Eagles beat Texans to clinch best start to a season in franchise history, 29 to 17

The Birds are 8-0!

The Philadelphia Eagles are 8-0 after defeating the Houston Texans on Thursday Night Football! Final score: 29 to 17.

8-0 for the first time EVER in franchise history. How about that?

It wasn’t always easy for the Birds, who were tied with the Texans at halftime. The Birds’ sloppiness resulted in a game that was closer than it should’ve been.

Regardless, the Eagles got the win. A three-sack performance by Javon Hargrave helped the defense overcome issues stopping the run.

The Eagles were also able to run the ball effectively on their own with 31 carries for 143 yards (4.5 average) and two touchdowns. The Texans had no answers for Dallas Goedert, who caught eight of his nine targets for 100 yards (12.5 average) and one touchdown.

It was mostly a good night for Jalen Hurts in his hometown return to Houston. He did lose a fumble and almost lost another late in the game. But he ultimately finished 21/27 for 243 yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions, and a 128.9 passer rating. Hurts was instrumental in leading some key scoring drives.

The Eagles clearly have some things to clean up despite having a perfect record. The good news is they’ll get some extra time to work on themselves before they play again.

Next up for the Eagles is a home game against the Washington Commanders on Monday Night Football. An NFC East matchup that’s over a week away from now.

Read on for a recap and stay tuned for BGN’s postgame coverage, including the BGN Radio postgame show.

FIRST QUARTER

• The Eagles won the coin toss and elected to defer, as they always do. The Texans ran on their first play and picked up 11 yards. Avonte Maddox missed an open tackle on Rex Burkhead to bring up a fourth down. Then Phillip Dorsett ran by James Bradberry down the left sideline for a 34-yard gain; a better throw from Davis Mills and it could’ve been a touchdown. A couple plays later, Mills lobbed a jump ball to “Teagan Quitoriano” in the end zone and he outmuscled the Eagles’ defense for the ball. K’Von Wallace biting on the run did not him have the best position to defend that play. I’d ask why Wallace is on the field but I’d rather ask why is he on the team at all? EAGLES 0, TEXANS 7.
• The Eagles started at their own 9-yard after a holding penalty on Shaun Bradley. Dallas Goedert drew a DPI penalty. Facing a 3rd-and-6, Hurts rolled right and threw past underneath targets to find an open Quez Watkins for 23 yards. Jalen Hurts almost got picked off on a throw to A.J. Brown that was a tad high and thus tipped by the receiver as he tried to grab it with one hand. Fortunately Derek Stingley Jr. was not able to hold on. Hurts made a nice throw to Goedert to give the Eagles 1st-and-goal at the 4-yard line. Desmond King tackled Hurts on a keeper, just a good play by him. Kenneth Gainwell had a short catch-and-run to get to the 3-yard line with Jason Kelce dragging the running back along with him. The Texans wanted a penalty for “assisting the runner” … surprised there wasn’t a flag. Miles Sanders ran for a yard after getting tripped up. Nick Sirianni decided to go for it on fourth down … and the offensive line opened up a hole for the score. Good job by the Eagles offense to go 91 yards in 18 plays to answer Houston’s opening drive. Lot of passing early on against a bad Texans run defense. EAGLES 7, TEXANS 7.

SECOND QUARTER

• The Texans gained 18 yards on five plays before having to punt. Britain Covey did a nice job of pretending to field a Cameron Johnston punt (oh hey, old friend) but actually letting it go to bounce into the end zone for a touchback.
• Hurts completed a pass over the middle to Brown for a 31-yard catch-and-run. Brown was frustrated he got tripped up … and he should’ve been because he had a chance to take it to the house. Hurts then hit DeVonta Smith over the middle for a 22-yard gain. Then Hurts got strip-sacked in the pocket for a Texans recovery. Not good. Jack Stoll didn’t get enough of a chip on a blitzing Texans corner to slow the defender down, though that may have been a result of Kelce snapping the ball too early. The miscommunication led to Philly’s first lost fumble of the season.

• The Texans took over at their own 35-yard line. The Texans got to 3rd-and-9 and Javon Hargrave chased down Mills for a big sack to force a punt. Robert Quinn helped to free up Hargrave by drawing a double team.
• The Eagles over at their own 21-yard line. Sanders ran twice for 38 yards into Houston territory. HUGE holes to run through. Then a screen to Dallas Goedert helped move the chains. The Eagles got into 3rd-and-1 and ran a fake QB sneak with Hurts not looking to push his way into the pile and instead carry the ball to his left before getting down just ahead of the marker. Interesting twist. That could potentially be a touchdown if the defense doesn’t play it honestly. The Eagles got to 3rd-and-goal from the 4-yard line and Gainwell was able to navigate through traffic and contact to the end zone. Boom! EAGLES 14, TEXANS 7.

• The Eagles struggled to tackle Dameon Pierce as the Texans repeatedly pounded the rock. Houston drove to the 13-yard line and Mills hit “Chris Moore” for a 13-yard touchdown. After an odd dispute about it being a catch or not, it was finally correctly ruled a score. Tie game. One would like to see more from Jonathan Gannon’s defense. EAGLES 14, TEXANS 14.

