PHILADELPHIA — Protocol said for Jordan Davis to go down. For once, the defensive tackle didn’t listen. Not after batting a last-second field goal from the sky. Not after finding the football still rolling on the turf. Not after scooping it with a grace he didn’t have a year ago and seeing nothing but 61 yards of green grass ahead.
A hysteric home crowd urged him on. They’d hurtled boos and Bronx cheers by the tens of thousands. Disgusted by an abysmal start, they’d prepared for the heartbreak of a failed comeback. They’d watched Los Angeles Rams kicker Joshua Karty line up for a 44-yard field goal that would’ve offset the one-point deficit. But Davis knew what teammate Jalen Carter learned when blocking Karty’s 36-yard attempt the drive before, enabling Philadelphia’s go-ahead drive: Karty’s trajectory was low. And it was low again.
And Davis ran. He ran until the scoreboard winked Eagles 33, Rams 26. Eagles coach Nick Sirianni smiled, mouth agape. Go down, his logic screamed. His detail-obsessed brain would later recall a 2021 preseason game in which former Eagles defensive back Michael Jacquet stripped the football loose for a scoop-and-score that sealed the game. For Davis, logic be damned. Sirianni tore his headset loose and chased after Davis himself.
How long has the entire organization wanted to see Davis run like that? For three years, general manager Howie Roseman, Sirianni, a series of assistant coaches and teammates — even Davis himself — had demanded more from the 2022 first-round pick and his conditioning. He’d always said all the right things about doing his best, about being available for his team, but a career-low 388 snaps as a full-time starter in 2024 called into question whether the Eagles ought to have picked up his fifth-year option in April.
Davis dispelled all doubt in the Eagles’ third straight win. He validated defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s summer assessment that Davis was in the best shape of his career. He punctuated his promising two-game start with his Sunday confirmation that he can be what a front-obsessed franchise needs him to be: a consistent force along the interior. Carter, the No. 9 pick in 2023, said he found Davis in the locker room afterward and told him, “This is what they got us for.”
Davis was the driving force in Philadelphia’s 19-point comeback on Sunday. After a lifeless Eagles offense awoke with a third-quarter touchdown to pull within 26-14, Davis forced Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford out of bounds on a punt-forcing sack by chasing him halfway across the field. After another Eagles’ touchdown drive pulled them within 26-21, Davis swarmed Rams running back Kyren Williams at the Eagles’ 46 for a one-yard loss on a fourth-and-1 run. Then, with three seconds left in the game, Davis delivered the signature play that demolished the narrative that’s shadowed his career.
Davis sat afterward with reporters and dabbed his sweat-riddled forehead with a towel. A reporter asked if he’d had a chance yet to catch his breath.
“This time last year, it would have been hard for me to catch my breath, I’ll tell you that,” Davis said.
The 6-6, 336-pound Davis is decidedly in better shape. He’s no longer the lineman who chased Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen across the field in 2023, only to disappear within the late-season collapse. His journey began in the background during the 2024 season. Eating right. Extra workouts. Hours accumulated on the Peloton. He exuded confidence upon returning to the NovaCare Complex this summer. Sirianni said he’s seen Davis walk around more with his shirt off.
“Which he should,” Sirianni said. “That’s good. He just worked his butt off.”
Carter said he still sees Davis “conditioning all the time.” He wasn’t surprised to see Davis sprint.
“To me, he didn’t look tired after that,” Carter said. “He probably could have ran another 60 yards.”
A reporter jokingly asked Eagles running back Saquon Barkley if Davis had a future at running back.
“Probably not a future at running back,” Barkley grinned. “But I wonder what his speed was.”
A top speed of 18.59 mph, an Eagles PR staffer mentioned. Barkley’s eyes lit up.
“Maybe he has a future at running back,” he said.
Davis knows his actual future.
“I don’t want this to be a flash play,” Davis said. “I don’t want to be a flash-play player. I wanna be a, ‘He’s an every-down guy, he has the ability to stop the run, stop the pass.’ … I wanna be able to impact more. I wanna be able to do more. My role is higher, my calling is higher. So, I’m willing to do that.”
He wants to embody “the fight,” the “hunger,” the “clawing to win” that he said defined the Eagles during Sunday’s win. They indeed possess those qualities. Their comeback could not have been completed without them. If the Eagles offense continues to struggle, they will need such fortitude in great supply. It’s the sort of character quarterback Jalen Hurts reflected on after the game, relishing how they “stayed together as a team” and “did not quit.”
They all also know that determination alone won’t bail them out long term. Left tackle Jordan Mailata said, “We can’t be the team that’s just finding ways to win” because “it will essentially be 2023 all over again.” He said, “The guys who are here will make sure that will never repeat itself again.” They know they can’t rely on the defense to hold opponents at bay like they did against the Rams while their offense nets negative-10 yards across six drives.
“It couldn’t have went much worse,” Sirianni said of their dismal start.
Linebacker Zack Baun’s interception flipped the field for the Eagles. (Bill Streicher / Imagn Images)
After flipping a first-possession interception by linebacker Zack Baun into a short-field touchdown, the Eagles offense flatlined under first-time offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo. The loss of right tackle Lane Johnson to a first-drive neck injury compounded the issues. Further still, Karty complicated their offensive shortcomings by striking knuckleball kickoffs that return specialists Tank Bigsby and John Metchie III could not handle. The Eagles started drives within their own 20 on four drives after kickoffs. They didn’t score on any of them.
A large portion of the offensive problems originated from poor protection. For the Eagles’ six scoreless drives, they initially replaced Johnson with backup tackle Matt Pryor. The Rams sacked Hurts three times with rushes off Pryor’s side. Jared Verse opened the second half with a sack-fumble on Hurts that set the Rams up at the Eagles’ 10. Stafford threw a 10-yard touchdown to Williams on the very next play. The Eagles benched Pryor for swing tackle Fred Johnson and followed with a five-play, 79-yard touchdown drive to begin their comeback.
Philadelphia’s decision to initially turn to Pryor was questionable. Fred Johnson had reliably served as the team’s swing tackle in 2024 before pursuing a starting role with the Jacksonville Jaguars in free agency. The team’s questionable depth during training camp prompted Roseman to reacquire Johnson on Aug. 25 by sending the Jaguars a 2026 seventh-round pick. But Johnson said he’s still “trying to get my feet back under me with this offense.” It was no surprise to Johnson that Pryor initially got the nod; Johnson did not take any snaps at right tackle during the week leading up to Sunday’s game.
“I was gone for six months. He put in the work,” Johnson said. “Obviously, he’s a hell of a player, hell of a guy. And I don’t think the negative stuff that happened defines who Matt Pryor is.”
No, those aren’t the definitions the Eagles are accepting at this point. They’re still in pursuit of their identity in 2025. Sirianni appeared intentionally reserved during his press conference, repeating that the Eagles have to keep their emotions in check to withstand the swells of a game, the adjustments required on the field. They must be poised and prepared to make plays like Davis delivered in the end.
“The fight in us is ridiculous,” Johnson said. “Like yesterday doesn’t matter, today is what matters. You can see all those guys, mentalities and everybody’s mentality. Nobody gave up, nobody doubted anybody. Let’s go out here and win this game and that’s what we did.”
(Top photo of Jordan Davis: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)
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