The game turned midway through the third quarter thanks to a pressure-induced takeaway by the Eagles’ defense and a two-play touchdown drive by the offense that ended with wide receiver A.J. Brown and his teammates flapping their arms in the end zone in celebration.
First, the defense: With the score knotted at 14 and Houston facing a third-and-6 play from its 24-yard line, defensive end Brandon Graham came clean on a pass rush from the left end position and forced quarterback Davis Mills to step up to avoid the pressure. Mills, off balance and hurried, threw a pass intended for wide receiver Chris Moore that was, to put it mildly, wild. Safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, ballhawking, dived, and came up with an interception at the 42-yard line and got up and returned it to the Houston 17-yard line.
“I just came free,” Graham said. “I missed the sack but, shoot, I’m glad we got the takeaway. C.J. made a great play. To take the ball away, that was huge. I feel like that turned the game around.”
Two plays later, quarterback Jalen Hurts threw to an open Brown, who started on the right side of the formation and tracked across the field, working himself wide open in the end zone for a touchdown grab, his fourth in as many career games in NRG Stadium and the Eagles went ahead, 21-14.
That touchdown plus Jake Elliott’s PAT gave the Eagles 60 points off of turnovers for the season, a key statistic that helped turn Thursday night’s game in Philadelphia’s favor.
“It’s always huge,” said tight end Dallas Goedert, who had another monster game with eight receptions, 100 yards, and a touchdown on nine targets. “Shoot, to score after the defense takes the ball away, it’s what we always talk about. To do it, you know what that does to a team? It demoralizes them. It changes games and I think that happened tonight.”
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