PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia Eagles won on Sunday. They have no plans to follow up with any celebrations.
“No Victory Monday for us,” said head coach Nick Sirianni after the NFC East champions won their playoff opener 22-10, mainly by outlasting a Green Bay Packers squad undercut by injuries – both self-inflicted and otherwise.
“We’re gonna go back to work, because we do have a lot of things to clean up.”
Philly’s first wild-card victory at Lincoln Financial Field in 11 years was hardly a crisp performance by a team that rested the bulk of its key starters in Week 18 and had quarterback Jalen Hurts back in the lineup for the first time since Dec. 22, when he suffered a concussion at Washington.
The Eagles finished with 290 yards offensively, their third-lowest output of the season. They were for two-for-11 on third down. Philadelphia committed seven penalties and only scored a touchdown on one of its four incursions into the red zone.
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“At the end of the day, stats don’t matter. The only stat that matters is that win column,” said All-Pro running back Saquon Barkley, who rushed for a playoff career-best 119 yards (on 25 carries). “If you don’t get through this one, you go home.
“We got the job done – and I don’t like saying, like, we got the job done. We got out here, we survived, we won a football game against a really good team. … At the end of the day, we did what we needed to do.”
Hurts passed for two touchdowns in his return but just 131 yards. However, perhaps far more important, neither he nor his team turned the ball over. Yet the Packers, depleted by injuries and dogged by their own penalty issues (eight for 85 yards) gave the ball away four times and missed a field goal – opportunities the Eagles turned into all of seven points. Despite a dominant first half, they only led 10-0.
“We gotta correct this tape, we have things that we have to get better from this tape,” said Sirianni, who planned to work the Eagles on Monday – unless they play next Saturday, which would trigger a mandatory day off.
“But if we play on Sunday, we’re coming back to work, we’re gonna get our lift in. … We made errors as coaches, and we made errors as players, and we’re gonna go back and get those fixed. Because all that matters is the next game, and all that matters for that next game is that we get better from the things that happened in this game and repeat the stuff that we did well in this game.”
And there was enough to like aside from Barkley’s performance and the defense generating four takeaways in a postseason game for the first time in 23 years. Philadelphia held the Pack to a season-low point total. Linebacker Oren Burks forced a fumble on the game’s opening kickoff – a play his teammates agreed set a needed tone – leading to Hurts’ first touchdown pass three plays later.
Sirianni cited a “dog mentality,” pointing to kicker Jake Elliott’s pair of fourth-quarter field goals following a missed extra point. Rookie cornerback Quinyon Mitchell’s play was also pivotal, including the game-sealing interception following the two-minute warning, even though his pass interference penalty led to a Packers field goal in the second half.
“The defense put us in great positions all night. Defense, man, played a helluva game today – that’s where all the credit should go,” said Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata, who said the offense would need to clean up its execution, communication and procedure.
“A lot to learn from … I know that our coaches want to be a lot more detailed in the next coming days about how we can be better.”
The team will likely also have to move forward without starting linebacker Nakobe Dean, who was carted off with a knee injury that appeared serious. He left the stadium on crutches.
Philadelphia can’t control injuries. The Eagles can’t worry about style points when they matter the least. But the NFC East champs will have to be better given their next opponent – and Barkley and his teammates were quite relieved to earn another home game in the divisional round – likely won’t be as debilitated as the Packers, who seemed to lose a player to injury every other snap in addition to their other issues. Surviving the divisional round could quite probably mean a trip to Detroit to face the high-powered Lions and an even smaller margin for error.
“I hate this quote, but ‘practice makes perfect.’ You’re never going to be perfect. But at the end of the day – I know we have all these stars and all these weapons – but the only thing that matters is winning the game,” said Barkley. “I’m gonna say that until I’m blue in the face. I truly believe that. Stat lines (are) over. It don’t matter. What you did in the regular season, it doesn’t carry over. The only stat line that matters is wins, and that’s our mindset.
“You play defense, and you run the ball – through the test of time, you’re gonna be in a good situation to win football games. I know that’s been lost in recent years, but that’s the truth. … You’re built up for a run of success, and we have that.”
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Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis.