14 plays, 14 wins: One key moment from every Eagles win this season

Thousands of plays filled 17 Eagles games with individual moments. Each of them, any coach will tell you, plays a part in where a season goes. The parts all make the whole.

The Eagles tied a franchise record with 14 wins because their offensive line dominated and helped Saquon Barkley make history. Because Vic Fangio turned one of the league’s worst defenses into the best (by yards allowed per game). Because Jalen Hurts took care of the football. Because A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith are one of the best receiving tandems in the NFL.

You get the point. A lot goes into it. Just like a lot of plays go into a game’s final result.

Let’s take a look at one play from each game that helped define the victory. Some of them probably flew under the radar. Others probably didn’t.

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The Eagles started the third quarter in Brazil with a bang. Hurts connected with Brown on a catch-and-run that went for 67 yards and gave the Eagles the lead. But the Packers marched down the field and scored, and the Eagles’ next two possessions went three-and-out.

Enter Reed Blankenship.

The Eagles took over on Green Bay’s 24-yard line. Hurts hit Smith for 9 yards to get the Eagles moving, and Barkley did the rest, scoring on the fourth play of the drive from 2 yards out to put the Eagles ahead by five. Green Bay mustered three points the rest of the way.

The Eagles were 1-1 and playing without Brown, who was dealing with a hamstring injury. Then Smith and right tackle Lane Johnson went down with concussions. Barkley’s 65-yard burst finally put points on the board for the Eagles early in the fourth quarter, but the Saints scored nine straight and had a 12-7 lead.

They were closing in on a victory, which would’ve knocked the Eagles to 1-2. The Eagles faced a third-and-16 from their own 35-yard line. Hurts checked the play at the line of scrimmage and called “mesh” concept running intersecting shallow crossing routes. Jahan Dotson hasn’t caught many meaningful passes this season, but this perfect route won the Eagles the game in New Orleans. His route caused three Saints defenders to come together and freed up Dallas Goedert in open space for a 61-yard reception.

Barkley scored his second touchdown of the game on the next play, and Blankenship’s interception finished off the game.

» READ MORE: Dallas Goedert sparks Eagles’ winning drive with a check from Jalen Hurts, an assist from Jahan Dotson

The Eagles mostly dominated their Week 6 game vs. the Browns after their bye week, but had little to show for it on the scoreboard. A late defensive stop was needed and the Eagles got it thanks in part to edge rusher Nolan Smith, who is one of a few key Eagles defenders to take a big step forward in 2024.

On a second-and-goal at the 5-yard line, Deshaun Watson took a shotgun snap. There were no receivers on the right side of the formation, and the play design sent Watson with blockers in that direction.

But Smith got off his blocker, contained Watson, and got him to the ground on the sideline.

Cleveland did Cleveland things and committed a false start before the next snap. The Browns settled for a field goal and didn’t touch the ball again.

Barkley’s revenge game went about as well as anybody could have planned. He rushed 17 times for 176 yards and the game was all but over midway through the third quarter.

Barkley’s long run of the day went for 55 yards, and it featured Cam Jurgens pulling to the left and running out in space just like Jason Kelce used to.

Kenneth Gainwell finished off this drive with 16 yards over the next two plays to put the Eagles on the board. They won, 28-3.

» READ MORE: Saquon Barkley torches the Giants after seeing his jersey in flames; is it time the Eagles ignite the run game?

Rookie cornerback Cooper DeJean didn’t see regular defensive snaps with the team until Week 5. So this Week 8 game in Cincinnati was still part of DeJean’s introduction to his new team and its fans.

Recency bias will say DeJean’s most memorable play from the regular season is when he lifted Derrick Henry off the ground in a win at Baltimore, but what about this one? The Bengals opted to go for a fourth-and-1 from their own 39-yard line late in the third quarter. They got DeJean matched up with Ja’Marr Chase and sent him in motion.

The Eagles used their friendly field position to add to their lead with a field goal. The Bengals didn’t score again.

This game was defined by Barkley’s reverse hurdle, Smith’s back-of-the-end-zone touchdown catch, and Nakobe Dean’s walkoff interception.

