LONDON– They say every win in the NFL is huge. Wins are hard to get and rarely do they come easy. That has certainly rung true for the Philadelphia Eagles this year. Sunday’s 24-18 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in London just might have been bigger than any other win this season. The Eagles hit their bye week at 4-4 as opposed to 3-5 riding what would have been two consecutive losses in games which they held a fourth quarter lead.

Philadelphia Eagles v Jacksonville Jaguars
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One step in the Eagles locker room after the win in Wembley Stadium and it was evident this was not a typical victory. Music was blasting throughout the locker room with players dancing and huge smiles across their faces. It was the happiest this locker room has been since they beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII.

It was as if you could see the monkey that jumped off their collective backs running down the hall after the game because of the way they won. The Eagles did all of the things they failed to do against the Panthers the week before to see a 17-0 fourth quarter lead evaporate into a 21-17 loss.

The Jaguars trailed 17-6 in the third quarter and eventually made it a 17-15 game before the Eagles scored once more and got a fourth down stop by the defense to put it away.

“This is obviously a positive sign,” Center Jason Kelce said after the win. “We want to close games out running the ball effectively and not giving them another opportunity. We were better in the red zone, but we can still get better after a decent job today. These are all things that we have been working on and to see it manifest on the field was a positive for sure.”

“We just wanted to go out there and play a full 60 minutes,” Tight End Zach Ertz stated. “That was the message this week. We put games, drives and quarters together but we really haven’t put a 60-minute game together. I am proud of the way we battled for a full 60 minutes today.”

One look at the NFC East standings and it is clear this win kept the Eagles very much in the hunt to defend their division crown. They remain one-and-a-half games behind the first place Washington Redskins with five division games remaining including two against the division leaders.

“It was a good win for us and we have to keep building on it,” Defensive Tackle Fletcher Cox emphasized. “The biggest thing for us coming out with this win is we have had our backs against the wall before and for us, I hate saying this, but it was a must win for us and we all rallied up and were able to come out with a W.

“It’s huge,” Quarterback Carson Wentz told me. “Being .500 is still not where we wanted to be or had hoped to be. Going into the bye week knowing that the real meat of our schedule, the NFC East, is ahead of us when we come back from this bye, it’s a huge momentum and win for us heading into this.”

“It’s a huge win,” Linebacker Jordan Hicks said with a smile. “Moving forward we have our destiny in our own hands. We have a lot of NFC East games still left to play. I don’t think confidence necessarily wavered, but there is definitely a boost and a feeling of turning this thing around for sure.”

The Eagles can enjoy this win for a little longer than normal. They will not take the field again until November 11thwhen they host the Dallas Cowboys. That extra rest will be huge for the long list of players that have appeared on the injury report for the past few weeks. This week off gives their bodies some extra time to heal.


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