December 18, 2024
Kirby Lee/Imagn Images
Saquon Barkley and the Eagles have been choking teams out in the fourth quarter all season.
In their win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles executed a soul-crushing 21-play drive that bled the final 10:29 off the clock.
It's not the first time the Eagles have choked out an opponent with a long late game drive this season. Let's review the others.
Clinging to a 2-point lead with 7:52 to go, the Eagles drained all but 27 seconds off the clock before kicking a field goal.
DeVonta Smith made two big plays on that drive. The first was a 16-yard completion on 2nd and 13.
Excellent run after catch by DeVonta Smith pic.twitter.com/iD7tqqr6qv
— Shane Haff (@ShaneHaffNFL) September 7, 2024
The second was an 11-yard reception on 2nd and 8 that all but put the game on ice.
DeVonta Smith. Always reliable.
— NFL (@NFL) September 7, 2024
📺: #GBvsPHI on Peacock pic.twitter.com/iIw8UOZtIh
Before that play, the commentators said that the Eagles shouldn't throw the ball again, which frankly would have been an extraordinarily cowardly and unintelligent strategy. It was 2nd down, with 2:10 left on the clock. If the Eagles ran it, the Packers would have used their last timeout. Then you run it again, and the clock is stopped at the 2 minute warning. Then assuming you don't get a first down on those two runs, you kick the field goal and the Packers get the ball back with just under two minutes to go.
Credit Nick Sirianni and Kellen Moore for dialing up the aggressive, winning call.
The Packers got a big play into Hail Mary territory on their ensuing drive, but Jordan Love got hurt and Zack Baun sacked Malik Willis to end it.
The Eagles' narrow win over the Browns wasn't impressive overall, but they killed the final four-ish minutes of the game for the win. The drive started with 4 runs, then a 10-yard completion to Jahan Dotson for a first down, another run, and then Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown made a big play to seal the game.
ABSOLUTELY INSANE A.J. BROWN 🥵@1kalwaysopen_ | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/3OQeT4xAgJ
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 13, 2024
Good throw, great catch, 3 kneeldowns, ballgame.
In fairness, even though the result of the play was positive, the play choice was highly questionable.
It was 2nd and 11 with two minutes left in the game, and the Browns had one timeout left. If the Eagles got any kind of first down and were tackled in bounds, game over. Or, alternatively, if they simply ran it twice, the Browns would have likely gotten the ball back with about a minute left deep in their own end, needing their garbage quarterback to drive the field for a touchdown.
A shot play deep down the sideline was a low-percentage play that honestly didn't make a lot of sense.
It was revealed after the game that Hurts checked to the play at the line of scrimmage, much like he did against the Seahawks last season, when he fired up a deep shot for Brown in a situation where that kind of play call didn't make a lot of sense either.
BUT... they made the play. 🤷♂️
This was a dirty, grimy Eagles win, and I thought their final drive of the game was the perfect encapsulation of that. They only gained 25 yards, but they chewed up 5:08 in game clock while also getting the Ravens to burn all three of their timeouts as well as the two-minute warning.
Up 9, the Eagles got the ball with 6:11 to play. They called all runs against the No. 1 run defense in the NFL.
The field goal put the Eagles up 12 points, giving the Ravens the ball back with just 1:03 left to play.
When Mike Tomlin decided to punt on 4th and 7 from the Eagles' 46 yard line with 10:40 left to play in regulation on Sunday, he probably didn't ever consider that he'd never get the ball back.
21 plays, 88 yards, all three of the Steelers' timeouts, and the two-minute warning later, the game was over. "It was death by a thousand paper cuts," Jordan Mailata said.
The Eagles posted the drive in its entirety:
Please enjoy the 10+ minute final drive in 3:38 seconds 😌
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 16, 2024
🔢 21 plays
📏 88 Yards
⏰ 10:29 pic.twitter.com/piacQhi1dL
The Eagles only had three possessions in the second half. They were as follows:
That would be 47 plays, 209 yards, 24:10.
The Steelers only had two possessions.
That would be 11 plays, 62 yards, 5:50. The Eagles' offense choked out a good defense, eliminating the final 17.5% of the game.
Follow Jimmy & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @JimmyKempski | thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
Add Jimmy's RSS feed to your feed reader
