The Eagles love to point out when nobody believes in them.
That was certainly the case on Sunday night.
Entering as heavy underdogs, the Eagles walked out of Levi Stadium with a huge win over the San Francisco 49ers, a game nobody thought they could win.
So how did they do it?
Here are the key reasons the Eagles now sit in 1st place in the NFC East on Monday morning — and the good news is it is a formula this team should be able to repeat.
They Won At The Line Of Scrimmage:
The Eagles have always been a team that has prioritized the line of scrimmage. It is why they have invested so much money and draft capital into the offensive and defensive line.
For the first time all season, those investments paid off.
The Eagles' defensive line was dominant on Sunday night, finishing with four sacks and constantly getting in the face of 49ers quarterback Nick Mullens. Getting after Mullens early was key, as the Eagles clearly rattled him and knocked him off of his game early on. The pressure came from all over, as Josh Sweat, Derek Barnett and even Genard Avery all made plays to help the Eagles' defensive line get the best of a talented 49ers offensive line all night.
While the Eagles' offensive line wasn't as dominant, they pieced-together line got the job done, and should give the team hope for the rest of the season.
Getting his first meaningful snaps of his career, and really for the first time ever in a football game, Jordan Mailata held his own at left tackle against a talented 49ers pass rush. Mailata wasn't the only young offensive linemen to turn in a strong game — Nate Herbig, Matt Pryor and Jack Driscoll all gave the team quality snaps. For an offensive line that has been built around older veterans, Sunday night was the first glimpse of what the future of the line could look like.
For all of the talk about the receivers and the cornerbacks, the Eagles' win on Sunday night was yet another reminder that what truly matters is what happens at the line of scrimmage, and the Eagles dominated both sides of the line against the 49ers.
Doug Pederson Was Aggressive:
Pederson clearly took the criticism for punting the ball away at the end of the game against Cincinnati to heart.
Five years into his time as head coach, it is obvious that Pederson is at his best when he is taking chances and coaching when he feels he is the underdog. Whether it was when he had Nick Foles at quarterback or a collection of practice squad players at receiver, you can tell when Pederson feels he needs to take control of a game and put his fingerprints all over it.
And when he does, it is a beautiful thing to watch.
Pederson was the most aggressive he has been all season, going for a two-point conversion to start the game, and then taking multiple chances on fourth-down throughout. His decision to go for it on 4th-and-4 down just three points and in field goal range might have seemed like the easy one, but for an offense that had just 11 points in the fourth quarter, it wasn't. Pederson not only went for it, but he called a play for rookie receiver John Hightower.
There is no doubt that Pederson is at the mercy of his players. They have to execute the plays he calls. Overall this season they haven't done a great job of that.
But moving forward, the Eagles need more of the Pederson they got on Sunday night, instead of the one they got against Cincinnati.
They Won The Turnover Battle:
The Eagles had fewer passing yards, fewer rushing yards, fewer total yards, were worse on 3rd down, scored lesss points on offense, had the ball less and ran fewer plays than the 49ers.
But they forced three turnovers, compared to just one by the 49ers, which is why they are waking up on Monday morning with the win.
For all of the Eagles' issues they have had this season, the top one was turnovers. Going into Sunday night they had turned the ball over seven times and forced exactly zero turnovers. Not exactly a winning formula. In fact they were lucky it was even a 0-2-1 formula.
That changed on Sunday night, as Rodney McLeod, Alex Singleton and Cre'von LeBlanc all made huge plays to force turnovers at key spots. McLeod's turnover stopped the 49ers from scoring before the half and extending their lead. LeBlanc's turnover helped the offense take the lead just a few plays later. Singleton's pick-six sealed the win.
The Eagles' defense likely won't force three turnovers every game. But they were also not going to force zero the entire season while turning the ball over at a rapid rate.
Moving forward, it is safe to say the turnover battles will start to lean a little more in the Eagles' favor, just like it did on Sunday night.
They Had The Better Quarterback:
Leading into Sunday night Carson Wentz had been outplayed by Dwayne Haskins, Jared Goff and Joe Burrow.
On Sunday night, he outplayed Nick Mullens.
Yes, Wentz getting the best of Mullens should have been expected, but it wasn't considering how poorly Wentz has played this season. Wentz turned in his best game of the season, and made his best throw of the season on his 42-yard touchdown to receiver Travis Fulgham in the fourth quarter. Wentz is clearly at his best when he is moving around, and he made plenty of plays with his legs against the 49ers, finishing with 37 rushing yards and an 11-yard touchdown to give the Eagles an early 8-0 lead.
Wentz still had his normal accuracy issues, and scoring 18 points on offense won't get it done most weeks. But anyone who watched Wentz saw him play the tough game the Eagles needed from it.
The stat sheet won't show it, but the most important quarterback stat will — wins.
You can reach Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com
