For the first time in 343 calendar days, the Eagles won a home game, improving to 5-6 with Sunday’s victory over the Saints (who, ironically enough, were the last team the Eagles beat in Philly). Sunday’s game ball undoubtedly goes to Jalen Hurts, who carried the offense with his legs (18 carries for 69 yards and three touchdowns on the ground), but Darius Slay’s contributions, anchoring the Eagles’ secondary with his third interception of the year, can't be overlooked.
Now in his second season as an Eagle following a seven-year stint in Detroit, Slay has been nothing short of spectacular for Philadelphia, delivering three return touchdowns—including Sunday’s pick-six of Trevor Siemian—in his last four games. Slay’s three defensive touchdowns this year are the most by an Eagle since Eric Allen took four interceptions to the house in 1993.
At the time of his interception Sunday, Slay had as many touchdowns as his former team, the Lions, since the start of Week 8 (Philly native D’Andre Swift changed that in the second half of Detroit’s loss to Cleveland). Remarkably, Slay has the same number of touchdowns in the last month as 2020 first-round Jalen Reagor has for his career (three receiving scores in 22 NFL games).
A three-time Pro Bowler and former second-round pick, Slay’s elite playmaking (he holds PFF’s 13th highest cornerback grade out of 119 qualifiers) has been a big reason for the Eagles’ turnaround, winning three of their last four games while quietly climbing back into the NFC Wild Card mix. The Eagles raised plenty of eyebrows when they signed Slay to a three-year, $50-million extension (which made him the league’s highest-paid cornerback until Jalen Ramsey eclipsed his deal with an extension of his own months later) back in 2020. But with the 30-year-old singlehandedly propping up Jonathan Gannon’s defense in recent weeks, you could argue he’s been a bargain.
Hopefully Slay, who entered the league’s concussion protocol late in Sunday’s 40-29 victory at the Link, avoided a major injury. Slay's post-game Twitter activity would suggest that's the case.
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