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Morning Roundup: Eagles take flight, land in first-place tie in NFC East 

Good morning, Eagles fans! Happy Victory Monday to Eagles fans everywhere!

The Eagles defeated the New York Jets 31-6 at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday afternoon with a stellar defensive performance. The defense recorded 10 sacks, two touchdowns, two interceptions, and two forced fumbles in the win. In this edition of Morning Roundup presented by Microsoft, we cover all the action from the Jets-Eagles showdown. The Eagles' rout of the Jets combined with Dallas' second straight loss, a 34-24 defeat to the Packers, means that the two rivals are tied atop the NFC East with 3-2 records. Let's get right into it!

1. Game Recap: Defense provides the offense in 31-6 win over Jets

The Eagles are now on a win streak after defeating the New York Jets on Sunday afternoon. The defense showed up and set the tone for the whole game with big play after big play. Chris McPherson offers a comprehensive recap of the game here.

The Eagles' defense, in fact, outscored the Jets. Linebacker Nathan Gerry returned an interception 51 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter and cornerback Orlando Scandrick, making his Eagles debut, stripped the ball from Falk in the fourth quarter and returned the fumble 44 yards to cap off a brilliant day for the defense.

2. Spadaro: No frills: Swarming defense, early offense carry Eagles in 31-6 rout of Jets

With the final (and only) home game of October coming to an end, the Eagles now prepare for a long road trip. Eagles Insider Dave Spadaro provides his highlights from the game along with insights on how this victory will help the team in the upcoming weeks. For Spadaro's full analysis of the game, click here.

Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field wasn't particularly pretty. At times, it was downright ugly. The Jets were as inept as advertised, unable to get anything going offensively with an attack led by backup quarterback Luke Falk. Brandon Graham racked up three quarterback sacks for the first time in his career and talked about the defense "having a party" at the expense of Falk. The only stress came early in the fourth quarter when punt returner Corey Clement – in for an injured Darren Sproles – muffed a punt that the Jets recovered and turned into six points one play later.

3. Brandon Graham leads the Eagles with career-high three sacks

Brandon Graham contributed three sacks to the Eagles' total of 10 sacks they against the Jets. His 45.5 career sacks are now the sixth most in team history. The last time the Eagles had a player record three sacks in a single game was Fletcher Cox on December 30, 2018 at Washington. Click here for a full recap of the Eagles defense.

"It felt good. Honestly, I'm just happy we all went out there and had one of those games we've been dreaming about as a defensive line," Graham said. "We're coming together at the right time, especially after all the emotional games we have played. We need one like this."

ESPN's Tim McManus reported Sunday evening that Graham's wife, Carlyne, was hospitalized over the weekend. She is expected to undergo surgery to remove her gallbladder on Monday.

4. Doug Pederson not happy with team's performance

The Eagles throttled a team missing its starting quarterback, two offensive linemen, a pass rusher, and stud middle linebacker at home. The good news is the Eagles avoided a letdown and handled their business. What's also good news is that the coaching staff will have plenty to review as the team prepares to hit the road against a Minnesota team that also improved to 3-2 on Sunday.

"You saw on offense how sort of average we played," head coach Doug Pederson said. "We would take, for instance, a first down run for 8 or 9 (yards) and we'd have a holding (penalty), or a pass and either give up a sack or a holding (penalty).

"The penalties just put us in too many long situations today, second-and-long, third-and-long. I haven't looked at the stat book yet, but I bet you many of those were second-and-long and third-and-long plays that it's hard to overcome in this league. And that's a good defense, now, don't get me wrong, that's a good defense. That's a good front. But no, we offensively didn't play good enough to – we have to look at it and make corrections."

5. Carson Wentz making defenders look silly and taking care of the football

Carson Wentz has only needed to throw for 349 yards in the past two games, but more importantly he is taking care of the football. The offense has not turned over the ball in the consecutive wins. For the year, Wentz has 10 touchdowns against only two interceptions, plus no fumbles. He lost six in 2018.

"I feel like every year since I've been here, I mean you want to take care of the football," Wentz said. "I think we've been smarter with it offensively, playcalling, and just trusting the receivers and everything that we've put in a lot of work through this offseason. I feel pretty good and pretty confident with what I'm seeing, with decisions I'm making and guys making plays."

