Eagles turned the Lions over on downs 5 times — and the narrative over from A.J. Brown to their burgeoning defense

PHILADELPHIA - Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean wasn't distracted by the eye candy. While Detroit Lions wide receiver Kalif Raymond motioned left and then back to the right, Dean's focus remained on the screen play he alerted to defensive tackle Jordan Davis and edge Nolan Smith.

Even as quarterback Jared Goff faked a handoff and looked to the right side of the field, Dean sprinted to the left, parallel with running back Jahmyr Gibbs.

Smith, meanwhile, immediately shed a block and was in Goff's line of vision near the flat as soon as he turned to the back side of the play, where the pass was supposed to go. With pressure closing in, Goff threw the ball way behind Gibbs, and it hit the dirt with six minutes and 10 seconds left in Sunday night's windy NFC showdown.

Dean came right up to Smith, and Smith patted him on the helmet, with Davis a few yards away pointing toward his shrewd linebacker.

"I'm just super excited about that, cause that just shows you the type of players that we have," Davis said afterward. "Like, man, where would you rather be?"

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Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio's unit seemed like it had all the answers to the test in prime time for the second time in six days. After holding the Green Bay Packers to seven points on "Monday Night Football" at Lambeau Field, Philadelphia was consistently a step ahead in its backyard during a 16-9 win over the Lions.

The rhythm Detroit found with Dan Campbell calling plays amid a 44-point, 546-yard outburst against the reeling Washington Commanders the week before blew away in the 30 mph South Philly gusts. Bolstered by midseason reinforcements, the Eagles' defense turned the Lions over on downs five times - all in the first three quarters, something that hadn't been done by any team this century - as their defense stole the show from the A.J. Brown soap opera that has dominated headlines much of this season.

Brown, a three-time All-Pro wide receiver who entered Week 11 tied for 61st this season in receptions, pulled in a season-high seven catches for 49 yards on a season-high 11 targets. He was noticeably more involved in a star-studded offense that still inexplicably started and stopped like a car with faulty spark plugs.

The Eagles averaged fewer than 4 yards per play for the third time this season, their first with Kevin Patullo calling the shots as offensive coordinator, and improved to 7-1 in one-score games and 8-2 overall.

"We want them to continue to play at a high level," Brown said of his suffocating defense. "But we've still just got to do a better job on offense and get our stuff going. There's a lot of room for improvement, lot of self-inflicted wounds."

Brown added: "But hat's off to the defense because they are playing their butts off."

Brown said earlier in the week that they can't "just keep slapping a Band-Aid over" their offensive shortcomings, but if their defense is a brace, it might just be stabilizing enough to hold together a second straight Super Bowl run.

That Eagles unit, which Goff called a "good ass defense" at the podium, is littered with youth yet overseen by the oldest DC in the league. The 67-year-old Fangio pushed the right buttons, and his players flummoxed a Lions offense that was averaging 31.4 points per game.

Detroit was grossly overmatched on the interior, and that's where Sunday's defensive detonation began for Philadelphia.

Eagles' keys: Batted passes and blown-up plays

One of the best to ever play the defensive tackle position, future Pro Football Hall of Famer Aaron Donald wrote a letter to his younger self in The Players' Tribune last week. In it, he emphasizes, "If you practice like a maniac, you will play like a maniac."

"I think that was reality for us today," said Eagles defensive tackle Moro Ojomo, who read the piece in the lead-up to Sunday's game.

Ojomo told reporters in the locker room that his teammate Davis, who batted down three passes Sunday night, must have batted down 10 in practice this past week.

The first of the those quasi-PBUs helped the Eagles get on the board. On Detroit's third offensive play, the 6-foot-6, 336-pound Davis elevated with his tree-trunk arms vertical as soon as Goff tried to fire a strike to tight end Brock Wright. The ball ricocheted off Davis' hands and fluttered into the possession of Cooper DeJean, who returned the interception to the Detroit 11-yard line, setting up the first of three critical Jake Elliott field goals.

Jordan Davis deflects it for the DeJean INT!

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The Eagles have studied the art under defensive line coach Clint Hurtt.

