Ad Disclosure
Elite Defense, Chickenshit Offense – 32 Immediate Observations from Eagles 13, Bills 12
Published:
They probably deserved to lose that game. Let’s be honest. You play chickenshit offensive football for an entire half and ask your defense to be the 1985 Chicago Bears and you’re probably not going to win a lot of games.
Thankfully Josh Allen missed a wide-open guy in the end zone on what would have a been a game-winning two-point conversion, so the Eagles improve to 11-5 and leave Buffalo with a ridiculous, improbable victory.
Make no mistake, the defense was awesome in this game. They sacked Allen five times for 51 yards and held that offense to 12 points on their home field. They absolutely stifled the Bills for three quarters and the only reason it was even close is because the Eagles’ miserable, pathetic offense couldn’t pick up a first down if their lives depended on it.
Remember earlier in the year, or even just a month ago, when people predicted a 2023-like collapse? The only thing that prevented it was Vic Fangio’s defense.
To the observations we go:
1) Seven Nation Army before kickoff? Never heard that one before!
2) Playing on turf in the rain is a miserable experience. It’s a fake surface to begin with, then you throw in the element of slickness and you know if you take one wrong step or lose your footing that you’re going into the blue medical tent.
3) Three straight passes to open for the Eagles, despite the Bills entering the afternoon giving up the fourth-most rushing yards per game on average.
4) This was the defensive holding call that wiped out a 3rd down stop on the opening Buffalo drive. There wasn’t much to it, but of course Cowboy-lover Dean Blandino thought it was the right call from his zebra comrades:
5) Loved the way the defense responded after this play. They allowed two yards on the ensuing run, then Buffalo went incomplete on 2nd and 8 and Jalyx Hunt completely blew up Allen on third down. It took the Bills out of four-down territory and forced a punt from their own 41 yard line.
6) Three straight runs to start the second Eagles drive. Then they went incomplete on 2nd and 8 and brought back the Will Shipley “give up” run on 3rd down. Normally you’d fire your remote control into the television after seeing that, but in a crap weather game they likely just did not want to risk throwing on 3rd and long inside their own half.
7) On the other hand, Buffalo took a deep shot on their second play of the very next drive and connected for 50 yards. That was on 2nd and 16 from their own 20. Go figure.
8) Jihaad Campbell had the hustle play of the day. Awareness rating: 100. Look where he started when Allen fumbled:
9) Hilarious to have Tom Brady on color commentary during a tuck rule situation. What a world we’re living in.
10) Dallas Goedert play action is undefeated in the red zone, no matter how you do it. Under center, read-and-pull, etc. It really is their default primary weapon with the tush push not being nearly as effective as it was in 2024. Whenever they target Goedert in short-yardage situations, good things happen. Case in point – a career-high 11 touchdown catches this season. His previous high was five, way back in 2019. It’s also a franchise record:
11) That FOX producer played The War on Drugs going into the break following the first TD. Did you hear it? He or she plays it during every Eagles game. We need to meet this person.
12) The fourth Eagles’ drive really summed up their season-long struggles. Twice, Jalen Hurts makes great off-schedule third down throws to move the sticks. Then both plays are immediately followed by negative first down runs. THEN – Buffalo commits a 3rd and 12 penalty, followed by a one-yard run on the ensuing first down and a missed DPI call on Buffalo. Jake Elliott comes out and makes a 47-yarder.
These drives are so clunky, so disjointed and janky. You have the goofiest combination of explosive plays, stuffed runs, penalties, and blown calls. All season long.
13) Refs must have been on their lunch break during this one:
14) Eagles defense LAYING THE FUCKIN’ WOOD on the 4th Buffalo drive. Those hits were awesome. Cooper DeJean and Reed Blankenship just annihilating skill players and Jalen Carter plastering Allen into the Earth’s crust. If that doesn’t get your blood pumping, then nothing will.
15) Nine yards for Saquon on 1st down to start the 5th drive. I-formation with Cam Latu as a lead blocker and the defensive end completely lost contain. They followed it up with 16 yards and then four yards out of the pistol. They’re so much better when they mix up their running looks and there’s been noticeable improvement since the Chargers game.
16) I don’t mind that swing pass to Tank Bigsby. You get him going north/south in space and good things are going to happen.
17) It would have been nice if he got out of bounds on the ensuing reception, but they were inside the red zone with 23 seconds and a timeout remaining. The 3rd and 8 tight end screen to Goedert was too conservative, but considering how feckless they’ve been late in the second quarter this season, you’ll settle for nine plays for 61 yards and a chip shot field goal in 2:41.
18) It drives me nuts when Tom Brady calls these guys by their first names. Josh Allen is “Josh” and Patrick Mahomes is “Patrick.” Just call them by their last names. Does this make me a crotchety boomer?
19) Speaking of Allen and Mahomes, is there any doubt in your mind that they get this flag? –
20) Buffalo throwing behind the line of scrimmage on 3rd and 1 for a drop. Then they punt. If Kevin Patullo called that, he would have been floated over Niagara Falls in a barrel.
21) Latu unfortunately with the bonehead play of the day. This was the difference between Buffalo starting on the 1 and starting on the 20:
22) Moro Ojomo singlehandedly ended the Bill’s 6th drive. Not only was the defensive line getting to Allen and bringing him down, but he he was taking huge losses. Eight yards there completely changed the complexion of a methodical drive and erased Latu’s mistake.
23) Dunno about the DeVonta Smith catch that was overturned. The ball did move when his hands hit the ground, but I thought he stayed underneath it the entire time. Maybe the refs had some super-secret replay angle that we weren’t privy to. Or maybe they hate the Eagles.
24) Brady going with the Gustav Graves Bond villain look here. Or maybe O.J. Simpson with the glove. If the glove don’t fit, you must acquit!
25) Are we sure Tyrell Shavers caught that miracle pass? The one replay made showed the ball just barely touching the ground. But Buffalo got right up to the line and called another play before the Eagles could challenge and the play wasn’t reviewed. That feels like one where you just throw the challenge flag for the hell of it, on the chance that you erase a potentially game-changing play.
26) Incredible stop on fourth and goal. Didn’t expect anything less with how good the defense played all day. Look at this:
27) Gotta love Allen taking a 19-yard sack on 3rd and 8 on the Eagles’ 41 yard line. Yet another instance of a horrific Bills play taking them out of four-down territory. Jalen Hurts would have been absolutely killed if he did something like that.
28) Defense began to run out of steam midway through the fourth quarter when the Bills started using tempo. They were down almost eight full minutes in time of possession at that point, so you can’t blame them. The Eagles’ offense punted four times in a row in the second half when just one single field goal drive would have made the difference. They were handed some bad starting field positions, but failed miserably and really ruined all of the good 1st half vibes.
29) Buffalo scored on the tush push? Didn’t they vote to ban it? Sean McDermott’s hypocrisy is nauseating. The blocked extra point was karma, perhaps. He wouldn’t dare show his face in the greater North Penn region these days.
30) The Eagles got the ball back with about 5 minutes left and proceeded to lose three yards on a toss play before running a draw out of the shotgun. Then they took a deep shot and Smitty dropped something he normally catches. It was chickenshit play calling, no doubt about it.
31) 4th and 10 hook and lateral? Takes HUGE balls to call something like that. Makes up for the 3rd and 9 swing pass Buffalo called on the previous play, but still. Then you follow it up with another miracle completion to Brandin Cooks when the coverage was pretty good. Tough to watch, man.
32) Can’t believe the game ended with Allen missing a wide-open receiver in the end zone on a two-point conversion. After all of that! lol
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com