Eagles' defense has carried them to an 8-2 record while the offense struggles

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Take a look at the stat sheet, the game film or even a blip of a TikTok highlight and it's clear the Philadelphia Eagles are winning — and sit atop the NFC standings — because of a defense that ranks among the best in franchise history.

The Eagles' offense, which boasts a Super Bowl MVP in Jalen Hurts and an Offensive Player of the Year in Saquon Barkley, is playing like a unit that knows scoring just one touchdown should be good enough for a win.

In the last two games, at least, one TD has been enough. The Eagles followed their 10-7 win at Green Bay with a 16-9 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday night.

Defensive tackles Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis combined to bat down five passes. Edge rusher Jaelan Phillips had five tackles, a sack and four QB pressures.

Cooper DeJean had an interception — his first since a pick-6 against Kansas City in the Super Bowl — and linebacker Zack Baun led the Eagles in tackles.

Phillips has been an instant hit in two games since general manager Howie Roseman swung a deal with Miami at the deadline to add depth to the defense. He had his first sack with the Eagles — he set a Dolphins rookie record with 8 1/2 sacks in his first season in the NFL and followed that with seven sacks the next year — and pressured Jared Goff into one of the worst stat lines of his 10-year career.

How much longer can the Eagles (8-2) ride their defense before the offense breaks though with some explosive plays?

“I'd like to win every game by 30 points,” coach Nick Sirianni said. “I don’t think that’s the reality of the NFL.”

Certainly not with this season's offense.

The Lions entered averaging 31.4 points per game, then failed to convert on five fourth-down attempts and were 3 of 13 on third down.

The Eagles have held opponents to single digits in consecutive games for the first time since 2022. The Lions were held to their lowest scoring output of the season and lowest since they scored six points against Baltimore in 2023.

The Eagles were the second team in the last 25 years not to allow an opponent to convert on five or more fourth-down attempts.

Would you believe, the tush push?

Hurts scored the Eagles' lone touchdown on the normally reliable short-yardage play, but the Eagles failed on their other five sneak attempts.

Maybe it's just a one-game aberration. Or maybe the Lions — the only team on the Eagles' schedule that voted in favor of keeping the play in May — found a way to stop the tush push, which fueled Philadelphia's run toward the Super Bowl.

“They’re honing in on it, very strict on the guard and the center and how they operate and they got their eyes on it,” Hurts said. “We just have to be as clean as possible and then go out there and find ways to convert it.”

Cornerback Quinyon Mitchell shut down Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, who finished with two receptions for 42 yards. Mitchell has allowed a 41.9% completion percentage this season, the lowest by any player with at least 50 targets since 2018, per Next Gen Stats.

The Eagles again hit the trifecta of underachieving offensive stars, still a troubling pattern through 10 games.

Hurts threw for only 135 yards, Barkley ran for 83 in another average outing a year after he topped 2,000 yards rushing, and former 1,000-yard receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith combined for nine catches for 57 yards.

Offensive lineman Lane Johnson was expected to miss significant time with a foot injury. Fred Johnson will likely move into Lane Johnson's spot on the line.

“We'll see with Lane,” Sirianni said Monday. “I know he'll do everything he can do to get back as quick as he possibly can. We'll see where that leads.”

The Eagles set a franchise record by starting 8-2 for the fourth straight season. Sirianni is the seventh coach since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger to start 8-2 in four straight seasons, joining Bill Belichick (2014-17 Patriots), Mike Ditka (1985-88 Bears), Marv Levy (1990-93 Bills), John Madden (1974-77 Raiders), Sean Payton (2017-20 Saints) and Don Shula (1971-74 Dolphins).

It's hard to believe, but the Eagles can't actually clinch the NFC East with a win Sunday at Dallas. The other three teams in the division have a combined eight wins.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Gigi Hadid, left, sits in a box with Bradley Cooper, second from left, and Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, right, during the first half of an NFL football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) talks with teammates during the first half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Philadelphia Eagles running back Tank Bigsby (37) runs with the ball during the first half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jordan Davis (90) reacts after a Detroit Lions turn over on downs during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sylvester Stallone, Kiss and Gloria Gaynor are among the luminaries being celebrated Sunday at the annual Kennedy Center Honors, with Donald Trump hosting the show, the first time a president will command the stage instead of sitting in an Opera House box.

