*Darius Slay forced two turnovers in the final three minutes as the Detroit Lions (2-3) pulled off a 24-23 come-from-behind win over the Philadelphia Eagles (3-1). Here is what you need to know: *
- Big Play Slay lived up to his moniker Sunday. Darius Slay forced a Ryan Mathews fumble with 2:41 remaining, which the Lions recovered, leading to the go-ahead field goal. Slay then intercepted a Carson Wentz heave on the next Eagles play from scrimmage to seal the win. Philadelphia avoided Slay most of the day, and instead picked on weaker Lions defensive backs. When the Eagles went his way late, the corner made them pay. Slay signed a big-money contract extension this offseason to little fanfare outside of Detroit. He'll get nationwide attention after winning and sealing the game for the Lions.
- Wentz threw the first interception of his career on his 135th pass of the season to quickly stifle any last-minute comeback. The rookie quarterback played sublime otherwise. Wentz picked apart a banged-up Detroit defense in the final three quarters with precision passes, heady rollouts, timely runs and great line calls. Too much is made of Wentz dinking-and-dunking. That's the offense Doug Pederson calls. When asked to throw down the field Wentz displayed pin-point accuracy -- his ball placement on a 28-yard back-shoulder throw to Jordan Matthews late in the first half was Pro Bowl caliber. Wentz led the Eagles back from a 14-0 deficit to start the game. If the Eagles' defense wasn't so sleepy in the first quarter, it would have been a different outcome.
- It was a tale of two halves for Jim Schwartz's defense. The Eagles looked sluggish out of the gate. Matthew Stafford carved them up with quick passes on three straight touchdown drives of 11 plays, 9 plays and 12 plays to open the game. Philadelphia could not cover or tackle running back Theo Riddick (two TD catches) in the first half. Jim Bob Cooter used a plethora of misdirection early to gash Schwartz defense.
Nigel Bradham played sparingly in the first half -- Pederson said after the game the linebacker wasn't punished for his bye-week arrest. In the second half, Bradham was all over the field, including three tackles for loss. The Eagles' front dominated the second half, sacking Stafford three times -- Fletcher Cox (1 sack) clown-suited Detroit blockers several times. After giving up 17 first downs in the first half, the Lions got just three in the second two quarters. It was just enough.
- Golden Tate made up for his awful start to the season with a huge 27-yard catch-and-run on third-and-4 to set up the game-winning score. Jim Bob Cooter utilized Tate in the run-game early and wanted the receiver more involved in the offense after he'd been a ghost the first four games of the season.
- The Eagles rotated Mathews and Darren Sproles in the backfield. Mathews took the majority of totes (11 for 42 yards; 3.8 average), but Sproles was the most efficient runner (5 for 45). Mathews made a crucial mistake, carrying the ball in his inside arm on the fumble (the Eagles' first turnover of the season). A veteran should know better.
