‘We Don’t Like That’

PHILADELPHIA – With less than a minute to play Sunday between the Eagles and Panthers, it seemed the Eagles’ grasp on a six-point lead against the 3-9 Carolina Panthers was slipping away.

Fueled by the improvisation of quarterback Bryce Young, the Panthers had caught lightning in a bottle, marching down the field on the NFL’s top defense with little resistance.

Then it appeared as though Young delivered the piercing dagger, silencing the raucous home crowd.

The clock read 52 seconds. Young fielded the snap from shotgun, eluded the rush, and flicked a dart down the middle of the field to rookie wide receiver Xavier Legette, who had slipped behind cornerback Darius Slay and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and appeared to make a diving reception while tumbling into the end zone for a game-tying touchdown.

But the pass was ruled incomplete, as the ball touched the ground before Legette could ultimately corral it.

The perspective of the play varied depending on who you asked.

“So, I could tell you we had a blitz called,” linebacker Nakobe Dean said. “I blitzed, and I’m at the foot of Bryce Young – I grabbed his ankle – and I kind of turned around, and I thought he caught it.

“I didn’t see, because I’m on the ground turning around and I thought he caught it. So, when they was like, ‘Incomplete,’ I was like, ‘Yes.’ Thank goodness he didn’t catch it and we were able to pull out the win.”

GETTY IMAGES: Panthers WR Xavier Leggett’s drop late in the fourth helped the Eagles escape with a 22-16 win.

Charging ahead on a blitz and nearly getting home, Dean’s view of the play was obstructed, perhaps skewing his perception, but the initial reaction of the third-year linebacker aligned with most of those watching.

And Dean wasn’t the only player involved who believed the completion was the death knell to a game that had already been teetering on the brink of an implosion.

“I truthfully thought he caught the ball,” Gardner-Johnson said. “I’m not even gonna sit here and lie. And then when he came up with the, ‘Incomplete, ball hit the ground,’ I’m like, ‘Yes! We get to live another down.’ But I can’t tell you what if he catches the ball – he dropped it. Ball hit the ground. On to the next week.”

Gardner-Johnson, the Eagles’ tone setter this game by tattooing Legette on a slant pattern earlier in the game and leaving the field twice, was giddy when recalling the incompletion, offering a mischievous smirk, suggesting that the Eagles received a favorable call, while adding additional context to the breakdown in coverage.

“To be honest with you, I misjudged the ball,” he said. “If I’d have jumped, I pick it. But shout-out to the ref.”

The game itself illustrated the winning ways of the 2024 Philadelphia Eagles, who once again needed their defense needed to be stellar for much of the game to atone for the offensive shortcomings of the passing game.

The stagnant passing attack, which appeared disjointed and forced the Eagles into a one-dimensional ground game, has persistently put the offense in a bind .

But the NFL’s top defense also found itself on the ropes, allowing the Panthers to compile 302 yards and convert  7 of 16 third-down attempts and 3 of 5 on fourth down as running back Chuba Hubbard rolled up 92 rushing yards.

It wasn’t as if the Eagles were taking the Panthers lightly, not with how they endued a series of body shots before counterpunching. This was the team they had seen on tape, an ascending unit that played up to the level of competition.

“I mean, it was what we expected it to be,” Dean said. “We supposed to stand up when the team needed us the most. Like, who else than the Philadelphia Eagles defense this year to have a drive like that to end the game?

“We wish we would have ended it way earlier than when we did, but it is what it is. The team over there has gotten a lot better, so a lot of respect to them. And we know we gotta clean up some things, too, front end and the back end, and continue to get better from it.”

For a defense that boasts multiple field generals in the absence of injured mainstay Brandon Graham, it was Dean and Gardner-Johnson who shouldered the responsibility of leadership in different ways.

For Gardner-Johnson, who delivered the punishing shot early and snared his third interception of the season to set up the Eagles’ second touchdown, it was the toughness he showcased, which always appeals to the no-frills personality of the fan base.

At one point, Gardner-Johnson left the game to be evaluated for a concussion.

Later, he was a victim of friendly fire, remaining down on the Lincoln Financial Field grass as he took a shot to his back. On both occasions, Gardner-Johnson returned.

“Tough motherf*cker,” Dean said. “He’s tough. I don’t know exactly what was wrong with him, I think he had back spasms or something. He was out there – I heard the collision, so I knew it was hard – but big ups to him.

“I know if he could go out there, he could play. And that’s everybody on defense. [Darius] Slay had one big hit where he was hurting a little bit, and he stayed out there. Everybody on this defense wants to stay out there, because we have a lot of fun when we out there.”

In Dean’s case, his leadership Sunday was reflected in what he didn’t do, rather than what he did.

Just before the half, it appeared as though Milton Williams jumped the snap prior to Young kneeling and taking it to halftime, drawing a considerable amount of pushing and shoving from mostly every player on the field not named Nakobe Dean, who was doing his best at playing peacemaker, separating players and pouring cold water on a fiery moment.

“[Former Eagles linebacker] T.J. Edwards told me when we had the little thing with the 49ers my rookie year,” Dean reflected. “He told me, ‘When you out there and you a linebacker with the green dot, you need to be separating all that.’ So, that kinda came to my head when all that happened.”

As far as the defense goes, it hardly constituted their best effort, but it was one of their gutsiest, all things considered.

With several key players bruised and battered and seemingly swimming against the current at times, the Eagles found a way, playing complementary football and answering the bell in a high-leverage moment.

Despite the win – despite allowing only 16 points – there was no signs of jubilation or satisfaction, but plenty to glean on the defensive side of the ball.

“I learned that it don’t matter what’s thrown at us – we gonna work,” Dean said. “I mean, we hate that we gave up over 300 yards. We hate that we did that, that’s definitely over our average because we play to a standard. So it was like, when we got to the locker room, we had to kinda – because it was more so our position coaches and everything – they had to remind us not to be a prisoner of our expectations.

“So, we know we could play better, we know we wanna play better. It was quiet in the locker room. It was quiet because we don’t like that. And it wasn’t the turnout of the game – the turnout of the game is what it is – just cause of how we played. We feel like we could have played better and we didn’t play to our expectations.”

– Andrew DiCecco (@AndrewDiCecco) is a Staff Reporter/Content Producer for InsideTheBirds.com.