December 10, 2024
Eric Hartline/Imagn Images
Darius Slay was a major factor in the Eagles' win over the Panthers.
Darius Slay knew he got cooked, incredibly lucky, too.
The veteran cornerback, in his return back from a concussion, left Sunday's 22-16 Eagles win against the Panthers as the game-saving hero, having batted Carolina's last chance down into the dirt.
But just seconds prior, he was a wrong guess and a better grip away from watching the go-ahead touchdown sail by him instead.
A Xavier Legette drop on a wide-open post to the end zone bailed him out and kept the Eagles alive. Slay knew it, but made good on it, chasing a veteran Adam Thielen across the middle of the field two plays later to jump and get a hand in the way of a do-or-die fourth-down pass from Bryce Young for the game-sealing incompletion.
The Eagles held on.
"I was gassed," Slay said from his locker afterward. "I was just like 'Ay, he throws this ball, I'm gonna make this play.'
"Thankfully, I did because, woo, that one play, he scores on that post ball, that was almost OD [over]."
But sometimes you just need that lucky break.
Everyone say thank you @bigplay24slay 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/VQwSWImYpn
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 8, 2024
The Legette drop with less than a minute left when the Eagles were only up six nearly nullified it all, but Slay was solid in his return on Sunday, and in a spot where the Eagles' secondary really needed it.
Reed Blankenship, as a starting safety, was also out with a concussion suffered late into the Ravens game the week prior.
C.J. Gardner-Johnson, as the other man over top, put up a big day of his own with a jarring third-down hit on Legette that caused a pass breakup early and then a key interception late into the first half that helped the Eagles pull into the lead. But he paid the price for it all with a couple of collisions that rattled him throughout Sunday, even though he stayed in the game.
And then breakout rookie Cooper DeJean was getting his "Welcome to the NFL" wakeup call, with Young and Thielen carving up.
But Slay, he stayed steady.
He took 69 of the Eagles' defensive snaps on Sunday, playing in all but two, made six tackles, and when Young sent the ball his way, he only allowed two receptions through on 11 tries within his reach, per Pro Football Focus.
And in the fourth quarter, with the Eagles ahead, but far from comfortably, he made the two plays that stopped the Panthers dead in their tracks.
Going for it on a 4th and 2 in Eagles territory, with 8:39 still left to play, the Panthers called up a quick slant from Young to Legette, but Slay clung to the route and through a Thielen pick to dive in front of the ball, giving it back to the Philadelphia offense so that they could shift into clock-killing mode.
THAT'S A BIG PLAY SLAY 🔥@bigplay24slay | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/VwUYLY8qnL
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 8, 2024
It's just that Jalen Hurts and co. had their own issues in the passing game trying to close out – and maybe with a loss of trust in Jake Elliott to hit on a long field-goal, too – which put the Panthers back out there with a chance and the pressure on the Eagles' defense to make one more stop.
They nearly didn't.
Oh my goodness.... incomplete.
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) December 8, 2024
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/jiFzpyWSIE
Slay guessed wrong late, which put at least the tying six right there for Carolina to claim. A dropped bailed him out, the Eagles, too, and he knew it.
But he saved the day with that second chance – and a veteran effort when the Eagles needed it.
None of it was pretty, frustratingly so, but they held on.
"We're about playing ball," Slay said of that final defensive series. "We're in it. We've been playing great defense. We should've played a lot cleaner ball, but at the end of the day, we do want that pressure on the defense.
"I know the offense, they do a great job at doing what they do, but we want to end games."
MORE: Eagles' 'bend, don't break' defense stays elite
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