Martin Frank breaks down Eagles’ 16-9 defensive win over Detroit Lions
Eagles beat writer Martin Frank on how the team beat the high-scoring Detroit Lions on Nov. 16, 2025.
PHILADELPHIA − There was defensive tackle Jordan Davis, standing at his locker, cradling the game ball presented to him by the Sunday Night Football crew as if he were, well, Saquon Barkley on one of his patented long runs.
Except those runs have been fewer and far between for Barkley, not to mention most of the Eagles’ offensive stars.
And there was A.J. Brown, the subject of the latest controversy with his comments on Twitch describing his disenchantment with what, exactly? He insisted it wasn’t his lack of targets as much as his desire to help the offense escape its doldrums.
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“It wasn’t about targets last week or the week before,” Brown said. “It wasn’t about that at all. It was me trying to help and contribute. That’s all. Regardless of what that looked like in phases, I think I did. But like I said, I think there’s a lot of stuff that we as an offense and me myself, that we gotta continue to get better at.”
So, yes, the Eagles’ offense played about as well as one might expect when it could put up just 16 points despite starting three drives inside Detroit Lions’ territory and coming away with only six points on them.
But here’s the thing, the Eagles still beat the Lions 16-9 on Nov. 16, six days after beating the Green Bay Packers 10-7.
For that, the Eagles can thank their defense. Specifically, the long arms on Davis’ 6-foot-6, 330-pound frame. Davis deflected three passes from Lions quarterback Jared Goff. Fellow defensive tackle Jalen Carter deflected two.
“You see it every week,” Carter said. “Some quarterbacks have high-arc releases. Some have low. We felt like (Goff) had a little low one. I don’t want to give all the tips out. But you see it on film, man. (Davis) really started the momentum. He got two of them. I’m like, ‘if I see (Goff) about to release, I’m putting my hands up.’”
But there was much more.
There was a sack from edge rusher Jaelan Phillips, an interception by Cooper DeJean on Davis’ first deflection, setting the Eagles’ up at the Lions’ 11. That, however, only resulted in a field goal.
There was a critical pass breakup by cornerback Adoree Jackson, big tackles in space by linebacker Nakobe Dean.
And on and on and on.
All of which led the Lions to 0-for-5 on fourth down and 3-for-18 on third and fourth down.
“I’d like to win every game by 30 points,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “I don’t think that’s the reality of the NFL. I think we take a lot of pride in just winning, period. That’s all this thing’s about, right?”
Then Sirianni described how he spent the hours before his team’s Sunday Night Football game watching other teams play, and saw how they’re “waiting to lose.”
“Our team’s waiting to win because they know how to win,” Sirianni said. “There’s something to be said for knowing how to win, and knowing how to figure out ways to win.”
The Eagles have mastered that. It doesn’t matter how it looks like anymore. In fact, this is what the Eagles might have to deal with the rest of the way.
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That’s why they didn’t lose when quarterback Jalen Hurts completed just 14 of 28 passes for 135 yards. Or with Saquon Barkley once again barely averaging 3 yards per carry as he finished with 83 yards on 26 carries.
Or even with Brown, at times force-fed the ball, catching 7 passes on 11 targets, but only getting 49 yards. Yet Brown led the Eagles in all three categories.
“The defense was playing lights out,” Hurts said. “It was one of the best performances I’ve ever seen. So a really, really big-time game on that side of the ball, and to be able to do what they did on fourth down against a really good offense.”
This could very well be the Eagles’ new reality.
For as much as the offense is going through fits and starts, there is a dominant defense that can bail the Eagles out.
Is it sustainable? Consider that the Eagles are 6-1 this season against teams that made the playoffs last season. They have won in Kansas City, Minnesota, Tampa Bay and Green Bay, and beaten the Rams and Lions at home.
And that brings us back to Carter, Davis, Phillips and Moro Ojomo on the defensive line. Lions quarterback Jared Goff barely had time to throw.
He completed just 14 of 37 passes, or 37.8%, including 1-for-11 (9.1%) for 27 yards in the fourth quarter. Goff came into the game completing 74% of his passes.
The Eagles only sacked Goff twice, but they hit him seven times, deflected four of his passes, and generally made things miserable for him.
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“It’s the mindset that we have,” Davis said. “Even when we’re not doing so good, we always have that growth mindset. When it seems like the world is against us, when our backs are against the wall, we just keep our heads down and just work.”
That’s the lesson they imparted to the offense. It wasn’t pretty, but the Eagles got the job done on offense, much like they did the week before in Green Bay. And they might have to keep doing it as opponents continue to focus on shutting down the Eagles’ offense
“It’s just a mentality thing,” Hurts said. “I think you have to have a level of grittiness to see things through and figure things out.”
While that’s a work in progress, at least the Eagles can lean on their defense.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on X @Mfranknfl. Sign up for the “Eye On The Eagles” newsletter, emailed to your inbox every Friday monring. Read his coverage of the Eagles’ championship season in “Flying High,” a hardcover coffee-table book from Delaware Online/The News Journal. Details at Fly.ChampsBook.com
