There wasn’t going to be an upset. Not when the Eagles were the far superior team, not when the Houston Texans were playing without their top two wide receivers, had the NFL’s worst rushing defense, and the league’s third worst offense.
So if the Eagles were a legitimate Super Bowl contender, they would have to find a way to handle the Texans on the road, on a short week.
Of course, the Eagles are never really the away team, or so it has seemed so far this season. Houston’s NRG Stadium was packed with Eagles fans who might’ve been there to catch the Phillies in Game 6 of the World Series against the Houston Astros on Saturday night.
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Or they just might’ve been there because, well, the Eagles are a powerhouse at the midway point of the season.
“The crowd completely took over the game, again, just like Arizona, just like Washington,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni told reporters after the game. “I’m starting to think that we’re not playing any away games. I mean, goodness gracious.
“I tried to say thank you to as many of them as I possibly could. I’d love to have a drink or high-five everyone, but obviously there are too many in the stands to do that.”
But really, the fan support on the road was just one way the Eagles gutted out a 29-17 win over the Texans. The Eagles improved to 8-0, the best start in franchise history.
There were so many other ways.
There was defensive tackle Javon Hargrave with a career-high 3 sacks, just four days after he had 2 sacks against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“They’re just coming in bunches,” Hargrave told reporters. “I just keep working and I’m happy it’s starting to pay off.”
There was safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, whose interception in the third quarter “shifted the game,” as Sirianni put it.
The Eagles were locked in a 14-14 game when Gardner-Johnson dove to intercept Davis Mills pass. He returned the ball to the Texans’ 17 yard line. Two plays later, Jalen Hurts found A.J. Brown all alone in the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown.
“That’s what you fear as an offensive coach … that when you make a mistake, a guy can make you pay,” Sirianni said. “We got a bunch of those guys out there in the secondary, and Chauncey is definitely one of them.”
None of this was easy.
Hurts lost a fumble. Left tackle Jordan Mailata was beaten for three sacks by 34-year-old defensive end Jerry Hughes. The defense couldn’t stop Texans running back Dameon Pierce, who had 139 yards rushing. And at one point, the Mills to Phillip Dorsett combination seemed like the second coming of Joe Montana to Jerry Rice.
And yet, the Eagles found a way.
To understand why, Hurts came up with another one of his analogies.
“I made the reference to your favorite steakhouse or seafood spot, whatever it is, the high-end one,” Hurts said after the game. “You have the fish of the day. You have the chef’s choice, whatever it is.”
On offense, that was Miles Sanders running the ball for 93 yards on 17 carries. It was Dallas Goedert catching 8 passes for 100 yards, including the game-clinching 4-yard TD pass from Hurts with 11:22 left in the fourth quarter.
And it was Hurts making the throws when the Eagles needed them the most. He finished 21 of 27 for 243 yards and 2 touchdowns. His passer rating was 128.9, just four days after his career-best 140.6 in the Eagles’ 35-13 win over the Steelers.
So Hurts continued with his steakhouse analogy.
“I feel like we can show up and run the ball effectively, throw the ball effectively, kind of do both,” he said. “It just kind of depends what that flow of the game is looking like. That’s a testament to our players, how we prepare and our coaches putting us in good positions.
“I feel like we could’ve done some things to create more (advantageous) plays in terms of our execution, and how we respond to certain things. But nonetheless, as a team, we responded to everything that was thrown at us. I was happy to leave with a win.”
Would that outcome have been the same against a good team? Probably not, but it doesn’t matter. The Eagles played the team on their schedule, and they found a way to win.
That’s how they got to 8-0. And if you think the Eagles are satisfied with the best start in the 90 years of the franchise, well, they’re not.
Once again, Hurts put that into perspective.
“I’ve been 8-0 before and lost the national championship,” he said about his time at Alabama. “We haven’t accomplished anything yet. It’s a day-by-day thing for us, controlling the things that we can, and playing to our standard, and trying to grow every day.”
The Eagles grew in a game that wasn’t as easy as it should’ve been, when they had to find a way to beat a determined and undermanned foe. So they did.
“However you get it done, is how you get it done,” Sirianni said.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
