After a two-point conversion, Tampa Bay pulls within two touchdowns with just over nine minutes left in the game. Still a big hill to climb but they had hope. Jake Camarda puts the kickoff into the endzone and starts Philly at their own 25.
On 1st against nine in the box, Lavonte David stops Gainwell for 1 yard.
As Aikman gushes about Brock Purdy, the Eagles line up in empty on 2nd and 9 and Tampa sends six rushers. Goedert on a quick throw for 11 yards and a 1st.
Philly comes out in 13-personnel and Gainwell follows pulls by Cam Jurgens and Grant Calcaterra for 6, almost breaking a long run.
Gainwell for 3.
As the broadcast shows Ronde Barber‘s pick-six, the Brotherly Shove appropriately shows up for 2 and a 1st.
To the well again, Gainwell loses 3 yards this time. In past years with past teams, this is the beginning of the end of the drive as every fan screams for D’Andre Swift to be back in.
Still talking about Ronde Barber, the broadcast shows Baker arriving to the game in a number 20 Barber jersey.
Incomplete deep to Gainwell bringing up 3rd and 13.
Still methodically taking the play clock down inside 5 seconds, Hurts hits A.J. Brown vs. off coverage and goes for 25 to the Tampa 30.
A couple more Gainwell runs and a quick pass to DeVonta Smith for another 1st and the Eagles wind another two-plus minutes off the clock.
A Hurts rush where he smartly sits down in bounds, two more Gainwell rushes and Tampa finally has Philly in a 4th down.
Obviously intent on limiting Devon Allen‘s competition for Special Teams Player of the Week, Philly does NOT bring out Jake Elliott for his fourth field goal and goes for it. With 10 defenders in the box, Hurts hits Brown for a 1st and that’s game.
A 9 minute, 22 second drive that never let Baker and the Bucs back on the field after an early 4th quarter touchdown.
Putting this game-ending drive into context
Out of 3,290 games since 2010, this was the 4th-longest game-ending drive and the longest drive to end a game since 2018. The others:
The Colts beat Houston in 2012
Against the division leading Texans, Andrew Luck seals a 12-point victory in the final game of his rookie season, beating Houston with a 9:46 drive to end the game. The win was extra sweet in Chuck Pagano’s first game back from chemotherapy where he and Luck led the Colts to a 9-win improvement over 2011.
Nick Foles over the Packers in 2013
Of course Saint Nick shows up. A week after his 7-TD game, Foles fumbles the ball deep in Philly territory late, up 27-13. The Packers can’t convert on 4th down from the Eagles 7-yard line and Foles and a steady diet of Lesean McCoy consumes the remaining 9:32 of the game.
Drew Brees over Washington in 2018
In the game that Brees passed Peyton Manning for all-time yards, the Saints rolled the still-named-Redskins. Down 43-19, the Saints burned off the remaining 10:25 of the game with a 15-play drive.
This team makes a business of chewing the clock
This hope-crushing drive was something to see and you would have to go back (checks calendar…) 11 days to see them do the same.
Up 27-14 in week 2 against the Vikings in a messy game that could have been a loss, the Eagles took over with 5:19 left in the third quarter. Hurts leads the Eagles on a frustrating 15-play drive that got them to the Minnesota 25 yard line, had a touchdown called back on a holding call and then took back-to-back sacks to end up in a 4th-and-34 from midfield. Frustrating to not score, but it also took 9:00 off the clock in a game where the Eagles seemed like they were trying to give the game away at times.
This Eagles team is one of the most effective teams in history in making the opposing offense sit on the sidelines in the 4th quarter.
In a league where the average drive is around two-and-a-half minutes, it is rare that offenses can chew up half of a quarter – since 2010, only 1.8% of 4th quarter drives are 7 minutes or longer. But since the start of last season, this Eagles team is doing it at one of the best rates in a long time.
Over 10% of their 4th quarter drives are over 7 minutes
Since the start of last season, the Eagles have seven 4th quarter drives over seven minutes. This is 10.6% of all of their Q4 drives. The next closest is a distant Bengals team at 6.7%.
Only one time since 2010 has a team had more long 4th quarter drive
The 2019 Ravens had six over seven minute drives, one better than last year’s Eagles team. The Ravens failed to repeat this in 2020 with only one. Meanwhile, the 2023 Eagles team already has done it twice in three games.
Hurts is second best since 2010 in leading long drives
Hurts already has 16 over seven-minute drives with 7 coming in the 4th quarter. Since 2010, only Lamar Jackson has a higher rate.
The tush-push is getting all the hate but teams should worry about getting the Eagles off the field when they have a lead. As the Tampa drive showed, even when teams know a run is coming and load the box, they aren’t able to stop the run.