The gist
- Ravens 24, Eagles 7. Philly opened the schedule in Baltimore and got run off the field on both sides of the ball.
- Turning point: nothing turned. Baltimore led 7-0 at half, made it 10-0 in the third, and dropped 14 more in the fourth before Philly finally answered.
- The number that mattered: 18:43 of possession to 41:17. The Eagles ran 40 plays; the Ravens ran 76.
- Cole Payton found Erik Ezukanma from six yards out with 2:14 to play to keep the shutout off the board.
The recap
Not the opener you wanted. The Eagles dropped their first game of the year in Baltimore, 24-7, and outside of one late scoring drive there wasn’t a whole lot to hang your helmet on. Philadelphia (0-1) finished with 159 total yards. Baltimore (1-0) finished with 440.
The Ravens got on the board with 9:24 left in the second quarter when Joe Fagnano hit Ja’Kobi Lane on a 16-yard touchdown. Tyler Loop tacked on a 42-yard field goal early in the third to make it 10-0. Then Baltimore’s ground game took over in the fourth — Adam Randall punched in a 4-yarder, and Austin Reed ripped a 14-yard scoring run to blow it open at 24-0.
Philly’s only life came late. Cole Payton, who finished 4-of-9 for 37 yards through the air and also led the team with 45 rushing yards on three carries, hit Erik Ezukanma for a 6-yard touchdown with 2:14 to play. Jake Elliott’s PAT made it 24-7. Darius Cooper led Eagles receivers with 21 yards on two catches. On defense, Mac McWilliams paced the group with 10 tackles and Tarron Jackson dropped Fagnano for a sack.
| Stat | Eagles | Ravens |
|---|---|---|
| Total Yards | 159 | 440 |
| First Downs | 6 | 31 |
| 3rd Down | 0-9 | 5-11 |
| Penalties | 10-96 | 3-25 |
| Time of Possession | 18:43 | 41:17 |
0-for-9 on third down. Ten flags for 96 yards. That is the whole story, honestly.
What people are saying
Over on r/eagles, the post-game thread lit up the moment the horn sounded, and the snap-count discussion — specifically Jihaad Campbell logging real work as a starter who was not being rested — had people questioning the deployment. r/nfl barely mentioned the game outside of the routine Saturday transaction wrap. The box score did most of the talking this week.
Our take
Here is our read: do not spiral. Baltimore played a cleaner, longer, more purposeful game, and Philly looked exactly like a team feeling out its depth chart in mid-August. When your offense runs 40 total plays and goes 0-for-9 on third down, you are not losing a game plan — you are losing the down-and-distance sequence over and over.
Ten penalties for 96 yards against three for 25 is not a scheme problem. It is a focus problem, and focus is fixable.
Hot take: the possession gap (18:43 to 41:17) is the only number that matters until the regulars get more reps together. Everything else is downstream of that. Cole Payton scrambling for a team-high 45 rushing yards is fun to watch and a small red flag at the same time.
Credit where it is due — forcing two Ravens turnovers, including a Fagnano pick, while getting dominated on every other row of the box score is the one honest bright spot. If the takeaway rate stays up, the offense catching up will make this look very different in a few weeks.
Next up
Philadelphia heads to New England on Saturday, August 22, to face the Patriots. Another road trip, another chance to sort out who belongs on the 53. If nothing else, we want to see fewer flags and a couple of third-down conversions.
That one stings, but it is a long summer. We will be watching — and if you would rather back your reads than just shout them, that is literally the game.