On paper, Week 7 of Sunday Night Football between the Miami Dolphins and Philadelphia Eagles seemed to represent one of the best matchups of the NFL season.
It really didn’t end up playing out that way. Coming off their first loss of the season, the Eagles did their thing in a 31-17 win over the visiting Dolphins.
Jalen Hurts went for 300 total yards and three touchdowns despite turning the ball over twice. A.J. Brown dominated the Dolphins to the tune of 10 catches for 137 yards.
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On the other side, Miami’s previously dominant offense really couldn’t get it going. Tua Tagovailoa threw for just 216 yards and put up a game-changing interception in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the Dolphins’ rushing attack went for just 45 yards on the ground.
Below, we look at the top highlights from the Philadelphia Eagles’ impressive 14-point win over the Miami Dolphins.
Sunday Night Football highlights Week 7
The Eagles’ defense pretty much put this one away by getting to Tua for two sacks as the Dolphins turned the ball over on downs.
Tua was hit six times and sacked a total of two times as the Eagles dominated the trenches in a big way.
A.J. Brown is absolutely a man on a mission. With Philadelphia owning the ball at mid field and up by seven in the fourth quarter, Brown made the game-changing play. That included putting up an absolutely insane 42-yard catch in between multiple Dolphins defenders.
Yup. He’s pretty darn ridiculous. By virtue of this catch, Brown had hauled in 10 passes for 137 yards and a touchdown on 15 targets. Kenneth Gainwell would score a touchdown a couple plays later, pretty much putting this away with Philadelphia up 31-17.
We were waiting for a big play from Philadelphia’s vaunted defense. Pro Bowl cornerback Darius Slay provided that in the fourth quarter with Miami driving. He picked off a Tua Tagovailoa pass intended for Raheem Mostert at the Eagles’ one-yard line and returned it 16 yards.
This was as much of a bad play on Tua’s part than a great play from Slate. He legitimately lobbed it up there with multiple Eagles defenders in position to make a play. You have to be better than that in today’s NFL.
With things tied at 17 late in the third quarter, Philadelphia’s offense got going big time. Hurts led the team down the field 75 yards on eight plays, culminating in a 14-yard touchdown pass to star wide receiver A.J. Brown.
What an absolutely great catch-and run from Brown to give the Eagles a touchdown lead. As for Hurts, he completed 5-of-6 passes for 60 yards on that drive.
The ball don’t lie. After a terrible non-call to end their previous possession on offense, the Dolphins’ defense stepped up big time. That included Jerome Baker picking off Hurts and returning it for a touchdown on a tipped pass.
Hurts has now given the ball away twice on Sunday night and has 10 turnovers thus far this season after committing eight turnovers all of last season.
With the Eagles still up 17-10 midway through the third quarter, Miami finally got its running game going. That included Raheem Mostert going for 21 yards before gaining another 15 on the very next play.
Mostert has been brilliant all season, recording a league high 11 touchdowns heading into Sunday Night Football. After being silent in the first half, he showed up in the third.
Unfortunately, the Dolphins ended up turning the ball over on downs after a questionable non-call as Tua targeted Cedrick Wilson deep.
Having scored only three points through the first 29 minutes or so and with Jaylen Waddle sidelined to injury, things were not looking good for Miami against Philadelphia Sunday night.
That’s when Tagovailoa found Tyreek Hill on a 27-yard touchdown to make this one a 17-10 game.
Perhaps, this will light a fire under the Dolphins’ offense as they head to the locker room down a mere touchdown while receiving the ball to open the third quarter.
Facing fourth-and-three from the Dolphins 33-yard line, Jalen Hurts went full wizard for the Eagles. He faced a ton of pressure up the middle from Miami’s defense before rolling right and hitting A.J. Brown on an amazing 32-yard pass.
Very few quarterbacks can make a play like that. Hurts is obviously one of them. He would then take it one yard on the ground on the very next play to give Philadelphia a 17-3 lead.
Having just recently signed with the Eagles, future Hall of Fame wide receiver Julio Jones made his first catch in a Philadelphia uniform. Sure, it was for only three yards. But it was a nice little highlight in a first half filled with so few.
At least initially, Thursday night’s game was much more lower-scoring than most people anticipated. With the game tied at three in the second quarter, the Eagles changed that.
Hurts led Philadelphia down the field on a nine-play, 61-yard drive. It culminated in Hurts hitting Dallas Goedert on a 19-yard touchdown to give Philadelphia the lead.
It’s no surprise that Goedert is starting on National Tight Ends Day. By virtue of this touchdown, the star had tallied four receptions for 67 yards early on.
Tua seemingly hit Tyreek Hill for a touchdown on third-and-goal from the Eagles’ 12-yard line. Unfortunately, Lester Cotton was called for holding on the play. It set up third-and-goal from the 22. In the end, Miami had to settle for a field goal and a 3-3 tie after its defense gave the offense a short field.
With Miami’s offense doing nothing of substance to open this game up, the team needed its defense to step up. Down 3-0 in the first quarter, that’s exactly what Vic Fangio’s unit did.
Star Dolphins edge rusher Bradley Chubb stripped Jalen Hurts with Christian Wilkins recovering it at the Eagles’ 23-yard-line.
The Eagles drove down the field on their first possession of the game with Jalen Hurts hitting tight end Dallas Goedert on two passes. However, Miami was able to hold Philadelphia to a mere 24-yard field goal from Jake Elliott. This is certainly a win for the road team despite a 12-play drive that took up nearly a half of the first quarter.
The Philadelphia Eagles are wearing their Kelly Green throwback uniforms. As you will see below, they are absolute fire.
Jalen Hurts was also greeted by former NFL great Chad Ochocinco.
As for the visiting Dolphins, they are seemingly ready for this huge primetime matchup.
Miami Dolphins inactives
- WR Robbie Chosen
- QB Skylar Thompson (third QB)
- CB Kelvin Joseph
- CB Xavien Howard
- OL Connor Williams
- TE Tyler Kroft
Philadelphia Eagles inactives
- QB Tanner McKee (third QB)
- RB Rashaad Penny
- S Reed Blankenship
- CB Bradley Roby
- LB Patrick Johnson
- DT Moro Ojomo
- TE Albert Okwuegbunam
Everything you need to know about Sunday Night Football Week 7
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