DETROIT − A.J. Brown was everything the Eagles expected in his first game.
The defense, not so much.
So there are two ways to look at the Eagles’ season-opening 38-35 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday: The first is the offense is potent enough behind Brown, who had 155 yards receiving and Jalen Hurts, who threw for 243 yards and ran for 90 more.
Brown’s receiving yards were more than any Eagles player had in a game all last season.
The second is that the offense has to be potent because the defense had a hard-time stopping the Lions, who went 3-14 last season. Twice, the Eagles took 17-point leads in the third quarter.
And yet, Detroit cut the deficit to just three points on Jared Goff’s 22-yard touchdown pass to DJ Chark with 3:51 remaining. This came after D’Andre Swift had run roughshod through the Eagles’ defense with 144 yards on just 15 carries.
Then Miles Sanders saved the Eagles. Facing a 3rd-and-2 from the Eagles’ 27 with a little more than 2 minutes left, Sanders appeared to be stopped by a host of Lions tacklers at the line of scrimmage. Somehow, he broke free and gained 24 yards and a first down at the Lions’ 49.
Then the Eagles could finally exhale.
Sanders finished with 96 yards on 13 carries. In all, the Eagles had 216 yards on the ground.
The Eagles needed all of it. That’s because other than a stretch spanning the first and second quarters, the Eagles’ run defense couldn’t have been much worse.
But once the Eagles turned it on, they were hard to stop, whether it was Hurts running the ball or Brown running all over the field.
It seemed like the Eagles had the game in hand when they opened the second half by scoring on Kenny Gainwell’s 2-yard run as they quickly marched down the field. That gave the Eagles a 31-14 lead.
But the two teams exchanged touchdown drives after that. The Lions’ TD came after quarterback Jared Goff, not known for his running, ran for 10 yards on 3rd-and-7 to the Eagles’ 10 after Avonte Maddox missed a tackle.
Then Hurts hit Dallas Goedert for 22 yards down to the Lions’ 1 before Boston Scott scored to put the Eagles back up by 17 with 1:41 left in the third quarter.
Again, the Lions answered, scoring in the first minute of the fourth quarter.
They got even closer before the Eagles finally held on.
The Eagles had to like what they saw from Brown. He had 128 yards receiving on 6 receptions in the first half alone as the Eagles overcome the Lions’ opening-drive TD to lead 24-14 at halftime.
But it certainly didn’t start off well for the Eagles.
The Lions ran the ball down the field with ease on the opening possession, getting 78 yards on the ground on just 6 carries, highlighted by Swift’s 48-yard run down to the Eagles’ 26. They eventually scored.
Then the Eagles stalled on their opening drive. Hurts gained 35 yards on the ground on that first drive. But he missed all five of his pass attempts.
Finally, the Eagles got going − on both sides of the ball.
Hurts started finding Brown and that softened up the Lions defense. Sanders scored his first touchdown since the 2020 season. Hurts, meanwhile, recovered from his slow start in a raucous Ford Field.
The Eagles scored two straight touchdowns to take a 14-7 lead. Meanwhile, the defense forced three straight 3-and-outs, yielding a total of 9 yards.
Then cornerback James Bradberry intercepted Lions QB Jared Goff and returned it 27 yards for a touchdown. Just like that, the Eagles were up 21-7 with 6:26 left. But the Lions responded and scored with 1:55 left in the first half.
That was the highlight from the defense.
The offense kept going.
Hurts threw deep to Brown for 54 yards down to the Lions’ 4 with 30 seconds left in the first half. The Eagles tried two plays, but Sanders lost a yard, and Hurts threw incomplete twice. So they settled for Jake Elliott’s 23-yard field goal with 6 seconds left to close the scoring.
Then the Eagles scored on their first possession of the second half for a 17-point lead. Then they had to hold on for dear life.
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Jordan Davis makes an impact
Davis, the Eagles first-round draft pick, was on the field for just one play on the Lions’ opening drive as the Eagles’ run defense was gashed.
But he was at defensive tackle on the second drive on running plays, and that coincided with the turnaround on defense.
Davis had a tackle on the first play of that second drive.
Goedert has big goals
Tight end Dallas Goedert has big expectations for this season. He’s starting the season as the top tight end for the first time in his five seasons after the Eagles traded Zach Ertz last October.
Goedert finished last season with a career-high 830 yards last season. When asked what his goals are for 2022, Goedert replied: “I would say if I can have 200 catches and 2,000 yards, that’d be a great year for me.”
The NFL record for receptions is 149. The record for receiving yards is 1,964.
When asked if he really said 200 catches, Goedert replied: “Heck yeah, man. I want the ball, baby. I’m an unselfish guy. I want to do whatever to help the team win. I want to be perfect on all of my blocks.”
All of which gives the Eagles’ more options on offense as Goedert joins A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, however, said it won’t be a problem keeping everybody happy.
“I definitely won’t ever look at that as a challenge,” he said. “Hopefully you have the trust of the guys and you’ve connected with the guys enough that they understand the game plan. You tell them the why behind the game plan. You tell them what’s going on.
“Of course, all those guys are going to want ball, because they’re all competitors, all really good players, and all know if they touch the ball, they can help us win.”
Eagles inactives
The Eagles have every player on the 52-man roster eligible to play against the Lions. And that, to Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, accomplished his goal of the preseason: Getting everyone to the opener healthy.
That includes running back Miles Sanders, who missed three weeks with a hamstring injury before returning to practice last week. It includes defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, who also missed three weeks with a toe injury. And it includes center Jason Kelce, who had elbow surgery on Aug. 8.
The Eagles’ inactives are QB Ian Book, S Reed Blankenship, RB Trey Sermon, G Josh Sills, DE Tarron Jackson, TE Grant Calcaterra.
WR Britain Covey and TE Noah Togiai were elevated from the practice squad for the game. Covey served as the Eagles’ punt returner. His first chance came in the first quarter. He called for a fair catch.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