"Man, we see it every week," Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter said. "Some quarterbacks got high-arc releases and some got low. I feel like [Goff] has a little low one. I don't want to give all the tips out, but you see it on film. JD really started the momentum. ... I'm like, 'Hey, if I see him about to release, I'm going to put my hands up.'

"It got me two. It helped us win."

Together, Carter and Davis combined for five pass deflections, similar to how they each blocked fourth-quarter field goals during a come-from-behind victory over the Los Angeles Rams in Week 3.

So there must be a competition between the former Georgia Bulldogs, right?

"Nah, ain't no competition. Nah, nah, but we might as well make it a competition just for us to get better at it," a jovial Carter said regarding their arsenal of batted passes.

Carter wreaked havoc all night, spoiling a college reunion with Lions right guard Tate Ratledge. On the Lions' second drive, Carter barreled over the 2025 second-round pick despite being held, allowing trade deadline acquisition Jaelan Phillips to swoop in for a sack.

The Eagles dominating on the interior was a theme all night. Ojomo, who just days ago called out a Packers play to help stop a fourth-and-1, was ready for a Campbell special Sunday. He went low to undercut linebacker Grant Stuard on a fake punt run. Edge Jalyx Hunt was credited with the tackle, but Ojomo's role was key.

The Lions fake punt gets stopped!

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The work of the defensive line allowed Dean and the linebackers to turn loose with whatever Fangio asked of them, allowing Philadelphia to play complementary defense from start to finish.

The Eagles forced Goff into one of his roughest nights as a pro. He connected on a career-low 37.8% of his passes. He was pressured on 41% of his dropbacks. He was sacked twice and hurried into several throws, ultimately completing just 7 of 27 passes (25.9%) beyond the line of scrimmage, per Next Gen Stats.

If the Eagles' defense maintains this level of play up front, it's going to be tough for anyone in the NFL to do much against them.

Eagles defense is having a ton of fun: 'Where would you rather be?'

Cornerback Michael Carter II was part of Philadelphia's midseason defensive face lift. Before allowing a combined 16 points to a pair of NFC North contenders, Fangio's group was opportunistic yet statistically uninspiring. The Eagles had allowed 26 points per game and 5.4 yards per play through eight games. They had serious concerns at the edge position and at their second outside corner spot.

Smith returned from injury, Dean started to round into form and 37-year-old edge Brandon Graham came out of retirement to try to win his third Super Bowl with the franchise. Plus, general manager Howie Roseman brought in Phillips, who has been more than worth the 2026 third-round pick they gave up for him.

Carter came to Philadelphia after spending four seasons and change with the New York Jets, for whom he started 25 games. Carter told Yahoo Sports that the Eagles' locker room has a feel he's never experienced.

In just about three weeks, he's learned they know how to win together and have fun together in Philadelphia.

"You got to have fun. You got to have that swagger," Carter said. "You got to play like that, especially as a defense because it's all about momentum and confidence and everything like that.

"So when an offense sees you out there having fun, celebrating, that's demoralizing - especially on a night like tonight where things are going kind of back and forth and you need those stops on third and fourth down, and you celebrate those big wins on those downs, and they're not getting them, and they're walking off their heads down and we're jumping around and celebrating."

Adoree' Jackson is manning that much-discussed second outside corner position, opposite of breakout star Quinyon Mitchell. He's been burned at times this season, including in the second quarter Sunday on Williams' 40-yard, catch-and-run touchdown.

But Jackson had that goldfish memory that defensive backs coaches dream about.

He played a role in Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown finishing with just two catches on 12 targets. Jackson recorded a fourth-quarter pass break-up on third-and-10 while guarding the three-time Pro Bowler on an out-breaking route.

After laying out to make the play, Jackson was greeted by a clapping Zack Baun and then another linebacker in Jihaad Campbell, who celebrated Jackson's play with a seatbelt strap motion.

Adoree Jackson breaks up the 3rd down pass

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"Obviously, we're having fun, but it's different once you get out of the fun of, 'Oh, it's a new season.' It's a fun of, 'Alright, let's go play ball.' You can see those guys feeding off each other, celebrating each other. I mean, I don't know too many teams that celebrate almost any and everything.

"And that's a good thing because you feed off that energy."

It was magnetic last week, and it's pulling the Eagles toward the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Regardless of whatever issues there are on offense.