Eagles overpower Jaguars defense with another big second quarter in 29-21 victory

Garry Smits | Florida Times-Union

The day began in spectacular fashion for the Jaguars' defense Sunday at Philadelphia, showing all the signs of following the script in the previous two victories.

Safety Andre Cisco took an interception back for the team's first defensive touchdown in 24 games and their ninth turnover this season, matching all of last year.

Linebacker Foyesade Oluokun made a tackle behind the line of scrimmage and safety Rayshawn Jenkins broke up a pass to force a punt after Philadelphia got near midfield.

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And outside linebacker Josh Allen pressured Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts into an incompletion on a fourth-down gamble.

But the second quarter has belonged to the Eagles this season and they scored 20 unanswered points on the way to a 29-21 victory over the Jags at Lincoln Financial Field.

Two Trevor Lawrence fumbles in the quarter were no doubt contributing factors and the Eagles turned them into 13 points.

Miles Sanders has a career day against Jags

But the Jags also were burned by running backs Miles Sanders (a career-high 134 yards and two TDs) and Kenneth Gainwell, operating behind a brutish Philadelphia offensive line. Quarterback Jalen Hurts mixed in some timely runs of his own and completed 6 of 7 passes in the second period for 67 yards.

Sanders gained the most rushing yards against a Jags defense since Jonathan Taylor of the Colts ran for 253 yards in the final game of the 2020 season. The Jags gave up 210 yards rushing, 4.2 yards per play.

“Whatever the weather conditions are, we practice in this type of stuff," Sanders said. "We do everything we can to be prepared for this type of stuff. Obviously, we’re still going to pass the ball like we did today, but with the offensive line that we have, we’re going to lean on them. Over 200-yards rushing – that’s a day.”

The Eagles gained 98 yards rushing and had 165 total yards in the second period. They converted two fourth-down plays (with Hurts scoring from 3 yards out on one of them) and Sanders and Gainwell posted 10-yard scores.

Sanders had 50 yards on 10 carries in the second period, and Hurts had 24 yards on six attempts.

The Eagles didn't have another turnover after the Cisco pick but Hurts believes his team could have thrown the ball more if the case required.

The Jags defense simply allowed them to dictate the tempo with the run -- 50 attempts, leading to a time of possession edge of more than 19 minutes.

“I just think we did what we did," he said. "I think what we have to realize about this football team is [that] we can be efficient in everything that we do. That could be running the ball, passing the ball, defensively. That’s our goal; be efficient in everything that we do."

Philadelphia held the ball for 11:16 in the period. The Eagles have outscored four opponents 85-14 in the second period this season, scoring nearly three-quarters of their total points (74 percent) in that period.

"We knew coming in this team was the best second-quarter team in the NFL," Allen said on the Jaguars postgame show. "We know we have to stop the run. They did what's been advertised all year. Jalen made a lot of good plays. Credit to him. Credit to the offense. He's a good quarterback."

Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said the two fumbles hurt, giving the Eagles short fields of 57 and 35 yards, but in the end it was up to the defense to make a stop at some point.

"You're not going to keep good teams out of the end zone, where we turned it over," he said. "They have a good offensive line. We all know those guys, know how they're coached and what they pride themselves in. We've got to be better on defensive side, stay in gaps, try to slow down the rush as best we can."

Andre Cisco interception and touchdown highlight Jags' fast start

There were some bright spots on a gray, rainy day. Cisco's interception, off a tipped ball by Darious Williams, and his 59-yard return was the first defensive score for the Jags since Dec. 6, 2020 when Joe Schobert took a pick back for a score.

Allen had one sack (cleaning up when Hurts slipped and fell) and Dawuwane Smoot and Adam Gotsis shared another. Gotsis also batted down a pass.

Oluokun had a season-high 16 tackles, 12 solos, and had three tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Rookie linebacker Devin Lloyd had 12 tackles, four unassisted.

However, those two took bad angles on a handful of plays and four of Oluokun's tackles came after gains on runs or passes of 8, 9, 13 and 14 yards.

Contact Garry Smits at gsmits@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @GSmitter

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