With their season on the brink of destruction, Eagles players turned to a higher power for inspiration before Sunday's wild upset of the New England Patriots.
Linebacker Najee Goode told reporters that team owner Jeffrey Lurie "fired up" the locker room before a 35-28 win over New England, saying, per ESPN.com: "He had a fire under his ass, and it lit a fire under our ass."
Said Lurie: "The NFL is all about playing with anger and this team played angry today."
Lurie also said that he never considered firing coach Chip Kelly during an embarrassing three-game losing streak that saw the Eagles crumble on defense and collapse on offense before turning the tide on Sunday.
"He talks to everybody before every game," Kelly said. "He's in the locker room and he walks around and talks to players. He doesn't give a speech. He's as good an owner as I've ever been around. He really cares about the players and the coaches."
That was evident as linebacker Brandon Graham found Lurie after the game and shouted at the owner, "You fired me up!"
It's one win and the Eagles need more of those to hang around in the terrible NFC East. Still, it's another reminder that NFL teams don't have a chance if the owner, coach and players aren't on the same page. On Sunday, that wasn't a problem in Philly.
