Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts did his thing in the second half and overtime Sunday against the Buffalo Bills.
Including a game-winning 12-yard touchdown run in overtime, Hurts put up four scores in the final two quarters and the extra stanza. The end result was a dramatic 37-34 win over Buffalo in what might have been the best game on the NFL schedule thus far this season.
At 10-1, Philadelphia’s latest win comes one week after it took out the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs in Kansas City. That’s two statement wins for the Eagles heading into the stretch run.
Boy, is it going to be a stretch run for these Eagles as they look to hoist the Lombardi in Las Vegas this coming February.
Things get going this coming Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers in a rematch of last season’s NFC Championship Game. Philadelphia then has to visit the red-hot Dallas Cowboys in Week 14.
These two teams act as the biggest threats to Philadelphia when it comes to winning the NFC. That’s especially true following the Detroit Lions’ ugly loss to the Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving.
Sure, Philadelphia boasts a two-game lead over Dallas in the NFC East. It also has the same lead over San Francisco when it comes to earning home-field advantage in the NFC Playoffs. But this two-game stretch could very well be season-defining for Nick Sirianni’s squad.
Related: Philadelphia Eagles standing in Sportsnaut’s NFL power rankings
San Francisco 49ers seek revenge on Philadelphia Eagles
It was this past January that Philadelphia took out San Francisco in the NFC Championship Game by the score of 31-7. However, that win was marred by 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy suffering an elbow injury on their first drive of the game. While Purdy would end up returning after backup Josh Johnson suffered a concussion, he was unable to throw a forward pass. Purdy ultimately underwent offseason surgery on the elbow.
Ever since this “blowout win,” the Eagles have faced a ton of trash-talking from 49ers players. In short, San Francisco is going to want to exact revenge against Philadelphia while making it a legitimate race for the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
“We lost because we played with 10 people. I ain’t going to keep going on about what could’ve happened and what would’ve happened but yeah, it would’ve definitely been a different outcome (if healthy),” San Francisco 49ers’ Deebo Samuel said back in May.
At 8-3 on the season, San Francisco ranks third in the NFL in scoring at 28.2 points per game. It boasts the league’s top scoring defense, too (15.5 points per game).
After a three-game losing streak earlier in the season, these 49ers have also come out of their Week 9 bye on fire. That includes wins over the Jacksonville Jaguars, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks by a combined 62 points. All said, the 49ers are outscoring their opponents by an average of nearly 13 points per game.
Meanwhile, the aforementioned Brock Purdy joins Jalen Hurts as a legitimate NFL MVP candidate heading into December’s action.
- Brock Purdy stats (2023): 70% completion, 2,871 yards, 21 total TD, 6 INT, 112.3 QB rating
In addition to leading the NFL in completion percentage and quarterback rating, Purdy heads all quarterbacks in yards per attempt and yards per completion. He’s now set to take on a questionable Eagles secondary that has given up 23 touchdown passes compared to six interceptions on the season.
Vegas has Philadelphia as a mere 1.5-point home favorite, meaning that bettors are not sold on the Eagles moving to 11-1 in what promises to be a close game come Sunday afternoon inside Lincoln Financial Field.
Related: Find out where Philadelphia Eagles’ Jalen Hurts ranks among NFL QBs
Dallas Cowboys have their eyes on the Philadelphia Eagles
It was back in Week 9 that Philadelphia just barely eked out a win over the Cowboys at home. The final score of 28-23 was indicative of just how close the game was. In fact, Dallas came within mere yards of winning late in the fourth quarter before CeeDee Lamb was stopped short of the goal line.
Each of the Eagles’ past two home wins have come down to the final play. They have not been as dominant inside Lincoln Financial Field as we saw earlier in the season. They’ve also pulled off narrow wins over a bad Washington Commanders team by a combined 10 points over the past two months. Washington was just blown out by Dallas, 45-10, on Thanksgiving.
Are there indicators suggesting that Dallas will have the upper-hand at home against Philadelphia in Week 14? Sure. The Cowboys have not lost a game at home since Week 1 of the 2022 season. It has won 13 consecutive at AT&T Stadium.
This season alone, Dallas is outscoring its opponents by an average of 29 points per game at home. That has to be eye-opening for Philadelphia as the team prepares for this brutal two-game stretch.
The Eagles’ defense will certainly have its hands full against a ‘Boys offense that ranks No. 1 in the NFL in scoring at 31.5 points per game.
For his part, Dak Prescott has been absolutely brilliant recently. He’s thrown 17 touchdowns against two interceptions over the past five games. That included a three-touchdown outing against the Philadelphia Eagles back in Week 9. It’s not a coincidence that Dallas is averaging north of 40 points during that five-game span.
Philadelphia might be riding high after consecutive wins against the Chiefs and Bills. But these next two weeks are going to offer a whole new challenge for the team. Can they rely on luck and more Hurts’ comebacks against two teams playing the best football in the league? We’re not too sure.
What we see against San Francisco and Dallas over these next two weeks will tell us a lot about Philadelphia heading into January. That’s for sure.