PHILADELPHIA – Brandon Graham knows something about championship DNA in the NFL and isn’t reluctant to remind those who perhaps lack similar insight.
Now in his 15th season, the longtime Philadelphia Eagles defensive end had a creeping smile on his face as he strode down the hallway in the bowels of Lincoln Financial Field late Thursday night. He also had a twinkle in his eye after his team had pulled away to beat the Washington Commanders 26-18 to strengthen their grip on first place in the NFC East.
Before heading into the victorious locker room, the pass rusher who’s literally become a graybeard paused in front of a gaggle of reporters awaiting access to the players.
“About six weeks ago,” grinned Graham, “Y’all was like, ‘I don’t know. I don’t know.’”
Nearly seven years removed his pivotal strip sack of Tom Brady that gave the Eagles their first – and still only – Lombardi Trophy, Graham certainly knows something about a Super Bowl formula, having reached the Super Sunday stage twice. And the rest of us are quickly learning about his Eagles, who haven’t lost since Sept. 29 after running their win streak to six and improving their record to 8-2, only a half-game behind the Detroit Lions in the race for home-field advantage in the 2024 playoffs.
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“Things are headed in the right direction,” Graham said shortly afterward at his locker. “It’s all chemistry, man.
“We’ve just got to make sure we stay the course and don’t get too big-headed. When we’re holding that trophy, that’s when we can do everything we want to do. Right now, we’ve got to stay focused all the way to the end.”
But it appears these Eagles, who have now started 8-2 or better each of the past three seasons, have everything they need – to win their division, to challenge the Lions, who are widely viewed as the top team in the NFC (if not of all of football), and maybe even take out the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs, who narrowly edged Philadelphia 38-35 in Super Bowl 57.
Graham’s defense is a big reason why, surrendering just 18.3 points per game during the six-game heater. Thursday, it put the clamps on Offensive Rookie of the Year favorite Jayden Daniels while limiting the Commanders to 264 yards, the second-lowest output of the season for an offense that entered Week 11 ranked fourth in the league.
Anchored by Graham, who had four tackles and a sack against Washington, and buoyed by blossoming players like defensive tackle Jalen Carter, linebacker Zack Baun and emergent rookie defensive backs Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, Philadelphia’s defense kept the team in the game – capped by a key stop on fourth down midway through the fourth quarter when Washington could have taken the lead with a field goal – until the offense exploded for three fourth-quarter touchdowns.
“We’re just blocking the noise out and building every week. We’ve got these young boys that’s playing good ball in these pressure moments,” said Graham, who said the team needed a few weeks early in the season to adapt to new coordinators Kellen Moore (offense) and Vic Fangio (defense) during a 2-2 start – once capped by an ugly 33-16 defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, though several key Eagles missed that game.
“It’s all momentum.”
The team also got a boost Thursday from the return of left tackle Jordan Mailata, who was activated from injured reserve after missing more than a month with a hamstring injury.
Of course, these Eagles also have a key ingredient their recent predecessors didn’t: Pro Bowl running back Saquon Barkley.
After a modest start Thursday evening, he wound up with 198 total yards and a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown runs. Now with a league-leading 1,347 yards from scrimmage – currently 131 more than the Baltimore Ravens’ Derrick Henry – Barkley has most definitely proven worthy of the contract he signed earlier this year while becoming an incendiary offensive weapon who takes this attack to a different level and reduces the pressure on quarterback Jalen Hurts.
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“We’ve found a rhythm offensively,” Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson told USA TODAY Sports.
“We love the big, explosive plays. We love handing the ball to Saquon and wearing teams down physically up front. When you can do that, it opens up the pass game, weakens the pass rush when you attack the guys the way that we do. So, complementary football.”
Specialists aside, Johnson and Graham are now the lone holdovers from Philly’s Super Bowl 52 champions. And as upbeat as things were Thursday night, music blaring through the victorious locker room, the vets also recognize it hasn’t been a year since this team imploded down the stretch of the 2023 campaign – ruining the final seasons of iconic (and now retired) Eagles Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox as the club cratered at Tampa in the wild-card round.
“We’re in a good spot, but I want people to remember last year when things were going good,” said Johnson.
“Whenever you have that sense of relief or the job’s done or the accomplishment’s there, then you can quickly get knocked on your ass – and that’s what happened to us last year. Remember that stuff moving forward.”
As for moving forward, the Eagles will enjoy the other side of Thursday night football, which is the mini-bye it affords. They’ll then be faced with three tough road trips – at the LA Rams, Baltimore and Washington again – over the ensuing five weeks. As good as the Commanders have generally been, Philadelphia can’t afford any major slip-ups in its bid to reclaim the division crown – and maybe none if the Eagles hope to overtake Detroit for the NFC’s top seed.
And there are things to clean up, namely the offense’s performance in the red zone and several misfires from kicker Jake Elliott on Thursday. But such concerns aside, these Eagles look ready to fly.
“Winning is the main thing,” said Hurts. “It will always be the main thing. And it takes what it takes, regardless of how it looks.”
Looks awfully good at the moment.
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Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis.
