PHILADELPHIA — Saquon Barkley made a dazzling putback in a stellar performance and Nakobe Dean had a game-saving interception to help the Philadelphia Eagles to their fourth straight victory, 28-23 over the Jacksonville Jaguars, on Sunday night.

Barkley had 27 carries for 159 yards and a touchdown. He also had three receptions for 40 yards and a TD.

The Eagles (6-2) held on after coach Nick Sirianni squandered opportunities to put easy points on the board. The Eagles went 0 for 2 on fourth down and were 0 for 3 on 2-point conversions, forcing Jake Elliott to attempt a 57-yard field goal with 2:16 left.

Elliott missed, giving the Jaguars (2-7) the ball at their own 47-yard line.

Eagles defenseman Avonte Maddox was flagged 18 yards for pass interference that helped move the ball to the Eagles 13.

But Jacksonville’s second-half rally ended when Trevor Lawrence’s terrible pass was picked off by Dean in the end zone for the linebacker’s first career interception.

The Eagles have found their groove in the bye, riding a winning streak behind Jalen Hurts and Barkley that has put them in the thick of the NFC East race.

Hurts was 18 of 24 for 230 yards. He threw for two scores and ran for another.

DeVonta Smith nearly matched Barkley with a play straight out of a video game on a 25-yard one-handed touchdown grab — reminiscent of New York Jets receiver Garrett Wilson’s catch last week — late in the fourth that clinched the lead of the Eagles expanded to 28-16.

But all those lost points haunted the Eagles.

Lawrence — 16 of 31 for 169 yards and two interceptions — ran for two touchdowns for the Jaguars, including a 4-yard scramble with 4:04 left that made it 28-23.

The Eagles can credit Barkley for this win.

Barkley, who already proved a crucial free agent pick-up for the Eagles, had another dominant effort with perhaps the most acrobatic play of the NFL season.

The jaw-dropping play: Hurts dumped a pass to Barkley in the second quarter and he faked a defender and used a nasty spin move that swung another Jaguars defender to the ground before doing a split-leg, backflip over Jacksonville cornerback Jarrian Jones for the 14-yard gain.

The reverse hurdle stunned the Jaguars and set up an Eagles field goal for a 10-0 lead. But Barkley also made a costly mistake.

Lawrence sparked the Jacksonville rally in the second half when he scored on a 1-yard run and threw a 2-point conversion pass late in the third to make it 22-8. Barkley then fumbled on the next possession, the loose ball was scooped up by Travon Walker and returned 35 yards for a touchdown. The Jaguars cut the score to 22-16 after another two-point conversion.

The Eagles, dressed in their favorite Kelly green uniform, let Barkley handle most of the offense in the first half.

Barkley didn’t settle for the routine plays for much of the game. Before making his first turnover, Barkley hauled in a 20-yard over-the-shoulder touchdown catch in the corner of the end zone to make it 7-0 — important for the lead, yes, but also the Eagles scored their first points in the first quarter all season.

After an Eagles touchdown was wiped out due to offensive pass interference, Barkley got the ball on the next play and rushed 19 yards for the score and a 16–0 halftime lead.

Unhappy homecoming

Jaguars coach Doug Pederson went 0-2 against the Eagles since Philadelphia fired him after the 2020 season.

Injuries

Jaguars: OL Mitch More was treated for a concussion. … OL Anton Harrison suffered a knee injury. …OL Cooper Hodges was carted off the field in the third quarter with a leg injury.

Eagles: WR AJ Brown suffered a knee injury. … LB Ben VanSumeren also suffered a concussion.

Eagles lose star receiver AJ Brown to Jacksonville due to a knee injury

Eagles wide receiver AJ Brown left Sunday’s game against Jacksonville with a knee injury.

Brown rose slowly after his final catch of the game late in the first half. He had two catches for 36 yards before being ejected in the second half.

Brown has already missed three games this season due to a hamstring injury. He has two 100-yard rushing games this season and entered Sunday with 21 catches for 408 yards and three touchdowns.

Brown had 106 catches for 1,456 yards and seven touchdowns for the Eagles last season and has been one of the top receivers in the NFL since his rookie season with Tennessee in 2019. Brown signed a three-year contract extension in April that includes $84 million in earnings. guaranteed money.

Next

Jaguars: Return home to play Minnesota on Sunday.

Eagles: Travel for Sunday’s game at Dallas.