recovered at Carolina's 27-yard line with 3:53 remaining.
It didn't take long to convert the takeaway into seven points. On second-and-9 from the 26, Hurts went to tight end Dallas Goedert for 20 yards. Two plays later, Hurts faked a handoff to running back Miles Sanders and kept it himself and rolled left untouched into the end zone for the score. Hurts threw to Smith for the two-point conversion and that made it 21-18 and the crowd was going wild. The Eagles crowd, that is. It was real and it was loud.
Then the defense did its part. Again. After Carolina converted a third-and-10 situation to move to its 45-yard line, cornerback Steven Nelson picked off a Sam Darnold pass intended for wide receiver Robby Anderson and the stadium went crazy. The Eagles had the ball and the lead with 1:57 remaining and the offense did the rest, picking up a pair of first downs running the football. The Victory Formation never felt better for a team needing a win after three straight losses.
"I think that we proved that we're a tough team that can fight back through anything," cornerback Steven Nelson said. "It's still early. We're still ironing out some kinks. We came and got the victory today."
With a short week ahead – Tampa Bay comes to Lincoln Financial Field for a Thursday night game – the Eagles needed something good to happen and they got it. Hurts shrugged off a poor first half to rush for two touchdowns and make some big throws when it counted most. Perhaps most important, the second-year quarterback kept his composure with the team down and the offense unable to get untracked.
"He's such an old soul," said tackle Jordan Mailata, who started at right tackle after missing two games with a knee injury, of Hurts. "He's got an old head on his young shoulders and it shows very late in games. He's still there talking us up, the grit, the perseverance. Those are qualities that he himself possesses. He's all bite, no bark. He talks it and he walks it. It's very encouraging to see from your QB and you want to have his back."
The defense took the football away three times and sacked Darnold three times (Fletcher Cox, Javon Hargrave, Josh Sweat), limiting Carolina to 267 total net yards, 5 of 15 third-down conversions, and just 17 first downs. And the special teams were great. Elliott had two field goals, including the 58-yarder. Siposs again won field position. Jalen Reagor had a 22-yard punt return. And Edwards blocked a punt when the Eagles absolutely had to have a big play.
Maybe this is something to build on. For a young team looking for something good to happen, Sunday's comeback was just what the doctor ordered – a complete team win on the road.
"Everyone feels great," Watkins said. "We're all happy. We made a lot of mistakes, but we got out of here with a win and that's all that matters."
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Just what the doctor ordered, a complete team win on the road - PhiladelphiaEagles.com
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