By Zach Berman, Brooks Kubena, Colton Pouncy, Alex Valdes
The Philadelphia Eagles’ defense harassed quarterback Jared Goff all game and stopped the Detroit Lions five times on fourth down to win 16-9 on Sunday night.
The Eagles’ offense wasn’t a whole lot better, but they rushed for 148 yards and quarterback Jalen Hurts scored on a 1-yard run in the second quarter to give Philly a lead they never lost.
The Philadelphia defense held Goff to 14-for-37 passing and put constant pressure on him, sacking him twice. Lions coach Dan Campbell also tried for first downs on five fourth downs, but the Eagles defense stopped all of them.
Relentless pass rush
The Eagles again won by strong-arming their opponent on defense. The Lions entered the weekend with the NFL’s second-ranked scoring offense (31.4 points per game), and the Eagles held them to a season-low nine. Philadelphia’s front was relentless. Jaelan Phillips has been dominant in his first two games since being acquired at the trade deadline and recorded his first sack. Nakobe Dean had the other. Jordan Davis had three batted passes. Jalen Carter had two.
Adoree’ Jackson’s best game
The Lions were 0-for-5 on fourth-down attempts and 3-for-12 on third-down attempts. Adoree’ Jackson quietly had perhaps his best game of the season. The CB2 spot has been precarious all season. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio has been reluctant to move Cooper DeJean outside, and Jackson’s play was one of the few things keeping Fangio’s finger off the button. Fangio called Jackson a “survivor” earlier this week.
Jameson Williams beat Jackson on a 40-yard touchdown, but Jackson held his own against Amon-Ra St. Brown in a goal-line stop and had a crucial third-down pass deflection in the fourth quarter. They say defenses win championships. With the way the Eagles are playing offensively, they’ll need that to be true. — Brooks Kubena, Eagles writer
Huge game for No. 1 seed hopes
This victory was critical for the Eagles’ hopes of the No. 1 seed, and they now have a 50 percent chance at getting it. Had the Eagles lost, their chances would have been 16 percent. It doesn’t look the way it’s designed, but the Eagles are a clear Super Bowl contender — especially with their defense.
They now have wins over the Lions, Packers, Rams, Chiefs and Bucs. That doesn’t happen by accident. The Packers/Lions stretch following the bye seemed daunting entering the season, but they escaped both with wins. They have only three games remaining against opponents with winning records (the Bears, the Chargers, the Bills).
You can say they must play better, but the way they’re playing is working. And if they can clinch the No. 1 seed, good luck to opponents coming into Philadelphia in January. The Eagles have won seven of their last eight home postseason games. — Zach Berman, Eagles senior writer
Head Coach Nick Sirianni and Eagles players speak with the media. #FlyEaglesFly https://t.co/6OVWwsj1JH
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) November 17, 2025
Offense just good enough
The Eagles’ offense scored only one touchdown for the second consecutive week — the first time that’s happened since the end of the 2022 season, when Hurts was injured. This game won’t leave fans enthused about the offense. They went 4-for-15 on third down and had five possessions without a first down. They’re still not the dynamic attack you’d expect with these weapons. But they didn’t turn the ball over, they made a few opportunistic plays, and they won. That was enough … again. — Berman
Brown targeted a lot
It was clear that A.J. Brown was a focal part of the Eagles’ game plan — he was targeted a season-high 11 times. He finished with seven catches for 49 yards — modest production, but given the volume surrounding his frustration with his “situation,” the usage cannot be ignored. He also drew a pass interference on the final drive in the fourth quarter. — Berman
Major fail by Campbell and Goff
This was an ugly performance for Campbell, Goff and the Lions. The coaching tonight was head scratching, with several decisions Campbell will likely regret come Monday. The Lions went 0-for-5 on fourth downs. Goff was inaccurate and rattled, completing just 14 of his 37 attempts, including 2 of 12 when targeting St. Brown. Losing Sam LaPorta to injured reserve didn’t help, but Goff was out of sync and struggled throwing beyond the sticks for much of this game. Detroit couldn’t run the ball with much success, either. Just a stagnant offensive outing in a game the Lions needed to keep pace atop the NFC North. — Colton Pouncy, Lions beat writer
Coach Campbell on tonight’s loss pic.twitter.com/EPGX2BEWCg
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) November 17, 2025
Likely goodbye to a bye
The Lions are 6-4, third in the NFC North and on the outside looking in for the playoff race. This is not where they were expected to be after 11 weeks. They just lost a measuring-stick game against a contender in their conference, and any lingering hope of securing a first-round bye is just about lost after this outing.
The Lions will get the Giants and Packers the next two weeks, and have plenty of time to make up ground in the division, but this was undoubtedly a step back. You never quite know what to expect from this group on a week-to-week basis — something you haven’t been able to say about them since they turned the corner in 2023. — Pouncy
