Fourth-and-1 at the Green Bay 44-yard line, 90 seconds remaining in the game with the Eagles holding a three-point lead. Game on the line. And the guy who is new to the Eagles' defense and who dominated the entire night on the nearly frozen (but mostly slippery) Lambeau Field was the one who stepped up to make the play to put the Eagles in position to secure a huge road victory for Philadelphia.

Jaelan Phillips, acquired over the Bye Week via a trade with Miami, penetrated the Green Bay offensive line and reached running back Josh Jacobs for a 5-yard loss. Reed Blankenship poked the ball loose and the Eagles recovered and, fittingly, the defense closed it out one series later as Philadelphia moved to 7-2 and began the second half (ish) of the season with a defensive gem: a 10-7 victory that was every bit as bruising as the final score indicates.

Here are some observations from the game – a big, big road victory that provided a glimpse of just how great this defense could be coming down the stretch of this 2025 season ...

1. Jaelan Phillips: A very, very strong debut

So much for a soft opening. Phillips, wearing No. 50, did everything the Eagles thought he would do when Howie Roseman traded a third-round draft pick to Miami for a talented player who sets the edge against the run (six run stops) and who is physical and aggressive and very productive rushing the quarterback (seven pressures, per Next Gen Stats). He was all of that on Monday night – 6 total tackles, including the huge one on Jacobs with 1:30 remaining in the game on a fourth-and-1 play, two tackles for loss, the fumble recovery late in the first half, and a tackle for a loss on a running play. He played most of the game on the left side and played strong, providing relentless energy.

2. In total, the defense shut down the Packers

Check out these numbers: Green Bay scored seven points, that's the big deal.

Beyond that, the Packers had just 261 total net yards, averaging just 4.0 yards per offensive play. The Packers tried to force feed the football to Jacobs, but the Eagles were all over him. Jacobs amassed 74 rushing yards on 21 attempts and a touchdown, and added 33 yards on five receptions.

Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio smartly rotated his edge players and Jalyx Hunt had a sack and a pair of tackles for loss, Nolan Smith had a sack and two quarterback hits, Brandon Graham played two fistfuls of snaps and looked good off the ball, and the inside guys – Moro Ojomo and Jalen Carter, especially – won the battle.

Nakobe Dean was tremendous playing downhill and the combination of Jihaad Campbell and Zack Baun had their usual effectiveness.

In the secondary, Quinyon Mitchell played shutdown football and the deep secondary let nothing get down the field: the long gain was 25 yards on a completion to Christian Watson on the final, futile Green Bay drive.

3. It wasn't exactly the dagger, but it was close!

Eagles leading 3-0, fourth quarter. Quarterback Jalen Hurts gives a shoulder fake to the defense and goes up top to wide receiver DeVonta Smith. Lined up on the right side of the formation, Smith runs a deep post pattern to the left. Smith leapt over safety Evan Williams for the catch and the 36-yard touchdown to give the Eagles a 10-0 lead.

Said Smith, who had 4 receptions for 69 yards and the touchdown: "You have to make those big-time plays and with the offense struggling, we were saying, 'Somebody has to go out and make the play and fortunately it was me.'"

4. Lane Johnson is beyond tough. He is superhuman

It sure didn't look good when right tackle Lane Johnson, an All-Pro and future Pro Football Hall of Famer, had his left knee clipped in the first half and went down. Stayed there. Looked like he was in intense pain. Worry ... worry ... worry. But he came out and sat on the bench in the second half in full uniform and then played in the final portion of the fourth quarter, an incredible comeback. It was an amazing show of toughness once again and deserves to be applauded and appreciated.

5. Dallas Goedert is a connection that leads to points

The Hurts to tight end Dallas Goedert combination is a real thing and the two hooked up for three completions and 31 yards on a 10-play, 50-yard drive in the third quarter that ended with a Jake Elliott 39-yard field goal to put the Eagles ahead, 3-0. The Eagles moved Goedert in motion, gave him some good matchups, and he and Hurts continued their excellent season together. Goedert finished with 4 receptions for 43 yards on six targets.

6. The Saquon Spin, Part 2

Clap, clap.

Running back Saquon Barkley released from the formation into the left flat on a third-and-7 situation for the Eagles from the Philadelphia 23-yard line with 11:29 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Clap! Clap! "I'm open! I'm open!"

Barkley was open and Hurts found him with a swing pass and then Barkley did the rest – giving cornerback Carrington Valentine a high-step move and then a spin move to make Valentine miss and then it was off to the races with wide receiver A.J. Brown doing a nice job of leading the way with blocking. The play gained 41 yards all the way to the Green Bay 36-yard line. On the next play, Hurts went to Smith for the touchdown completion and the Eagles had a 10-0 advantage.

7. Some key hidden plays made a huge difference

• There were several of these: Green Bay had something going on its first drive, but Hunt made the early play, reaching Jordan Love for an 11-yard sack to take the Packers out of scoring position. Mitchell was in coverage on the next play for an incompletion, and the Packers had to punt.

• Green Bay left guard Aaron Banks jumped early on a fourth and short on Green Bay's second drive, and that penalty forced the Packers to punt.

• Huge play by Dean, who sacked Love late in the first half on a second-and-10 play from the Philadelphia 31-yard line with 27 seconds left on the clock. The ball came loose and Phillips recovered, ending the Green Bay threat.

• Reed Blankenship was credited with a pass breakup on a fourth-and-9 pass from Love to Bo Melton with the score 3-0, and while the offense wasn't able to convert, the stop was huge.

• Early fourth quarter, Packers on the move and Love goes to Watson for a 22-yard gain to the Philadelphia 13-yard line. But an illegal formation penalty erased the play and then Mitchell broke up a pass on second down and Phillips pressured Love into an incompletion on third down. Green Bay then punted from the Philadelphia 40-yard line.

8. Nick Sirianni and the Eagles: Road Dawgs

The Eagles are now 28-11 on the road since 2021. Amazing. They have won 9 of their last 11 road games and are 4-1 on the road this season. Oh, and Sirianni is now 10-0 against the NFC North, including playoffs, and is 4-0 against the Packers.

9. Eagles win battle of third down

Green Bay entered the game as the NFL's best team offensively on third down, converting 49 percent. In this one, the Packers converted just 5 of 13 third downs. They were also only 1 of 3 on fourth downs.

The Eagles on offense? Not bad at all – they converted 7 of 16 of their third downs to keep drives going.

10. Doesn't matter how it went down, the Eagles leave with a W

Sirianni answered a lot of questions about how the game ended and his decision to go for it on that last fourth down – fourth-and-6 from the Green Bay 35-yard line. If you haven't noticed, Sirianni is always going to be aggressive. That's his nature. Whatever, it turned out OK. The Eagles survived when placekicker Brandon McManus shanked a 64-yard field goal attempt into a stiff wind and the Eagles won the game, packed up their gear, and headed back to Philadelphia for a short week and a huge, huge game on Sunday night against Detroit at Lincoln Financial Field.