Eagles get their groove back in beating Dolphins with signature toughness and aggression

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 22: A.J. Brown #11 of the Philadelphia Eagles scores a touchdown on a pass play during the second half of a game against the Miami Dolphins at Lincoln Financial Field on October 22, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
By Mike Jones
Oct 23, 2023

PHILADELPHIA — Clinging to a one-touchdown lead with about 10 minutes left in Sunday’s game, but facing fourth-and-1 from his own 26-yard line, Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni sent his punt team onto the field.

The Eagles about a minute earlier had snuffed out a potentially game-tying Miami Dolphins scoring opportunity when cornerback Darius Slay intercepted quarterback Tua Tagovailoa at the 1-yard line. Sirianni would have liked to have directed a long, game-clinching drive, but his team failed to move the sticks in three plays. That prompted the call for the punt unit.

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The Philly faithful at Lincoln Financial Field — now accustomed to aggressive calls by the third-year head coach — booed.

But upon seeing a more favorable spot than he initially realized, Sirianni had second thoughts and called timeout, reassessed the scenarios and reversed course.

“He just said, ‘Forget it, man. Let’s go out there and get it,’” running back Kenneth Gainwell said. “It showed toughness, you know? It just shows what we’re all about. What we do here.”

Sirianni sent his offense back onto the field and whipped the fans into a frenzy as his linemen dug in for their signature quarterback sneak play, and of course, the Eagles picked up the first down. Four plays later, needing another first down on fourth-and-1, Sirianni dialed up the “tush push” and his players again converted to continue the march that six plays later culminated with a Gainwell 3-yard run, spin and dive into the end zone.

That’s how you deliver a knockout punch.

The Eagles won Sunday night’s game 31-17, leaning on their defense once more after Gainwell’s touchdown with 4:46 remaining. The unit that had neutralized the NFL’s most potent offense the majority of the game forced a turnover on downs to position the offense to run out the clock and cement the Eagles’ sixth victory of the season.

Just like that— a week after a stunning loss to the New York Jets in a performance marred by self-inflicted wounds and missed opportunities — the Eagles (6-1) got their groove back.

Philadelphia’s players and coaches equally shared blame for the loss to the Jets, and vowed to attack the week leading up to the Dolphins game with a heightened sense of urgency and keen focus on the details. Needing a strong response to put that loss behind them and continue their quest to win the NFC and then the Super Bowl, the Eagles delivered Sunday night.

go-deeper

GO DEEPER

Eagles soar to resounding win over Dolphins

They did so by orchestrating one of their most well-rounded performances of the season, and by proving yet again that their strength lies in their resilience, physicality, depth and ability to play complementary football.

They may not be perfect. They may have their shortcomings and inconsistencies. But regardless of the setback, the Eagles always manage to bounce back. Nothing seems to shake them. They shake off misfortunes and rebound.

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“When you go back to work each week, it’s a dog mentality,” Sirianni said. “No matter what happens, you go back to work each week, and that’s the same message it’s gonna be this week. You just want to keep improving so you’re playing your best ball at the end of the year. I expect them to respond to this game like they did last game because that’s the (type of) guys we have in the organization.”

Indicative of how their games and season have played out thus far, the Eagles were not perfect early against the Dolphins. They had no problem moving the ball downfield and into scoring position. But a three-play sequence that featured three called runs (two by quarterback Jalen Hurts) and no shots to the end zone proved fruitless and brought on the field-goal unit.

Red-zone struggles. A familiar trend.

A strong defensive showing forced a Miami punt, but a sack-fumble deep in Eagles territory gave the Dolphins the ball right back, and eventually led to a tie.

Bad teams let mishaps grow, but not the Eagles. The fumble seemed to ignite Hurts and the offense, who delivered touchdown drives on their next two possessions (capped by a pass to tight end Dallas Goedert and then a Hurts sneak for the second score) and led 17-10 at halftime.

Adversity returned in the third quarter.

First, Hurts emerged from the locker room wearing a brace on his left knee and moving gingerly (he declined to explain what happened to his knee, or share details on the severity of the injury). Then, the quarterback had a pass batted at the line by cornerback Kader Kohou and intercepted by linebacker Jerome Baker, who returned it 22 yards to tie the score at 17-17 with four minutes left in the quarter.

But in typical Eagles fashion, Hurts bounced right back, directing an eight-play, 75-yard drive capped by a 14-yard pass to A.J. Brown, who split two defenders, broke a tackle and scored to put his team ahead for good.

“We had to get off the mat. That was a tough blow,” Brown said of the pick six, “but we were still in it. We knew we had the momentum. We just had to execute. I think last week, it was just on us. It wasn’t nothing the Jets did. It was on us. We just had to clean up the mistakes and execute. We had to come out here, play our brand of football, protect the football and execute.”

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Brown finished with 10 catches for 137 yards and a touchdown, and he joined Calvin Johnson as the only players in NFL history with five straight 100-yard games. He helped spearhead an offensive output that featured 355 yards, 26 first downs and the Eagles winning the time of possession battle 36:43 to 23:17.

Meanwhile, the Eagles defense held the Dolphins (5-2) to their lowest output of the season both in points (17) and yards (244). They also contained Miami’s prolific wideout Tyreek Hill to just 88 yards, well below his average of 135.7 yards per game.

And with that, the Eagles returned to their calling card of a detail-oriented and physical approach and got back into the win column.

(Photo of A.J. Brown: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)

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Mike Jones

Mike Jones joined The Athletic as a national NFL writer in 2022 after five years at USA Today, where he covered the NFL, and eight years at The Washington Post, where he covered the Washington Commanders. He previously covered the Washington Wizards for The Washington Times. Mike is a native of Warrenton, Va.