Oh, baby! New father Slay grabs 2 interceptions against Panthers
For the first time in his tour with the Eagles, cornerback Darius Slay indisputably lived up to his nickname and earned his paycheck.
The $50 million man picked off two passes Sunday to kick-start a feeding frenzy the Eagles rode to a 21-18 win over the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. Only two teams had fewer takeaways entering the day than the Eagles, who recorded three interceptions in sunny Charlotte.
“Big play Slay,” Eagles rookie DeVonta Smith said. “That’s what he does.”
Slay wasn’t about to add a disclaimer to his outing just because it came at the expense of Sam “Giveaway” Darnold, who has been intercepted 17 times in his last 17 starts. Instead, Slay thanked his teammates for helping him get two picks for just the third time in his career while he went through the birth of a son this past week.
Slay shared the second interception with his guys by rocking the ball like it was his son in a cradle. After the game he reminded reporters that some of them aren’t paying attention to the coverage he plays and that the wins would come the day the Eagles started getting takeaways.
“Shout out to my teammates, for real,” said Slay. “A lot of time I couldn’t go to practice this week. I didn’t get no reps. I was just walking through Zoom calls. My baby boy was born. Rod [McLeod], Ant [Harris], all those DB guys, I told them, ‘I need everyone today.’ I leaned on those guys. We cover for each other and I appreciate those boys for having my back out there and putting me in position to make the plays that I made.”
Slay followed DJ Moore, the Panthers’ top receiver, lining up wherever he was. Moore finished with just five receptions for 42 yards. Darnold was frustrated enough to force the ball to Moore, which obviously wasn’t a great idea with Slay in the neighborhood.
At the same time, cornerback Steven Nelson, a late Eagles addition earning $2.5 million this season, made one of the biggest defensive plays in a game where Javon Hargrave and Josh Sweat had sacks. Nelson picked off Darnold with 2:03 remaining to end the Panther threat. The quarterback was trying to force the ball to Robby Anderson.
“They were in a two-minute situation and they were trying to get the ball to a speed guy,” Nelson said. “That guy has been lining up in that formation all day. So, I just kind of read the play before it even happened and made the play.”
The Eagles proceeded to run out the clock, although not with a lot of grace. Twice, Miles Sanders let himself be tackled out of bounds, which so infuriated Nick Sirianni and his coaching staff, they replaced him with rookie Kenneth Gainwell.
Sanders wasn’t the only Eagles player whose sins were forgiven on this Sunday. The laundry list included veterans, as well.
Center Jason Kelce’s high snap ricocheted off the right hand of Jalen Hurts and out of the end zone for a safety.
Greg Ward’s illegal pick wiped out a TD for Smith.
Smith fumbled the ball away after getting first down yardage.
Jalen Hurts threw an interception to Donte Jackson on a deep ball in the third quarter.
Zach Ertz, with four seconds left in the first half, pointed to Hurts hoping to get him to see Quez Watkins, who was open deep down the field. Hurts threw short to another guy. But Hurts connected with Watkins for 53 yards to set up a score the next time the receiver got super-open.
Jake Elliott salvaged the last series of the first half with a 58-yard field goal that got the Eagles within 15-6 at the intermission. The defense, and eventually a punt blocked by TJ Edwards to set up the final Eagles TD, made the plays necessary to snap a sorry three-game losing skid.
“We’ve always been talking about takeaways,” said Slay, who has three interceptions with the Eagles. “You see how much it affected the game. We’ve been telling you for a long time that takeaways are going to come. And now that they did, you can see how much they affected the game.”