But Dotson made one of the best catches of the Eagles season, and how many people will end up remembering it?

That drive ended with the Eagles upping their lead to 22-0. They needed those points and more, as Jacksonville surged back late.

The 6-2 Eagles traveled to the 3-5 Cowboys looking to put some separation between themselves and the bottom of the pack in the NFC East.

On the first play from scrimmage, Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson crunched KaVontae Turpin in open space.

The hit set the tone for a defense that dominated Dallas in a 34-6 victory.

» READ MORE: Dominating the Cowboys continued a post-bye trend for the Eagles. Up next, a chance to seize the division.

A Thursday night slop fest at its finest was trending in the wrong direction for the Eagles midway through the fourth quarter. Washington was deep in Philadelphia’s end and faced a fourth-and-2 from the 26-yard line. A field goal would have given the Commanders the lead, but they instead opted to go for it.

Rookie sensation Jayden Daniels bobbled the snap and rolled right on what appeared to be a broken play. Blankenship tracked it masterfully from the deep safety spot, and Zack Baun was able to get to Daniels for no gain.

The Eagles went ahead by two scores on the ensuing possession thanks to Barkley and his blockers, and the Eagles won their sixth consecutive game.

If it ends up being Brandon Graham’s last sack, it will be one that helped the defense steady itself late in the first half of a Sunday Night Football contest on the road.

Graham’s sack forced a punt, and the Eagles marched down the field and scored a touchdown — Hurts to Brown for 6 yards — before halftime. They received the ball after the break, and Barkley went for 70 yards on the first play from scrimmage in the second half. He was on his way to a historic night.

How many games has Barkley won the Eagles? The answer is a lot, but even he would tell you it wouldn’t be possible without the players in front of him.

That idea played out when Barkley gave the Eagles a two-score cushion with a 25-yard run midway through the fourth quarter of their Dec. 1 game in Baltimore. Jordan Mailata pulled from the left tackle spot and gave Barkley a little room to run. Out wide, Dotson and Parris Campbell did their jobs and ran clear-out routes that had their defenders backpedaling, and Campbell blocked all the way to the goal line.

The Ravens scored again late, but this play effectively ended the game.

» READ MORE: Saquon Barkley and the Eagles’ offensive line met the challenge against the Ravens’ run defense

This would’ve been one of the worst losses of the NFL season on paper. The Eagles had a down day against one of the league’s worst teams.

Late in the game, the Eagles pinned the Panthers deep and dared Bryce Young to beat them. He almost did, until Darius Slay, a few weeks away from his 34th birthday, tracked Adam Thielen across the field and broke up the pass.

Hurts kneeled down on the next play to kill the clock, and the win streak was at nine.

» READ MORE: The Eagles’ defense bent vs. Panthers, but Darius Slay and C.J. Gardner-Johnson were there to save the day

The Eagles got the ball at their 3-yard line after a Steelers punt with 10 minutes, 29 seconds on the clock and a 14-point lead. They never gave it back.

On the day when the Eagles’ passing offense came back to life, a key third-down conversion to Brown helped the Eagles stay in control.

The epic drive went for 21 plays.

It was Kenny Pickett’s show after Hurts suffered a concussion in Washington, and the offense started slow while Dallas looked a little bit dangerous on a day the Eagles had their eyes on claiming the NFC East.

On a third-and-8 just over six minutes into the second quarter, tight end Grant Calcaterra made an improbable 34-yard catch to extend a drive.

The Eagles took the lead with a touchdown three plays later and Dallas didn’t score again.

Preseason football in January. That’s what it felt like Sunday when the Eagles hosted the Giants in the season finale while resting most of their starters.

The defense barely missed a beat, albeit against a bad team. No play highlighted that more than when Drew Lock tried to connect with Malik Nabers on a deep throw to the end zone on fourth-and-2 midway through the second quarter. Safety Sydney Brown closed late and, with the help of Isaiah Rodgers, broke up the play.

The Eagles kicked a field goal on their ensuing drive and took a 10-point lead into halftime.