This was a high-quality victory; teams just don't go into M&T Bank Stadium and win so decisively.
The Eagles are clearly one of the NFL's elite teams.
Time to hand out some winners, losers, and IDKs.
The Ravens produced nine points on their first two drives. They ran 15 plays to gain 133 yards.
The Ravens produced three points on their next eight drives. They ran 53 plays to gain just 166 yards.
This is hardly the first time we've seen Fangio's defense adjust and improve after some early issues. It's especially impressive in this case considering the level of competition.
The Ravens were averaging the second-most offensive points per game at 29.9 and leading the league in yards per game at 426.7. Prior to the Ravens' final drive in garbage time, the Eagles held the Ravens to just 12 points and 302 yards.
The Ravens' lowest point total this year was the 16 they scored against the Pittsburgh Steelers. And their lowest yardage total this year was the 329 they gained in that road game.
Even with garbage time included, Lamar Jackson was held to his fourth-lowest passer rating this season. The Eagles' pass rush got to him three times, which tied his season-high for sacks taken.
Derrick Henry, meanwhile, was contained to 19 carries for 82 yards. Hardly bad numbers but that was Henry's fifth-lowest rushing output this year. His 4.3 average tied his second-lowest yards per carry mark in a game this season.
With the Eagles' offense struggling to get going early on, Fangio's defense did the heavy lifting to keep the game competitive. His unit undoubtedly benefited from two missed Justin Tucker field goals and one missed extra point ... but they also contributed to those missed FGs. A third down sack for a loss of 14 yards made the Ravens have to go for a 47-yard attempt on Tucker's first miss. And the second was a miss from 53, which is hardly a gimme. Well, it used to be automatic for Tucker, but he's clearly no longer the player he once was. Only four qualified kickers have a worse made FG% this season.
The Eagles' defense could not be more legit. They're allowing just 13.6 offensive points per game since their Week 5 bye. And that figure includes three garbage time touchdowns from their opponents over the last three weeks. Take out garbage time production and that number is down to 10.9 offensive points per game. That's insane!
And it's not just about the production. It's about the feel. This defense is physical. They play smart. They tackle well. They're beyond sound in coverage. It's just a legitimately awesome unit. Credit to the players for making plays but it's impossible to deny Fangio's influence.
Barkley "only" had 107 rushing yards on 23 carries. That's his fifth-lowest output in a game this season.
But that's also the most rushing yards the Ravens had allowed to a running back this year. The previous high was the 63 that Najee Harris gained on 18 carries in Baltimore's loss to Pittsburgh.
The Ravens were allowing the fewest yards per rushing attempt at 3.5. Barkley finished with 4.7.
It wasn't until later in the game that Barkley really started to make his presence felt. The feeling here was that it was a only a matter of time until he broke a big run. And, sure enough, he finally hit pay dirt when he broke through tackle attempts on a 25-yard touchdown run to give the Eagles a two-possession lead with just under eight minutes remaining the game.
Another Barkley run that really stood out was when he lowered his shoulder to drive through a pile of bodies on Philly's penultimate drive to turn 3rd-and-7 into a first down. It's like he decided he was not going to be denied.
Barkley might have a tough time overtaking Josh Allen for MVP if the Buffalo Bills' quarterback keeps playing well and his team keeps winning. But he certainly improved his chances on Sunday evening. On a field with two other MVP candidates in Jackson and Henry, it was Barkley who shone the brightest.
There's a good chance Barkley will become the Eagles' new franchise single-season rushing leader as soon as next weekend.
Carter only missed one snap in this game; he finally got to rest on the Ravens' final play. This after not too long after chasing Isaiah Likely downfield to tackle him from behind in garbage time. Talk about great stamina and hustle.
Carter regularly created disruption and that much was reflected in the box score this time with a team-high three TFLs, two quarterback hits, and one sack.
One of Carter's three TFLs came on the Ravens' first drive, turning a 2nd-and-6 into a 3rd-and-9 by exploding into the backfield to blow up Zay Flowers. The Ravens failed to convert and had to settle for a red zone field goal make.
Carter's sack was a huge play that knocked the Ravens out of the red zone late in the second quarter and ultimately forced them to settle for a field goal make.
Carter drawing extra attention also opened up opportunities for his teammates once again.
He led the Eagles in total tackles with 13 and solo tackles with eight. One of his tackles went for a loss; that was went he stopped Henry in the backfield to turn 3rd-and-2 into a 4th-and-6 punt.
A blitzing Baun also got to Jackson for a sack (that ended up being split) to knock the Ravens back from the plus 15-yard line to the plus 29-yard line. Tucker missed his 47-yard field goal attempt from there.
Baun continues to play at an All-Pro level. Pay the man!
If there's only one play I'll remember from this game years from now, it'll be the one where COOPER DEJEAN PICKED UP DERRICK HENRY AND SLAMMED HIM TO THE GROUND.
I mean, that's nuts. Who ever does that to Derrick Henry?
And this is a rookie?!
DeJean also had a nice downfield pass breakup on a Jackson thrown to old friend Nelson Agholor. He's a baller.
Mitchell continued to be very sticky in coverage, not allowing the Ravens to get anything going when the ball infrequently went his way.
Mitchell also made a real nice open field tackle on a short Mark Andrews catch. He was in position to make that tackle, too, by playing his zone coverage responsibility correctly.
Smith's up to 4.5 sacks in 12 games this season after only having one in 17 games as a rookie. Smith has seven QB hits over his last eight games. The 2023 first-round pick appears to be making a leap.
Smith led all Eagles edge rushers in snaps played this game. Fangio has clearly come to trust him.
Brown led the Eagles in targets with six and he caught five of them for a team-high 66 receiving yards.
