Highmark Stadium (Orchard Park, N.Y.) — In a game that had all the makings of a Super Bowl preview, the Philadelphia Eagles showed they might be primed for another championship run.
The defending champs got an outstanding performance from their surging defense and rode it to a nail-biting, 13-12 win over the Buffalo Bills. It wasn’t over until the Bills failed to convert a two-point conversion with five seconds remaining. But it was enough for the Eagles to win their third straight game and stay alive for the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs.
For the Bills, who scored on a one-yard touchdown run by Josh Allen to come within a point with five seconds remaining, the loss ended their hopes of a sixth straight AFC East championship. The New England Patriots are the kings of the division now. The Bills’ road to the Super Bowl will have to go on the road.
Here are my takeaways from the game:
1. If the Eagles get to the Super Bowl, it’s the defense that will carry them there
It’s not that their offense can’t be good. They certainly have plenty of skill players and a championship-caliber quarterback. But the defense is what is making this Eagles team special and dangerous right now.
Early in this game, they stepped it up physically, pummeling the Bills with hard hit after hard hit. In the end, the Eagles gave up 331 yards — 83 on the crazy final drive of the game that featured a 25-yard hook-and-lateral play by the Bills on fourth-and-10. But they did a terrific job of stopping Buffalo cold until that desperation drive at the end.
And that’s really the way the Philly defense has been playing for months. Take away two anomalous games against the Cowboys and Bears in late November and this defense has really been on fire since late October. In seven of their past nine games, they’ve given up 331 yards or fewer. That includes five games in which they held their opponent to fewer than 300 yards.
Philadelphia’s offense may be a bit of a problem, but the defense is good enough to carry the team a long way.
2. The Eagles have absolutely no killer instinct
Maybe it’s the playcalling. Maybe it’s the execution. Maybe it’s a mindset. But one thing has been clear all season long: When the Eagles get a chance to put a game away, they’re not going to do it.
At least not with their offense.
The Eagles had a 13-0 halftime lead and their defense was doing a number on the Bills. At any point in the second half, all they needed was one, semi-lengthy touchdown drive and their lead would have felt insurmountable.
So what did they do in their five second-half possessions? Four times they went three-and-out. One time — their first drive of the second half — they managed to get a first down and picked up a total of 13 yards.
That feels impossible with a team loaded with this many weapons. Some of it is that they aren’t running the ball like they used to. Some of it is because the offensive line has quarterback Jalen Hurts on the run a lot. But really, offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo has to find a way for his offense to do something when the team has a chance to put a game away.
There has to be some play that works, some way they can move the ball just a little. Buffalo’s defense is good, but the Eagles had 17 total yards in the second half when one drive was all they needed. That startling lack of killer instinct nearly blew the game for them on Sunday. And it could really hurt them in the playoffs against a loaded field in the NFC.
3. Josh Allen needs to rediscover his MVP form if the Bills want to make a Super Bowl run
The Kansas City Chiefs are out of the way and the AFC looks wide open, even for wild-card teams that have to make their run on the road. The Bills, with all their talent and postseason experience, are as capable as any AFC team of emerging from the pack.
But only if Josh Allen starts playing like his old self.
He is no longer the engine of the Bills’ offense — that’s running back James Cook — but Allen is still the most capable and dangerous player on the team. He’s got big-play ability, with both his arm and his legs, and is capable of turning a game on its head all by himself.
Or at least he was. Granted, Allen went against a very tough Eagles defense on Sunday, but he’s got to be better than he was for most of the game. He finished with 262 passing yards and two rushing touchdowns, but both his touchdowns and a large chunk of his yards came in the fourth quarter.
He needs to be more consistent. He needs to be better early. The weather didn’t help — it poured for much of the game — but there were stretches when it was relatively dry, and still he provided nothing.
The Eagles did a great job of shutting down the Bills’ top-ranked rushing attack — Cook had only 74 rushing yards. That’s when Allen needs to carry the offense himself — you know, like he did in the fourth quarter, and like he used to do more often.
4. The Bills need a more aggressive approach, especially early
They have relied on second-half comebacks this season, and for the most part, it’s worked for them. But it’s not exactly a good strategy against the best teams in the NFL, which is what they are going to face in the playoffs, on the road.
It bit them on Sunday when they fell just short against the Eagles. Philadelphia let the Bills hang around in the first half, and they couldn’t do anything at all. Despite having a quarterback with one of the strongest arms in the league, they rarely let him throw deep. Perhaps the weather had something to do with it, but the Bills played conservatively in the first half, and they scored no points.
Allen can heave the ball. He doesn’t have the best pass-catching weapons, but he has a couple of receivers who can run. Brandin Cooks had one 50-yard catch and then basically disappeared. Good things can happen when Allen unleashes his arm. On two of his deep passes in the second half, he drew pass interference penalties and then watched as wide receiver Tyrell Shavers made a ridiculous, 32-yard catch.
Why play small ball, especially early, with a quarterback like Allen on your side? The Bills need to take the initiative more, put pressure on the other team. Maybe it won’t work all the time. But they had zero first-half points against the Eagles. With production like that, it’s got to be worth a try.
4 ½. What’s next?
The Eagles have won the NFC East and will have at least one home game in the playoffs, but they still have an outside shot at getting two because the No. 2 seed in the conference is still in play.
They’ll need some help, of course, but at least their part should be theoretically easy. They need to win on Sunday at home against a Washington Commanders team that is 4-12 and has lost 10 of their past 11 games.
As for the Bills, they’re battling for seeding too, but that doesn’t matter as much since they’re going on the road for the postseason regardless. If seeding does matter to them, there’s good news: They’ll finish the regular season at home against the 3-13 New York Jets, who haven’t shown a pulse in a month.
Ralph Vacchiano is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He spent six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him on Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.
Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.