Pinned
Link copied
The Eagles win. They go to 10-2 and win their 8th ina row. The Ravens fall to 8-5. Impressive win by Philly.
BALTIMORE -- Even on a night where Saquon Barkley didn't look like he was going to break a big run, the Philadelphia Eagles running back showed why he deserves to be the league MVP. Barkley's 25-yard touchdown run capped an impressive 24-19 victory over the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium Sunday, as the Eagles notch their eighth straight victory and their first win against the Ravens in Baltimore in franchise history.
Barkley capped off another 100-yard rushing game, which was highlighted with the touchdown run to put the Eagles up 21-12 with 7:56 left. No running back had over 88 yards rushing this year against the Ravens defense, but Barkley broke that streak with that 25-yard touchdown. The Eagles rushed for 141 yards in the game, even though they only had 252 total yards in the game. Barkley's six rushing touchdowns of 20+ yards in the second half this season are the most in NFL history for a single season.
Barkley has eight 100-yard rushing games for the Eagles this seaosn, tied with Wilbert Montgomery for the most in a season in Eagles franchise history. He finished with 23 carries for 107 yards and a touchdown on the night.
The Ravens knocked on the door to take the lead several times in the second half, but Justin Tucker's kicking woes continued. Tucker missed a 47-yard field goal to the left and a 53-yard field goal to the right on consecutive possessions with the Ravens trailing 14-12 in the third quarter. Either kick would have given Baltimore the lead in a quarter where the Eagles ran just six plays for 3 yards.
Tucker also missed an extra point in the first quarter, leaving seven points on the board for the Ravens. He has missed seven field goals this season, tying a career high set in 2015. The Ravens scored a touchdown with three seconds left, but the game was out of hand.
Below are takeaways from this Week 13 showdown:
Why Eagles won
Mostly, an incredible defensive performance across the final 49 minutes of the game. The Ravens came out of the gates with scores on each of their first two drives, but would add just three points for most of the rest of the game before tacking on a late, garbage-time touchdown. Philly constricted Baltimore's passing game and didn't give up anything down the field. It contained Derrick Henry, for the most part, and didn't give him any breakaway runs. And the offense capitalized on its opportunities deep in Baltimore territory, converting with touchdowns on two of its three red-zone trips.
Why Ravens lost
Take your pick: You can go with Justin Tucker's THREE (3!!!) missed kicks, including an extra point. You can go with the Ravens' uncharacteristic red-zone inefficiency, with just one touchdown on three pre-garbage-time trips inside the 20-yard line. You can go with Lamar Jackson's spate of inaccurate passes after a hot start. You can go with untimely sacks, an inability to make tackles in big spots, the lack of an explosive element to the run or pass game after the first two drives ... whatever you want. There wasn't just one thing that doomed the Ravens here.
Turning point
Early in the second quarter, the Eagles were trailing 10-0 and had yet to do anything offensively. On their first four drives of the game, they gained just 23 yards on 13 plays. But after Lamar Jackson short-armed a pass to Zay Flowers deep in Baltimore territory, the Ravens' ensuing punt gave the Eagles their best field position of the afternoon.
What followed was a six-play, 49-yard touchdown drive that saw Jalen Hurts complete passes to Jahan Dotson, A.J. Brown and finally Dallas Goedert to put Philly on the board for the first time. The Eagles wouldn't take the lead until later in the half, but that was where it all started. Beginning with that drive, they outscored Baltimore 24-10.
Highlight play
In terms of outstanding plays, it was a pretty quiet game. The most impressive highlight probably came from Mark Andrews on the game's first touchdown, where he jumped over an Eagles defender to snatch the ball out of the air, Randy Moss-style. But the Eagles won this one, so let's give some shine to Saquon Barkley's fourth-quarter touchdown scamper, wherein he broke multiple tackles on his way to the end zone.
Saquon finished the afternoon with 107 yards and this score on his 23 totes, and chipped in with 10 more yards on his two receptions.
What's next
The Eagles are 10-2 and remain just one game back of the Lions (11-1) in the race for the NFC's No. 1 seed. They still hold a 2.5-game lead over Washington (8-5) in the NFC East. Philadelphia finishes up with home games against the Panthers and Steelers, a road game at Washington and then back-to-back home games against the Cowboys and Giants.
The Ravens are now 8-5 and a half-game back of the Chargers (8-4) for the No. 5 seed in the AFC. They're also 1.5 games back of the Steelers (9-3) in the division. Baltimore takes its bye in Week 14 before finishing out the season with games at the Giants, at home against the Steelers, at the Texans and at home against the Browns.
