Eagles Survive Texans, Secure First 8-0 Start in Franchise History

It may not have been the highest-profile game being played Thursday night with the Houston Texans hosting the Philadelphia Eagles, but the start of Week 9 in the NFL certainly provided enough entertainment to match the fifth game of the 2022 World Series. Viewers spent half the game wondering if the Texans could achieve the impossible and upset the Eagles before the undefeated favorites finally broke free to clinch their first 8-0 start in franchise history with a 29-17 win.

Despite entering Thursday with the NFL's best record, it took the entire game for the Eagles to shake the team currently in line for the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. But facing the Texans, who averaged just 16.6 points per game this season entering week 9, a pair of back-to-back touchdowns for Philadelphia in the second half was enough to spoil the would-be upset.

"Playing on the road, no matter who you're playing, no matter if they're 1-5, it's still tough," said analyst Wade Phillips of The 33rd Team. "Everybody expects you to do better all the time. Sometimes when you're undefeated or you have a really good team, if you don't put them away in the first quarter, your feeling is, 'Hey, we're not doing good enough.' ... And if they just stay consistent, like they are, then they're going to keep winning."

Jalen Hurts connected first with A.J. Brown and then Dallas Goedert on touchdown passes. The Eagles defense didn't allow a second-half touchdown after giving up a pair in the first half. Javon Hargrave had a career day with three sacks. Both C.J. Gardner-Johnson and James Bradberry intercepted Davis Mills on crucial mistakes from the second-year QB.

"Jalen Hurts is a really good quarterback," Phillips said. "They let him get out of the pocket early in the game, and he really puts a lot of pressure on you that way. He's come a long way, he's not a rookie quarterback anymore, he's making the right decisions. He certainly can get away from the rush and throw the ball away sometimes."

While Hurts may have provided the daggers, much of the foundation of the Eagles' offense was laid on the ground. The Eagles ran the ball 31 times for 143 yards. Miles Sanders led the way with 17 carries for 93 yards and a touchdowns. Goedert led the Eagles in receiving with his first 100-yard game of the season.

Yet despite the Eagles' first 8-0 start in franchise history, much of Thursday's story was about the Texans. The 1-5-1 Texans weren't supposed to last a half against the NFL's best team, let alone carry a four-point deficit entering the final quarter. Not against an Eagles squad that boasted a top five scoring offense and top five scoring defense and also came in as the biggest road favorites in Thursday Night Football history.

But there the Texans were, down just 21-17 behind a defense that didn't back down from the Hurts-led Eagles and an offense that relied on another punishing game from rookie star Dameon Pierce. The Texans down Cooks, their only high-end pass-catcher, leaned on their workhorse and cobbled together a passing game from the remaining pieces when it was needed.

Pierce handled a season-high 27 carries in the game (his third in the last four weeks with at least 20 carries) and had a career-high 139 yards. Behind his effort, the Texans put up the second-most rushing yards against the Eagles' defense this season (168).

But Pierce did not find the end zone, and after the break, neither could Houston. The Texans got touchdown passes from Mills to Teagan Quitoriano (his first career catch, in his first career game) and Chris Moore, but Mills regressed in the second half with two costly interceptions. In Houston's three other possessions after halftime, the team punted twice, and had a drive stall out in the red zone, ending in a field goal.

"The Texans were able to run the ball on them both halves," Phillips said. "The pressure on them hurt them, and still getting ahead of a team, having as good of an offense as the Eagles have, they keep the pressure on you by being ahead of you. And once they do that, well, then they get you in a situation where you have to throw more."

The Eagles now hold a two-game lead in the NFC East while Houston, along with Detroit, remains one of two teams who have one win on the season.