Four of his five catches resulted in first downs. The other one went for 14 yards on 1st-and-15.
Brown's production is obviously limited by a low-volume passing attack. But he's incredibly efficient and impactful. His production powered the Eagles' two touchdown drives in the second quarter.
Four targets for three receptions, 35 yards, and one touchdown is hardly the flashiest stat line. But Goedert's first catch resulted in a catch-and-run score and his next two went for first downs.
He made his limited opportunities count.
The passing numbers: 11/19 (57.9% completion), 118 yards (6.2 average), 1 TD, 0 INT, 93.8 passer rating.
The running numbers: 9 carries, 29 yards, 1 TD.
Not flashy. But Hurts once again avoided turning the ball over and made timely plays with both his arm and his legs.
There's a lot of talent on this team and Roseman was a driving force behind the Fangio hire.
Sirianni has previously shared his messaging to the team about how it's not about which team is tougher ... but rather it's about which team is tougher longer.
And there's no question the Eagles embody this mantra.
They simply outlast their opponents. They're the team delivering the knockout punch late in the game.
If the Eagles didn't have an identity, Sirianni would be taking heat for that. But they do, so, he probably deserves credit for that.
Not to mention that the overall vibes are pretty immaculate.
For what it's worth, Pro Football Focus had Davis as their third-highest graded player from either team in this game!
He certainly was more active than the box score would suggest (two total tackles, one solo). Davis was visibly in the mix when the Eagles were stopping Henry runs.
CJGJ delivered a pep talk on the sideline after the Ravens' first two drives, both of which resulted in scores. After that, the defense was pretty awesome for the rest of the game.
CJGJ also apparently encouraged Sirianni to go for it on 4th-and-inches on Philly's penultimate drive:
Rodgers' ability to fill in more than adequately for Darius Slay is probably underappreciated. He's no liability out there. In addition to being good in coverage, Rodgers made some key open field tackles. One of them forced a fourth down attempt ... that the Ravens converted. But, hey, Rodgers created an opportunity for a turnover on downs.
Hunt split a sack with Baun. He also put a huge hit on the Ravens' kick returner to log a special teams tackle. The rookie edge rusher generally looks like he belongs on the field, which is more than most would've expected from him this season.
Filling in for Reed Blankenship, who was ruled out of the game due to a concussion, McCollum did not look lost out there. In fact, he almost came up with an interception on Jackson's 4th-and-8 throw over the middle.
Though seemingly not intentional, dropping the ball was probably the smarter play (unless he had a good lane for a pick-six). Likely better field position with the turnover on downs than the pick.
McCollum figures to start for the Eagles in Week 14 if Blankenship isn't cleared to return by then.
Mann was busy with six punts for 307 yards, a 51.2 average. Five of his punts were downed inside the 20-yard line and two were downed inside the five-yard line. That's good work.
Mann was aided by bad decision-making from the Ravens' returner to let the ball bounce instead of fair catching it. Still, Mann deserves credit for doing his part.
Covey had a bad third down drop on the Eagles' first drive (the completion would've been shorts of the sticks anyway). But he did a nice job as a punt returner. That much isn't totally reflected in his stats with four returns for 29 yards (7.3 average). It's also about how Covey prevented the ball from bouncing for worse field position like the Ravens did. Opportunity cost.
Teams clearly go after him whenever he's in the game.
Maddox can't be on the field. The Eagles need to figure something else. They have other DB options.
A couple gripes:
All told, the Eagles were penalized eight times for 55 yards while the Ravens were penalized four times for 20 yards.
Hurts is obviously a big part of this but it's not just him. The passing offense as a whole still just isn't clicking the way it feels like it should be. No DeVonta Smith in this game didn't help but the Eagles still should've been able to have more success through the air than they did.
The Ravens were allowing the second-most passing yards per game in the NFL at 277.7. Baltimore was also missing their top pass rusher. And yet the Eagles were only able to put up 112 net passing yards. That's significantly lower than the Ravens' second-lowest passing output allowed at 155 yards.
Maybe the passing offense just doesn't matter (feels weird to say!) if the defense and run game continue to be so strong. But if the passing offense is ultimately their undoing in a season-ending loss ... well, it won't be a shocker.
Are the Eagles being bad offensively early on purpose? Perhaps trying to see how the opposition reacts to what they're doing?
If that's truly the case, hard to argue with the results after these slow starts. But you'd really like them to not be quite as bad early on.
Also, the opening sequence to this game was pretty bizarre.
First down: Barkley runs for 12 yards. Great! Keep feeding him until the Ravens prove they can stop it, right?
Wrong. Incompletion to Parris Campbell, designed lateral to Will Shipley, third down throw short of the sticks to Britain Covey.
How does Barkley not get another touch after his first one? Why isn't one of A.J. Brown or Dallas Goedert being involved?
Why is Shipley being shoehorned into the offense early on with a sole offensive snap?
I don't know.
Ringo hit the Ravens' punt returner after a fair catch signal to allow Baltimore to start their first drive at their own 33-yard line instead of their own 18-yard line.
Ringo also got penalized for illegally running out of bounds on punt coverage on a play where the Ravens muffed the return but ultimately recovered. Had the Eagles' fumble luck worked in their favor there, it would've been pretty bad to lose that recovery with such a penalty.
While Ringo made some mistakes, he also was shouted out by Sirianni during the head coach's post-game press conference. Sirianni credited him and Sydney Brown with good punt coverage as the gunners.
Ringo also filled in capably for Mitchell, albeit briefly.
On one hand, Agholor made major contributions to the Eagles winning a Super Bowl.
On the other hand, Agholor dropping passes is never not going to make anyone think of the Unlike Agholor meme.
At least the Eagles benefited from Agholor's mistake this time around.