Week 9 Game Changing Plays: Eagles Clamp Down the NFC East
7 min read
Eagles ER Josh Sweat
The game of the week in massive Week 9 was the Philadelphia Eagles versus the Dallas Cowboys in a matchup which would decide the shape of the NFC East race. If the Cowboys won, the race would be a near dead heat with half the season to go, and the Eagles set to face a gauntlet after their bye week — the Chiefs, Bills, 49ers, Cowboys and Seahawks being a tough ask for any team. If the Eagles won, however, they’d take a 2.5-game lead in the division and a near-certain lock on the tiebreakers, meaning Dallas would have to be nigh-perfect the rest of the way to catch Philadelphia. For a November game, then, the stakes couldn’t be much higher.
Dallas certainly made a game of it, coming back from a 28-17 deficit to have the ball in the red zone down just a touchdown as time expired. But, on a day where the offense found it difficult to put up huge numbers, it was the defense that rose to the occasion, constantly shutting down Dallas’ comeback efforts and ultimately leading the way to victory.
We’ll cover that in a moment, but let’s run through some of the other most impactful moments of Week 9, first.
We Went to Europe, and a Rugby Game Broke Out
The other marquee matchup of the week ended up not being quite as exciting — a good game, but not with the level of drama that Dallas-Philadelphia offered. The Dolphins were held scoreless for the first 40 minutes, with Kansas City building an early lead and then holding on as Miami tried a late comeback. The game could have swung entirely, however, had the Dolphins’ drive at the end of the first half been successful. Miami was marching on what looked to be their longest drive of the half, but then…
Heads up play by Mike Edwards to lateral the ball to Ryan Cook there, turning a big turnover into a huge scoop-and-score — and an even bigger one when you realize these were the last points Kansas City managed to score all game. Miami actually tied the Chiefs in offensive points; it was this defensive score that ended up being the difference.
The winner of the game was going to be in first place in the AFC no matter what, with their 5-1 conference record breaking the tie against Baltimore. And, as it turned out, the loser would be in the #4 seed — a more precarious spot for the Dolphins than the Chiefs thanks to general ineptitude of the AFC West, but still. As it is, it’s Kansas City who comes home from Germany atop the mountain, and Miami who needs to regroup.
CJ Stroud is Good; No Qualifiers Needed
CJ Stroud has had plenty of highlights this season, at least as long as he’s had time in the pocket to actually work. That hasn’t always been the case, and there have been some growing pains along the way, but Stroud has been the most promising of the rookies to this point.
Well, forget the qualifiers. On Sunday, on a day where his running game offered no help and his kicker hurt himself and could not be relied upon, Stroud threw for 470 yards and five touchdowns in a 39-37 victory over Tampa Bay. While Stroud was impressive from opening whistle to closing gun, his final drive is one to be treasured — six plays, 75 yards, down four with 46 seconds left. No problem, apparently.
Houston isn’t quite in playoff position just yet; they’re 4-4 and a game out of the wildcard. But better a game out than the 13th place they’d find themselves in had they lost this one. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay would be just a half-game out of both the wild card and the NFC South had they won; instead, they’re in a tie with the Packers for 10th in the conference.
Steelers Somehow Keep Winning
Pittsburgh has been outscored by 30 points this season. And they’ve been outgained in every single game this season. This is not a sustainable strategy for success. But you know what? That’s a problem for future Pittsburgh. At the moment, they’re 5-3 in the playoffs, because they just keep on winning. Somehow.
Diontae Johnson ended up scoring the game winner in Pittsburgh’s 20-16 victory, his first touchdown in 669 days. But that was just one of his seven catches on the day; his most impactful came slightly earlier in the drive, converting a third-and-long and bringing the ball to just outside the red zone to set up the touchdown.
But, of course, a defense that gave up 340 yards of offense had one more bend in them, as Will Levis and the Titans marched right back down the field. Levis wasn’t exactly impressive on this drive, but Tennessee was moving, hitting Moore and Okonkwo multiple times and moving the ball into the Red Zone. There, Kwon Alexander ended things.
“I Wanna Introduce Myself. I’m Josh Dobbs”
You are not supposed to step off of a plane and onto a football field and play even halfway competently, let alone win. The Josh Freeman game remains burned in many Vikings’ fans minds, a warning for any team foolish enough to thrust a quarterback out there who had arrived this week. So, when Jaren Hall was concussed in the first quarter, that was certainly game over, right? Dobbs didn’t know the names of his teammates. He had to practice the cadences on the sidelines, because he had never worked with these players before. He didn’t know the plays, having to ask his teammates what routes were available. And when he started with a safety and an early fumble, there were Vikings fans who switched the TV off right then and there.
But Dobbs kept at it — the rocket scientist almost deriving Minnesota’s offense from first principles. He hurt Atlanta with his legs…
And he did this without Justin Jefferson or, for most of the day, K.J. Osborn. 20-of-30 for 158 yards and a pair of scores isn’t an exceptionally impressive day in a vacuum, but doing it without having ever met the guys he was throwing to was incredible. And the final, 74-yard drive with just over two minutes left on the clock would have been impressive regardless of the circumstances. As a result, Dobbs and the Vikings are clinging to the final NFC playoffs spot, while Atlanta finds themselves on the outside looking in. So, that trade was worth it, then.
Big D Meets Philadelphia’s Big D
The Cowboys seemed to have just approximate knowledge of where the end zone was for most of the game against Philadelphia — they came up an inch short of the goal line on fourth-and-goal; Dak Prescott stepped out of bounds just before the goal line on a two-point conversion, and so on and so forth. But despite the fact that Dallas didn’t maximize their trips to the red zone, they had a trip inside the Philadelphia 30, down just one score, with less than five minutes to go. Yes, all Prescott needed was some time to…
To shreds, you say.
But wait! The Eagles were unable to run out the clock after forcing the turnover on downs. With the help of some pass interference penalties and injuries to Philadelphia’s secondary, Dallas was able to move into scoring range again! Surely, this time, Prescott would have the time to…
On a day when the Philadelphia secondary was banged up and exploitable, and on a day where the Eagles put the ball on the ground three times, it was the defensive line that stood tall at the end and ensured Philly came out with the win. Hey, it may have been by the skin of their teeth, but they all count in the end, right?
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