The Eagles enter the second half trailing 17-7 for the second week in a row after two Jalen Hurts turnovers resulted in touchdowns for the Bills offense.
The Buffalo defense held the Philadelphia defense to 99 total yards in the first half, with Brian Johnson’s offense going 9-4 on third downs.
The Bills offense was 6-12 on third downs and accumulated 276 yards in the first half during a cold, wet, rainy late afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field.
With the second half set to start, here are the takeaways and observations from the ugly first half.
Bills go 3 and out on first drive
Buffalo’s first drive was 3 plays, and 8 yards before being forced to punt.
Eagles go 3 and out on first drive
Looking to copy the Bills, Philadelphia matched the Bills inept play on their first drive, calling three pass plays with Lane Johnson out of the lineup, and not gaining a single yard before punting.
Jack Driscoll
Leonard Floyd isn’t all an All-Pro, but he’s a skilled pass rusher and he’s going to give Jack Driscoll hell all afternoon.
Floyd got a pressure on Jalen Hurts, on the game’s first play.
Darius Slay is traveling
Diggs has 5 catches for 60 yards and a touchdown, but was silent early on with Slay traveling.
As Darius Slay mirrors Stefon Diggs today, monitor the rest of the Eagles coverage. Bills got James Cook against Nicholas Morrow, and were it not for another timely drop, the Eagles would be in deeper trouble.
— Brooks Kubena (@BKubena) November 26, 2023
Brandon Graham breaks a record
Graham’s 189th game in an Eagles uniform broke David Akers franchise record.
Eagles 2nd drive
Can't stop the Brotherly Shove
📺: #BUFvsPHI on CBS
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/1dOevJjoZZ pic.twitter.com/XxtOa29sK4— NFL (@NFL) November 26, 2023
James Bradberry
Bradberry finished the first half with two tackles and three passes defended.
James Bradberry already has 2 PBUs. One vs. Stefon Diggs and another vs. Gabe Davis.
Bradberry leads all NFL defensive backs with 87 passes defensed since 2018
— Josh Tolentino (@JCTSports) November 26, 2023
Jalen Hurts career high
Hurts made history with 10+ rushing touchdowns in three straight seasons, but he also threw his career high 10th interception of the season.
Philadelphia now has 15 turnovers through 11 games played, after having 19 total all of last season.
Terrel Bernard intercepts the tipped pass ‼️
📺: #BUFvsPHI on CBS
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/1dOevJjoZZ pic.twitter.com/QFL5ZQyJpY— NFL (@NFL) November 26, 2023
Josh Allen
Allen is 19 of 32 passing, for 209 yards and 1 passing touchdown. Allen also has 4 carries for 40 yards and 1 rushing touchdown.
Pure strength from Josh Allen to turn this into a TD 💪
📺: #BUFvsPHI on CBS
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/1dOevJjoZZ pic.twitter.com/aSOCMyFG4x— NFL (@NFL) November 26, 2023
Jalen Hurts ugly first half
With 6:00 minutes left in the first half, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was 2 of 9 passing for 19 yards, and 1 INT, with a passer rating of 0.0.
Hurts finished the first half 4-11 passing, for 33 yards and the one interception. Hurts also had 7 carries for 22 yards and 1 rushing touchdown, along with the two turnovers.
D'Andre Swift
If Brian Johnson saw an advantage in the passing game, he was clearly mistaken in the first half, as D’Andre Swift had just three touches for 7 total yards on the Eagles’ first four drives.
Buffalo has two cornerbacks in the concussion protocol, but they have pass rushers Leonard Floyd and Von Miller, along with the benefit of a cold, and rainy afternoon in Philadelphia.
A.J. Brown
With Rasul Douglas as the Bills best cornerback on the field, A.J. Brown was held without a target midway through the first half.
With one half completed, Brown has two catches for 14 yards, while DeVonta Smith has two for 19 yards.
Bills dominating time of possession
Midway through the second quarter, the Eagles had four total offensive possessions, and 8 total minutes of offense.
The Bills ran 46 plays in the first half and had the football for 19+ minutes, compared to Philadelphia’s 26 plays and 10:50 of possession.
Buffalo dominated the time of possesion in the first half, and the Eagles have to start sustaining drives.
Jalen Carter
Carter had two tackles in the first half, and this blocked field goal attempt that stopped a Bills scoring drive.
Jalen Carter rejected the kick 🚫
📺: #BUFvsPHI on CBS
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/1dOevJjoZZ pic.twitter.com/3F6GayILy9— NFL (@NFL) November 26, 2023
Hurts-Gainwell Miscommunication
Hurts has 10 interceptions and 14 total turnovers after being charged with this fumble.
Birds give it right back. pic.twitter.com/L2vqSrsDYG
— JAKIB Sports (@JAKIBSports) November 26, 2023