Since returning to office in January, Trump has made the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which is named after a Democratic predecessor, a touchstone in a broader attack against what he has lambasted as “woke” anti-American culture.

Trump said in August that he had agreed to host the show. The Republican president said Saturday at a State Department dinner for the honorees that he was doing so “at the request of a certain television network.” He predicted that the broadcast, scheduled to air Dec. 23 on CBS and Paramount+, would have its best ratings ever.

“It’s going to be something that I believe, and I’m going to make a prediction: This will be the highest-rated show that they’ve ever done and they’ve gotten some pretty good ratings, but there’s nothing like what’s going to happen" on Sunday night, Trump said.

Trump is assuming a role that has been held in the past by journalist Walter Cronkite and comedian and Trump nemesis Stephen Colbert, among others. Before Trump, presidents watched the show alongside the honorees. Trump skipped the honors altogether during his first term.

Since 1978, the honors have recognized stars for their influence on American culture and the arts. Members of this year's class are pop-culture standouts, including Stallone for his “Rocky” and “Rambo” movies, Gaynor for her feminist anthem “I Will Survive” and Kiss for its flashy, cartoonish makeup and onstage displays of smoke and fire. Country music superstar George Strait and Tony Award-winning actor Michael Crawford are also being honored.

The ceremony is expected to be emotional for the members of Kiss. The band’s original lead guitarist, Ace Frehley, died in October after he was injured during a fall.

Previous honorees have come from a broad range of art forms, whether dance (Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham), theater (Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber), movies (Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks) or music (Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell).

Trump upended decades of bipartisan support for the center by ousting its leadership and stacking the board of trustees with Republican supporters, who then elected him chair. He has criticized the center’s programming and the building’s appearance — and has said, perhaps jokingly, that he would rename it as the “Trump Kennedy Center.” He secured more than $250 million from Congress for renovations of the building.

Presidents of each political party have at times found themselves face to face with artists of opposing political views. Republican Ronald Reagan was there for honoree Arthur Miller, a playwright who championed liberal causes. Democrat Bill Clinton, who had signed an assault weapons ban into law, marked the honors for Charlton Heston, an actor and gun rights advocate.

During Trump’s first term, multiple honorees were openly critical of the president. In 2017, Trump’s first year in office, honors recipient and film producer Norman Lear threatened to boycott his own ceremony if Trump attended. Trump stayed away during that entire term.

Trump has said he was deeply involved in choosing the 2025 honorees and turned down some recommendations because they were “too woke." While Stallone is one of Trump's Hollywood ”special ambassadors" and has likened Trump to George Washington, the political views of Sunday's other guests are less clear.

Strait and Gaynor have said little about their politics, although Federal Election Commission records show that Gaynor has given money to Republican organizations in recent years.

Kiss co-founder Gene Simmons spoke favorably of Trump when Trump ran for president in 2016. But in 2022, Simmons told Spin magazine that Trump was “out for himself” and criticized Trump for encouraging conspiracy theories and public expressions of racism.

Fellow Kiss member Paul Stanley denounced Trump's effort to overturn his 2020 election defeat to Democrat Joe Biden, and said Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, were “terrorists.” But after Trump won in 2024, Stanley urged unity.

“If your candidate lost, it’s time to learn from it, accept it and try to understand why,” Stanley wrote on X. "If your candidate won, it’s time to understand that those who don’t share your views also believe they are right and love this country as much as you do.”

—-

Italie reported from New York.

President Donald Trump, left, speaks as he presents Sylvester Stallone, George Strait, KISS, Gloria Gaynor and Michael Crawford with their Kennedy Center Honors medals in the Oval Office of the White House, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

The 2025 Kennedy Center Honorees, front row from left, Sylvester Stallone, George Strait, Gloria Gaynor and Michael Crawford; back row from left, members of the rock band KISS, Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Peter Criss, pose for a group photo at the 48th Kennedy Center Honors Medallion Reception, hosted at the U.S. Department of State, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025 in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)