Jahan Dotson continued his production in the Eagles' offensive flow. Oren Burks stepped in and stepped up when Nakobe Dean suffered an injury. The defense teamed up for a historic performance. Special teams set the tone. The offense started fast and finished strong.
Added up, the Eagles advanced to the NFC Divisional Round of the playoffs with a 22-10 win on Sunday over Green Bay at Lincoln Financial Field and now await the winner of tonight's Minnesota-Los Angeles game in Arizona.
Until then, let's Clean Out the Notebook from Sunday's win and dig in ...
1. Hard to believe it: Sunday's interception was Big Play Slay's first career postseason pick in 17 career postseason contests. Slay has 28 interceptions in his regular-season career.
"We all do our jobs and I just had a chance to get my hands on the ball and I made the play," Slay said. "I stayed on his hip (wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks) and looked back and the ball was right there. Doing my job."
The interception was the first of three on the day for the Eagles and the first giveaway by Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love in 409 offensive snaps.
"We've been taking the football away and we want that to continue," said Slay of an Eagles team that has 14 takeaways in the last four games. "They change the game."
2. Rookie cornerback Quinyon Mitchell was targeted 6 times and allowed just 2 catches for 10 yards with an interception, according to NFL NextGen Stats. Love's passer rating was just 2.8 when throwing Mitchell's way.
"Q gives up a PI (defensive pass interference) on third down, and then Q comes back and has a big third-down stop on a four-point play on third-and-nine from the 9 (yard line)," Head Coach Nick Sirianni said of Mitchell. "That's dawg mentality."
3. Some notes on running back Saquon Barkley's first playoff game as an Eagle: His 119 rushing yards marked the first 100-yard rushing playoff rushing performance of his career. It was Barkley's 12th 100-yard rushing game of the season (team record) and his 14th game with 100-plus scrimmage yards (ties Brian Westbrook, 2006). The Eagles had a lot of success running behind left tackle Jordan Mailata and left guard Landon Dickerson, as 97 of Barkley's 119 rushing yards came to the left side, according to NFL NextGen Stats. Also: Barkley forced six missed tackles and gained 77 yards after contact. The Eagles ranked first in the NFL in rushing yards before contact during the season (2.0 yards, above the NFL average of 1.1 yards), per NFL NextGen Stats.
Check out these exclusive photos from inside the locker room following the Wild Card Round win over the Green Bay Packers, delivered by the team's Photography Director Kiel Leggere.
Jalen Hurts celebrates with his teammates.
Nolan Smith receives the game ball, much to the delight of his teammates.
Jordan Mailata congratulates Cam Jurgens on a job well done.
Rookies Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean celebrate their first playoff win.
4. Quarterback Jalen Hurts compiled a passer rating of 111.1 on Sunday, his fourth passer rating of 100-plus in his six playoff games. That tied Nick Foles for most playoff games with 100-plus passer rating in Eagles history. Hurts completed 10 of 12 passes for 108 yards and 2 touchdowns without pressure, according to NFL NextGen Stats.
"I think the biggest takeaway for me is taking advantage of those opportunities when the defense gives us the ball back and taking advantage of those opportunities at the time where that is most important," Hurts said. "So that'd be something that we hone in on. We all hone in on and try to take advantage of the next opportunity we have on the field."
5. Tight end Dallas Goedert saves some of his best work for the postseason: He is second in Eagles playoff history with 4 receiving touchdowns (Harold Carmichael 6 in 7 postseason games). Goedert is the only NFL player with a receiving touchdown in each of the last three playoffs and he has 7 straight playoff games with 4-plus receptions, most by an Eagle since 1970. Only Kansas City's Travis Kelce (14) and Miami's Tyreek Hill (10) have longer active streaks. His 24-yard catch-and-run touchdown featured three stiff arms, a highlight of the victory.
"Good read from Jalen and I saw 24 (cornerback Carrington Valentine) there. I made the catch and A.J. (Brown, wide receiver) made a great block," Goedert said as he came off the field on Sunday night. "I wasn't going down. I saw the end zone and I just made it a point to get there. It was fun."
6. Jake Elliott was 3-of-3 on field goals on Sunday to remain perfect (19 for 19) for his career in the postseason. He is just one of four kickers in the Super Bowl era (min. 15 attempts) to have not missed a field goal.
7. The defense has allowed 20 or fewer points in 9 of the last 10 games, including playoffs. Most since Week 10, no other team has more than 6.
8. Wide receiver Jahan Dotson opened the scoring with a touchdown catch from Hurts after Burks forced a fumble on the opening kickoff and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. recovered at the Green Bay 28-yard line. A few plays later, it was Hurts to Dotson and the Eagles held a lead they would not relinquish. For Dotson, who had 7 receptions in the regular-season finale, it was another big step in the offense.
"I've felt comfortable ever since I learned the playbook," he said. "Whenever I get my opportunity to make plays for the offense, I'm gonna step up to the plate and do that. It was a great way to start the game. Shout out to Oren for making the play and setting the tone for the team, and we capitalized. You know, turnovers are rare, especially in the playoffs, so when you get them, you have to capitalize on them. We have a great O-line and Jalen had some time, and I created some space and Jalen found me. It felt good."