And Wentz added another ridiculous throw to his highlight reel. On a third-and-5 early in the third quarter, Wentz ducked the sack attempt from first-round pick Quinnen Williams and threw a dart to tight end Zach Ertz for a 21-yard gain. Just absurd.

6. Nathan Gerry sparks the defensive dominance early in the game

Linebacker Nathan Gerry had a pick-six late in the first quarter that helped the defense begin its takeover. The fourth-and-1 pass was intended for Jets running back Le'Veon Bell, but Gerry grabbed it out of the air and returned it 51 yards for his first career touchdown to make it 14-0 with 5:04 remaining in the first quarter. Click here for a full recap of the Eagles' defense.

"Once I saw (Bell) take off, I knew that's where the ball was going," Gerry said. "We knew how they were going to attack us on the short yardage, especially on third and fourth down. We knew how they were going to try and attack us, so we just found a play. We had a blitz call and just made a play on the ball."

7. Orlando Scandrick makes a BIG impression in his Eagles debut

Cornerback Orlando Scandrick, making his Eagles debut, solidified the defense's contributions to the win with a strip-sack and fumble return for a touchdown. The 12-year veteran ran the ball 44 yards to the end zone after recording his second strip-sack of the game. Click here for a full recap of the Eagles' defense.

"I was just finishing the play and not being satisfied with the sack," Scandrick said. "I wanted to finish it and the first thing towards finishing the play is forcing the fumble, then once the fumble is out, just to put points on the board as a defense. I'm so happy to be back. Like I said, it was a humbling experience just being at home for those four weeks. I'm just happy we won."

8. Zach Ertz scores his first touchdown of the 2019 season

His numbers aren't quite at the level of 2018 when Zach Ertz caught made NFL history with 116 receptions, but it would be hard to argue that Ertz is playing at any less of a level. He caught five passes for 57 yards and an 11-yard touchdown at the end of the first half, his first score of the season, and Ertz now has a team-high 29 receptions for 312 yards on the season. He isn't satisfied, but Ertz knows the deal: It's all about winning.

"We didn't play our best game, so we know we have some work to do," Ertz said. "That's the way it is in the NFL. It's not easy. Today wasn't easy, even though the score looks like it was."

9. Run game started slow, but made an impact when it mattered most

Jordan Howard is on a bit of a roll. You can feel it. You can see it. He had 13 carries, 62 yards, and another touchdown on Sunday as the Eagles whipped the New York Jets. Howard now leads the Eagles with 248 rushing yards and four touchdowns (five total) on 53 carries. He's averaging 4.7 yards per rushing attempt. After a bit of a slow start, Howard is fitting in perfectly working with Miles Sanders (54 carries, 193 yards, 3.6 yards per carry) in the backfield.

"I didn't feel like I did a great job in the first half outside of the touchdown (a 1-yard run to cap the opening drive), but I feel like I was able to pick it up in the second half a little bit," Howard said. "Our pass game is going pretty well, but if we have the run game to complement that, it makes us even harder to stop."

10. News and notes: Darren Sproles reaches another milestone

Darren Sproles (19,684) surpassed Tim Brown (19,682) for the fifth-most all-purpose yards in NFL history, trailing only Jerry Rice (23,546), Brian Mitchell (23,330), Walter Payton (21,803) and Emmitt Smith (21,564). Mitchell is the only player who is not enshrined in Canton, Ohio.

Jake Elliott is one of only four NFL kickers to have not missed either a field goal attempt or an extra point in 2019.

Philadelphia became the first team in NFL history to record 10.0+ sacks, a fumble recovery TD and an INT-TD in the same game.

The Eagles have not allowed 100+ rushing yards in 8 consecutive regular-season games.

Doug Pederson has led the Eagles to a 36-22 record since 2016 (including playoffs), which marks the highest winning percentage (.621) by a head coach in franchise history.

Including playoffs, Philadelphia owns the second-best home winning percentage (.759, 22-7) in the NFL since 2016, trailing only New England (.871, 27-4). The Eagles have won nine of their last 13 home games.

Philadelphia has produced an undefeated 11-0 record in the all-time series vs. N.Y. Jets.

Take a look at the best photos from the Eagles' Week 5 matchup against the Jets.

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