Jalen Hurts finds Darius Cooper with 9 seconds left as Eagles steal 24-20 win over Titans

The game turned just before halftime, then at the very end

Tennessee struck first when Cam Ward punched in a 1-yard rushing touchdown with 4:22 left in the opening quarter. Philadelphia answered early in the second on Tank Bigsby’s 2-yard scoring run at 12:49, then took its first lead when Hurts found DeVonta Smith for a 22-yard touchdown with 1:49 remaining in the half. Joey Slye’s 37-yard field goal as the second quarter expired kept the Titans close at 14-10, and that detail mattered later.

The Eagles seemed to create separation again when Jake Elliott drilled a 58-yard field goal midway through the third quarter for a 17-10 lead. Tennessee refused to let the game drift away. Ward’s second 1-yard touchdown run tied it at 17 with 57 seconds left in the third, and Slye’s 33-yard field goal with 1:56 remaining in the fourth gave the Titans a 20-17 edge. That set up the finish: Hurts to Cooper from 3 yards out with nine seconds to play, one last red-zone answer in a game full of narrow ones.

What makes that finish interesting is how different the statistical shape of the game looked from the scoreboard. Philadelphia ran 72 plays to Tennessee’s 50, held the ball for 36:25 and converted 11 of 18 third downs. The Eagles also produced 23 first downs to the Titans’ 14. Yet they never had much room for error because Tennessee was cleaner with the football, did not commit a turnover and averaged 5.8 yards per play to Philadelphia’s 4.7. This was not a cruise disguised as a close game; it was a close game all the way through.

Smith gave Hurts the steady answer Philadelphia needed

Hurts’ line was a mixed one and a winning one at the same time: 26 of 37 for 264 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. The two picks kept Tennessee within striking distance, but the passing game still supplied the decisive pieces. Smith was the most reliable target on the field, catching 10 passes for 117 yards and a touchdown on 13 targets. Dontayvion Wicks added five catches for 74 yards, and Cooper made his two receptions count with 26 yards and the winning score.

The more concerning number for Philadelphia sits on the ground. The Eagles rushed 32 times for 89 yards, just 2.8 per carry, and their longest run was only 9 yards. Bigsby scored and led the team with 33 rushing yards on 13 attempts, while Will Shipley added 24 and Saquon Barkley managed 9 on four carries. Against a Titans front that produced three sacks and six quarterback hits, that lack of rushing efficiency meant Hurts had to keep solving the game through the air. Philadelphia still went 3-for-4 in the red zone, which is one reason it survived. But if there is a warning inside a win, it is that living on long third-down sequences and late throws gets harder when the run game is this modest.

Tennessee was efficient enough to win, but not busy enough

Ward gave the Titans a composed passing line — 13 of 19 for 183 yards, no interceptions — and then finished both of Tennessee’s touchdowns himself from a yard out. The Titans also ran the ball effectively enough to stay balanced, posting 122 rushing yards at 4.2 a carry. Tony Pollard had 64 yards on 14 attempts, Tyjae Spears added 41 on seven carries and chipped in 29 receiving yards, and Elic Ayomanor’s two catches went for 69 yards. Tennessee did not waste much. It just did not generate enough total volume.

That is the part the Titans will probably study hardest. They averaged more yards per play than Philadelphia and protected the ball perfectly, but the gap in total plays, possession and first downs eventually boxed them in. Tennessee had only 14 first downs and went 6 of 13 on third down. It also finished 2-for-4 in the red zone. The defense did plenty to give the offense a chance, with interceptions from Amani Hooker and Marcus Harris and sacks from Jeffery Simmons, John Franklin-Myers and Jacob Martin. Chimere Dike also gave the return game useful field position with 101 kickoff return yards. Still, when a team is that efficient and comes away with only 20 points, the missing piece is usually not explosiveness. It is the ability to stack more snaps and more conversions onto the same afternoon.

Our take: Philadelphia owned the clock; Tennessee owned the margins until the last snap

The Eagles earned this result because they kept forcing the game onto their terms after their mistakes. Two interceptions would have sunk a less persistent offense. Philadelphia instead kept piling up third-down conversions, kept extending possession and eventually squeezed out one more red-zone touchdown than Tennessee could match. That is not overwhelming football, but it is mature football, and there is value in winning a game that refuses to line up neatly with your cleaner numbers.

For Philadelphia, the lesson is not to apologize for the escape; it is to tighten the parts that made an escape necessary. A 2.8 rushing average and two interceptions are an unstable combination. For Tennessee, the frustration should be different. The Titans protected the ball, ran it well enough and got efficient quarterback play, yet they finished with only 50 plays and a late lead that lasted less than two minutes. In a 24-20 game, those are not background stats. They are the whole argument.

Scoring moments

1. Period 1 · 4:22

   Cam Ward 1 Yd Rush (Joey Slye Kick)

2. Period 2 · 12:49

   Tank Bigsby 2 Yd Rush (Jake Elliott Kick)

3. Period 2 · 1:49

   DeVonta Smith 22 Yd pass from Jalen Hurts (Jake Elliott Kick)

4. Period 2 · 0:00

   Joey Slye 37 Yd Field Goal

5. Period 3 · 8:08

   Jake Elliott 58 Yd Field Goal

6. Period 3 · 0:57

   Cam Ward 1 Yd Rush (Joey Slye Kick)

7. Period 4 · 1:56

   Joey Slye 33 Yd Field Goal

8. Period 4 · 0:09

   Darius Cooper 3 Yd pass from Jalen Hurts (Jake Elliott Kick)