ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. _ To chronicle, with thoroughness and accuracy, the tumult that has characterized the Eagles' previous three weeks, you'd need much more time and many more words than the typical postgame column generally allows. Before they wobbled and staggered to a 31-13 victory here Sunday over the Bills _ and the 40-mph wind gusts swirling around New Era Field were only partially responsible for all that wobbling and staggering _ they had brought so much turmoil and attention upon themselves that it seemed as if every member of the organization, not just a two-faced and since-released cornerback, was auditioning for a sports studio show.
Beginning with Kirk Cousins' four-touchdown riposte to former linebacker Zach Brown, the Eagles had pinballed from one controversy to another. The Vikings blew them out. The Eagles cut Brown in the aftermath. Coach Doug Pederson went on a radio show, made like he was 10 feet tall and bulletproof, and _ without using the word _ guaranteed the Eagles would beat the Cowboys. The Cowboys blew them out.
Lane Johnson said that players were showing up late to meetings. Behind-the-scenes backbiting, much of it centered around Carson Wentz, was leaking out of the locker room, with an ESPN reporter functioning as the basin that collected the drops and drips. The Eagles cut Orlando Scandrick, who promptly appeared on a Fox Sports 1 program to lambaste his former team, particularly safety Malcolm Jenkins, who responded by using a 13-letter plural obscenity in reference to Scandrick and former teammates like him everywhere. In defense of Jenkins, the Eagles' media-relations staff posted on Twitter a video of Scandrick praising Jenkins' work ethic and leadership during that recent loss to the Vikings _ the social-media equivalent of an attorney catching a duplicitous witness in a lie during cross-examination.
As Jerry Seinfeld would say, it was a scene, man. But on Sunday, at least, the Eagles put enough of those problems (both contrived and actual) behind them to win a game that, to maintain any real hope for a playoff berth, they had to win. They were not perfect. At times, they weren't even good. They committed some untimely and foolish penalties. After they had taken a 10-point lead, they let the Bills zip downfield for a touchdown. After they had taken an 11-point lead and stopped the Bills' offense, they watched Boston Scott fumble a punt and give Buffalo another chance to score. There were plenty of tenuous moments.
Still, their good outweighed their bad. Wentz, amid difficult weather conditions, completed more than 70% of his passes and didn't commit a turnover. Brandon Graham forced a Josh Allen fumble late in the first half; it led to the Wentz-to-Dallas Goedert touchdown pass that gave the Eagles a lead they never relinquished. Their running backs combined for 176 rushing yards, 65 on a Miles Sanders bolt on the second play of the second half.
They're 4-4 now. It doesn't sound like much. It might turn out not to be, if they can't negotiate their grueling next three games _ against the Bears, the Patriots, and the Seahawks. But they didn't fall apart, after three weeks that suggested they might. That's not everything, but it's not nothing, either.
