Recap: Eagles’ defense overcomes Foles, offense to beat Raiders and clinch home field advantage in the playoffs

By: Jesse Larch, Sports Talk Philly editor 

Nick Foles was horrible, and the offense was sloppy, but the Eagles' defense returned to their elite form to lead the Eagles to a 19-10 victory over the Oakland Raiders on Christmas night to guarantee home field advantage throughout the playoffs. 

The Eagles opened the scoring with a 17-yard screen pass to Jay Ajayi. Jason Kelce and Chance Warmack built the wall for Ajayi and gave him the opening he needed to get to the end zone.

The Raiders would answer in the second quarter with 63-yard TD to Amari Cooper after Cooper burnt Jalen Mills with a double move. 

The Eagles were fortunate that the Raiders committed 6 first-half penalties to prevent the Raiders from building any real momentum. The Eagles and Raiders were tied at 7 heading into halftime. 

The Raiders settled for a field goal on their first drive of the second half after Jalen Mills broke up a would-be touchdown in the end zone. 

Patrick Robinson gave the Eagles a shot in the arm by intercepting Derek Carr in Eagles' territory and returning it to the Raiders' 40-yard line. 

Jay Ajayi carried for a first down to the Raiders' 30-yard line but had the ball knocked out while fighting for extra yards. On the very next play Marshawn Lynch fumbled exactly how Ajayi did and gave it right back to the Eagles. 

The Eagles would settle for a field goal after Nick Foles missed both Zach Ertz and Alshon Jeffery in front of the goal line. 

After Giorgio Tavecchio missed a 48-yard field goal Nick Foles threw an interception on the first play of the ensuing drive after he overthrew Zach Ertz on a drag route. 

With the Raiders riding the momentum of the turnover Rodney McLeod and Malcolm Jenkins bailed out their quarterback. The safety duo both converged on Jalen Richard and Jenkins ripped out the football while McLeod halted Richard's momentum. 

Unfortunately the Eagles offense was anemic the whole night, and they were forced to punt after the huge play by the defense. 

The Eagles defense refused to bend to Oakland, with Ronald Darby stepping up and intercepting Derek Carr, giving the Eagles' offense 54 seconds from their own 48-yard line. 

The Eagles set up Jake Elliott for a 48-yard field goal with 27 seconds left on the clock. 

Elliott struck the ball perfectly and gave the Eagles a 13-10 lead with 22 seconds left in the game. 

The Eagles made one final stand, when Derek Barnett scooped up a dropped lateral on the final play and returned it for a touchdown. 

The Eagles won what was by far their worst performance of the season. 

Nick Foles completed 19 of 38 passes for a meager 163 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. 

The defense forced six turnovers in the second half, stealing the victory from the Raiders.