GREEN BAY, Wis. – On a day when the Eagles offense scored 27 points in Lambeau Field and had three touchdowns of over 30 yards, their most impressive drive was probably one that netted zero points.
Early in the fourth quarter, with a 14-point lead, quarterback Nick Foles was sacked by Packers cornerback Tramon Williams and defensive tackle Mike Daniels. After the play was reviewed, Williams was ruled to have recovered a Foles fumble that gifted the Packers the ball on the Eagles' 13-yard-line. After the fourth of four defensive stands by the Eagles in the red zone, the Eagles got the ball back on their own 8-yard-line with nine minutes and 32 seconds remaining in the game.
The Packers would never hold the ball again.
A smashmouth 15-play, 71-yard drive ended on three Foles kneel-downs and eclipsed the entire remaining clock as the Eagles offense salted the game away. The Eagles notched six first downs on the drive – three on the legs of LeSean McCoy (who ran for 50 yards himself on the drive), one thanks to Bryce Brown, one on a beautiful catch and run on a screen to tight end James Casey and one on a quarterback keeper by Foles.
"I thought our offensive line and our backs executed," head coach Chip Kelly said after the game. "Nick's keep at the end there to get a first down, James Casey had a huge play for us. Obviously you're in a game when it's a couple-score game, so … (we needed to run) enough time on the clock."
The Eagles' three touchdowns on the day came on three drives that took only 12 plays and four minutes and 28 seconds total. So for the hyperspeed Eagles offense to slow things down and run the ball down the throat of a defense that was expecting nothing but the run was the perfect stamp on the offense's afternoon.
"You know what? It's actually cooler because you would think a long drive like that would make you tired," said McCoy. "But we're so used to going so fast that when we actually slow down, it's like a huddle. We haven't huddled, I think, since last year. So to get a chance to really huddle up and call the plays is totally different. It's a different feeling."
"That was sweet," said offensive lineman Allen Barbre, who was playing left tackle in place of an injured Jason Peters. "That was sweet to kind of come out and grind out the clock. It was kind of a slow place, you know? We're not used to going slow pace, so it's almost like you weren't even getting tired.
"I think we always work on that and we're always grinding that out, trying to run the ball. That's big for us to come out and do that and kill eight minutes off the clock."
After surpassing the 100-yard rushing threshold only once over the last six games, McCoy took extra pride in the success of the final drive on a day when he rushed for 155 yards.
"I think (it was) just dominating," he said. "It's a good feeling because the defense knows we're going to run the ball. You can stack the box, but we're still going to run it. The attitude that the guys up front played with today, especially on that last drive to kind of ice the game out, (was great)."
Make sure to follow us on Twitter @EaglesInsider.