• The Eagles took over at their own 25-yard line with 0:37 remaining on the clock. The offense drove 39 yards (including a 7-yard run by Hurts at the end) to set up a 54-yard field goal attempt from Jake Elliott. Lovie Smith called a timeout in an attempt to ice the Eagles’ kicker. Elliott’s kick went wide right. Less than good vibes.

THIRD QUARTER

• Jordan Mailata gave Jerry Hughes a shove that didn’t really impact the pass rusher and instead allowed Hughes to get to Hurts for a sack. The Eagles went to a Sanders run to bring up 3rd-and-3. On third down, Mailata allowed another sack to Hughes. Three-and-out. Why so much passing when the Texans can’t stop the run?
• The Eagles drew a holding penalty to set the Texans’ offense back and Houston went three-and-out.
• The Eagles took over at their own 20-yard with another Johnston punt bouncing into the end zone. Don’t miss him doing that as a member of the Birds.
• The Ealges went three-and-out after Sanders was ruled for a first down but the Texans challenged and reversed it to bring up 4th-and-2. Why didn’t the Eagles try to get a play off more quickly after it looked close? Why didn’t the Eagles use their money QB sneak on a 3rd-and-1? Dumb.
• Brandon Graham tripped up Piere in the backfield to bring up 3rd-and-6. Graham then knocked Davis off of his spot and pressured him to throw without his feet set … to prompt a C.J. Gardner-Johnson pick! Nice diving catch by CJGJ.

• The Eagles took over at the 17-yard line and Hurts lofted a pass to a wide open Brown in the end zone for the lead! EAGLES 21, TEXANS 14.

• Avonte Maddox recognized a screen but overshot it and allowed the Texans to break a 25-yard catch-and-run. The Texans proceeded to run the ball with the Eagles being wholly unable to stop it. Pretty pathetic. Davis missing is obvious not ideal but that alone can’t excuse the struggles. The Texans drove to the Eagles’ 12-yard line before ultimately setting for a 30-yard field goal. At least it wasn’t a touchdown. Good coverage by Kyzir White on Burkhead in the end zone. EAGLES 21, TEXANS 17.

FOURTH QUARTER

• Hurts connected with Goedert four times on a drive that moved into the red zone. The Texans had no answers for Philly’s tight end. A Sanders run brought up 2nd-and-goal from the 4-yard line. Hurts then capped off the drive with a throw to an open Goedert for the score. Fantastic drive. Some real nice, accurate throws from Hurts who looked in command. The Texans jumped offside on the extra point kick attempt to give the Eagles’ offense a two-point conversion attempt from the 1-yard line. Sirianni went for it on a play where Cam Jurgens was motioned out to the slot … but it was misdirect for a successful sneak! Great job by the offense. EAGLES 29, TEXANS 17.

• Sirianni challenged a Texans catch along the right sideline where the receiver got one foot in and a heel in before stepping out. Turns out that the heel wasn’t good enough to count for a whole foot, though. Sirianni won the challenge to set up 3rd-and-10. Then Hargrave bullied his blocker to sack Mills again. Hargrave really heating up lately.

• The Eagles went three-and-out. Didn’t love the call to pass on 2nd-and-12 backed up against their own end zone … Hurts was nearly strip-sacked for a potential TD recovery. No need to get away from the run, especially while trying to kill clock.
• Kyzir White got called for pass interference to wipe out a third down stop. Haason Reddick (!) had a great diving pass breakup in coverage. Who would’ve expected that? Mills got sacked by Hargrave for a THIRD TIME to bring up 3rd-and-19. Then Mills clearly wasn’t on the same page as he threw to a spot that Dorsett was running by … a spot where James Bradberry saw the ball going to for an interception! Boom. Game.
• The Eagles took over at their own 25-yard line. Hurts shook a defender after following a lead block and ran for 14 yards on 3rd-and-15. He also fumbled … and was VERY fortunate to have Jason Kelce standing right there to jump on the ball. The Eagles lined up to go for it at 4th-and-1 from their own 35-yard line and got the first with a sneak. But Siranni called a timeout before it was snapped?! The Eagles lined up to go for it again and … just got it. Game!

FINAL SCORE: EAGLES WIN, 29 to 17

INJURIES

• Fletcher Cox got banged up late in the second quarter. He limped off the field after being on the ground for a bit and returned shortly after.
• Josh Jobe was ruled questionable to return with a thigh injury early in the fourth quarter.

PREGAME

The Philadelphia Eagles have an opportunity to do something tonight that they’ve never done before.

With a win over the Houston Texans, the Birds will be 8-0 for the first time in franchise history.

There’s every reason to believe the Eagles should pull it off. They are 14-point road favorites against their Thursday Night Football opponents.

We’ll see if the Eagles can take care of business in convincing fashion and allow people to pay more attention to the Phillies’ big World Series Game 5 matchup against the Astros. Two Philly wins over Houston tonight is the goal.

Bleeding Green Nation will be covering this game with live updates in the form of highlights, commentary, analysis, etc. Make sure to follow along and refresh the page often.

(NOTE: This is NOT a game thread; it’s a live blog that will turn into a game recap. Use BGN’s designated game threads for each quarter to discuss in-game happenings. The first quarter thread is HERE.)