The Detroit Lions defense stepped up on “Sunday Night Football” to keep the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles under wraps, even with key starters like Terrion Arnold and Kerby Joseph sidelined due to injury. Unfortunately for Dan Campbell’s squad, the Eagles defense also came to play, with Vic Fangio’s front terrorizing Jared Goff all night in a 16-9 Philadelphia victory.
A week after the Birds survived a Monday night matchup with the Green Bay Packers thanks largely to a dominant defensive showing, Fangio’s unit was even more imposing against Detroit, stuffing all five of the Lions’ fourth-down attempts and forcing Goff into a world of hurt inside a collapsing pocket; the quarterback finished just 14 of 37 passing while absorbing two sacks, plenty more pressures and having a slew of throws batted down at the line of scrimmage.
Jahmyr Gibbs and Jameson Williams each had splash plays for the Lions, combining for almost 200 yards receiving, but their highlights were few and far between for a Detroit attack that also went just 3 of 13 on third downs. The Eagles offense wasn’t a whole lot better, with Jalen Hurts completing only 50% of his passes while force-feeding the increasingly discontent A.J. Brown, but a trio of field goals from Jake Elliott kept the defending champs in front for the entirety of Sunday’s contest.
Here are some big-picture takeaways from the Eagles’ climb to 8-2 on the 2025 NFL season:
Play of the game
The Lions’ electric playmakers may have produced the best offensive action of the mostly defensive night, but Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean was a game-wrecking force, especially on this bulldozing of David Montgomery to plow over Jared Goff for a sack:
Vic Fangio’s defense is just hitting its stride
The Eagles were fine to open the year: reasonably physical, albeit without a defining pass rush or abundance of takeaways. The last few weeks, including Sunday’s shutdown of the Lions, who by the way still had Gibbs, Williams, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Penei Sewell, etc. on the field? This is championship-level stuff from the Birds. Jaelan Phillips has been a nasty addition off the edge since arriving via trade from the Miami Dolphins, Moro Ojomo is getting darn near as much push as Jalen Carter in critical spots, and Dean has been a cerebral homing missile since his own return from injury. Even Adoree’ Jackson is now making plays on the ball on the perimeter! This unit finally seems to be fully comfortable in its operations. That’s bad news for the rest of the NFL.
The Lions might want to exercise a bit more restraint
Look, we get it: Detroit is going to live and die by Dan Campbell’s aggression. And when you’re on the road in Philly against the defending champs, sure, it’s probably best to keep the pedal to the metal. But there comes a time when you also have to look yourself in the mirror — or, more so, look your opponent in the eye — and face reality. Which, in the case of the Eagles on Sunday night, was the fact Philly’s defensive front wasn’t going to be conquered. Had Campbell opted to give Jake Bates at least one or two additional field goal tries and “settle” for points in a low-scoring affair rather than push the envelope with a clearly rattled quarterback, we might be talking about a different outcome altogether, given the Eagles’ own struggles reaching the end zone.
What’s next
The Eagles (8-2) will still face plenty of questions about their ability to maximize offensive talent, with Hurts, Barkley and Co. still struggling to break out with a clean, explosive performance. But they’ll carry their playoff-ready defense to Dallas in Week 12 for a matchup with the rival Cowboys (3-5-1), who have yet to play the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday night. The Lions (6-4), meanwhile, should have a nice rebound opportunity by returning home to face the New York Giants (2-9), who dropped their fifth straight game while playing the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. But they might be more concerned about their deep-playoff aspirations considering how much Goff was under pressure in this one.