GLENDALE, AZ - The blitzes were coming hot and heavy in the desert on Sunday and the Eagles entered without starting left tackle Jordan Mailata due to a shoulder injury suffered in Week 4 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
When you’re discussing a player with the skill of Mailata at a position as important as LT, that’s the kind of attrition that could derail an average NFL team.
Philadelphia, of course, has one of the best position coaches in the game in Jeff Stoutland and a backup LT in Andre Dillard who could start in at least a handful of other cities but the 2019 first-round pick is still working back from a fractured forearm suffered in the summer.
Enter Jack Driscoll, the right-handed player, forced to move to the left side in difficult weather conditions against the Jags.
The 20-17 squeaker over the Cardinals was Driscoll’s first professional start at LT and to make matters worse, left guard Landon Dickerson was in and out of the lineup, playing in just 26 of the 73 offensive snaps.
“We battled,” Driscoll said. “It felt good, we always say it’s next man up, so I wanted to be ready and do the best I could and not let the team down. I tried to help make my plays good enough to win; Jordan really helped me out this week.”
Sua Opeta spelled Dickerson and Pro Bowl center Jason Kelce, the ironman of the Eagles, was even forced to miss three reps in favor of rookie Cam Jurgens after rolling his ankle.
Despite all of those issues when the Cardinals’ lone remaining healthy running back, Eno Benjamin, took it in from 11 yards out to deadlock Sunday’s game with 9:43 left in the game, Nick Sirianni knew what he had to do.
What followed was an attempt at an almost-inconceivable 9-minute offense, designed to drain the clock and the Cardinals of their timeouts while also finishing with the dagger in the form of a touchdown.
Ultimately, the Eagles settled for 7:58 off the clock, running through the three Arizona timeouts, and a 23-yard Cameron Dicker field goal that proved to be the game-winner in a 20-17 victory.
“We all looked at each other and said it’s on us now,” said Driscoll. “Me and the O-line said we’re going to run it, try to kill as much time as we can, and get in the endzone.
"We didn’t score a touchdown, but we scored a field goal, and it gave us a chance to win. Those are the types of drives you love as an O-lineman, ones where you can say it’s on us, run the ball, and say we know what we’re doing.”
The Eagles began the 17-play drive with eight consecutive runs that moved them from their own 25-yard line to the Cardinals’ 34.
“Maybe the run game wasn’t going the way we wanted it to early,” the Eagles coach said. “... We knew we had a really physical team. We know our identity is to be physical. When we needed to (be physical) the most and we were.”
There was foreshadowing in that sentiment according to an Eagles coach leading into the game. Philadelphia felt it was more physical than the Cards.
“I know we didn’t punch it in,” said Sirianni. “We made a good play there on third down ( a conversion from Jalen Hurts to Dallas Goedert), but our job as coaches is to lean on our best players and we jumped on our offensive line’s back and rode them down the field.
“It was pretty special. … I’m really happy for those guys because they are warriors.”
Sirianni delivered the flowers for his O-Line like an NBA All-Star point guard.
“Jason Kelce fought through bumps and bruises, and we’ll let you know what that is. But, he fought through it,” said the coach. “Landon Dickerson fought through it. … Jack Driscoll at LT. That offensive line are warriors. Lane (Johnson) is, Isaac (Seumalo) is, all of those guys.”
Sirianni then stopped and reversed course to Driscoll for the most praise of all.
“Jack Driscoll - I can’t say enough about him,” he said. “He just keeps stepping into scenarios. There’s naturally going to be bumps and bruises on the offensive line, it’s just so physical in there. And Jack Driscoll just continues to come in and play big in big moments. I’m so happy Jack Driscoll is on this football team.
“He played one heck of a game.”
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