”If you take care of the ball, it gives you a better chance to win the football game.” That uncomplicated sentence, uttered by Saquon Barkley almost as an after-thought in January, may well turn out to be the blueprint for Super Bowl glory.
Barkley was discussing the importance of protecting the football, citing specific drills worked on by the Eagles during practices to ensure his team wins the turnover battle. They have been capitalizing on their opponents’ mistakes at an absurd clip.
The Eagles scored 28 points off turnovers in the NFC Championship Game, upping them to +10 in takeaways for the postseason after finishing the regular season at +11. It’s a mentality.
“It starts at practice. Make it a habit,” linebacker Oren Burks told me. “It’s constantly being pointed out — you could have punched it here, you could have punched it there. Like, when that’s on your mind … you might get 500 punches and not get one out but you might get two and it might come out. That’s going to motivate you.”
Oren Burks was ready for the assignment. Next man up. The defense works on creating turnovers and takeaways at every practice. “Perseverance” pays off.
Also: Burks says “Philly is nuts. They probably climbing light poles.” 🤣#Eagles #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/qBtCn23Glt
— Michael Greger (@mike_greger) January 27, 2025
Burks has been on a personal tear, forcing a fumble on the opening kickoff in the wild-card round and employing his patented “peanut punch” on Austin Ekeler in the NFC Championship Game.
“Perseverance is key because it might not happen early in the game,” Burks said. “But, like, when we need it, you gotta rely on it. It just comes down to finding a way to get it done. We just keep preaching it. Drill it over and over and over again.”
Rookies Jeremiah Trotter Jr., Will Shipley, and Jalyx Hunt are three names that frequently come up as game-changing presences at practices. They are masked menaces during ball-security drills, constantly poking at the pigskin and slinking their arms into tight spaces.
“We want to win. We want to hit people. We want to be physical,” defensive end Jalyx Hunt told me. “And we want the ball … if you have that mentality, then you’re going to have our production.”
Burks added: “The D-line has been awesome to play with, like Jalen [Carter] and all of them guys, make my job a lot easier, and we just have a great linebacker corps with Zack [Baun] and everyone in the back. Everyone’s together. Everyone’s on the same page. And you want to see one another succeed and that goes a long way.”
Vic Fangio Has Built Eagles’ New Culture, Feared Mentality
The Eagles’ official postseason slogan has been “Let’s Hunt.” That catchy phrase has been plastered on everything, bedazzling team-branded hoodies on the sideline and captioning weekly hype videos. It’s a bit ironic, too, when you consider the stellar play of breakout rookie Jalyx Hunt. His sack on Matthew Stafford in the NFC Divisional Round put him on the national radar.
Following the Eagles’ 55-23 dismantling of the Commanders in the NFC Championship Game, Hunt — five tackles in that one — was celebratory yet reserved at his locker stall as he reminded everyone that this team has business to finish in New Orleans.
“This is what we expected, and where we expected to be, but this is not the goal,” Hunt said. “The Super Bowl is the goal, so super excited and we know we have to lock in and make the noticeable changes and things we have to change to do what we want to do.”
Hunt was quick to praise Vic Fangio for pelting that philosophy into the defense. The no-nonsense coordinator has resurrected the Eagles on that side of the ball, transforming them from one of the NFL’s worst units in 2023 into one of the best in 2024 — No. 1 in yards allowed (278.4), No. 2 in points allowed (17.8 ), No. 13 in sacks (41), and No. 6 in takeaways (26).
“You gotta get the ball,” Hunt said. “We know that we have a firepower offense, one that is like unmatched. So if we can get them the ball back we feel as if we have a better chance of winning. And, we just got to get the ball. It’s a mandatory thing. Vic don’t like when we not doing that.”
On the [Jalyx] Hunt for a sack! 😈@jalyx_hunt | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/GmgznnoPF1
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) January 19, 2025
Speaking of takeaways, the Eagles have 10 total turnovers through three playoff games this year: four interceptions, six fumbles. Fangio shifted his focus after the bye week when the team was sitting with a 2-2 record and -4 in the takeaway department.
“Taking the ball away was a huge point of emphasis,” Oren Burks said. “I feel like you just have to have it on your mind and take the reps at it. And it’s just a mentality, like, okay, we find a way to take the ball away and you’re like playoff games aren’t given so you find a way to take the ball away. Same thing with that mindset.”
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
