Defensively, the Patriots wanted to limit spectacular running back LeSean McCoy and make quarterback Vince Young beat them.
And they were not going to let receiver DeSean Jackson turn the game around with even one electrifying punt return on special teams.
Mission accomplished on all three points.
A look inside reveals some unsung but key performances that helped the Patriots do that.
■Matt Light, Sebastian Vollmer, and Nate Solder: All of the tackles have had their struggles this season, but the Patriots had to get top-flight performances from them against Cole and Babin to emerge with a victory.
The Patriots did not get off to a good start as they allowed four knockdowns of Tom Brady on their first six pass plays. Three were on Light, who battled an ankle injury all week, and two came from Cole, who is one of the best defensive players in the league, regardless of position. Cole and Babin would have one quarterback hurry each the rest of the game.
Light got better as the game went on, and didn’t get much help against Cole. He was asked to block Cole one-on-one 80 percent of the time and pitched a shutout on their final 10 battles.
Vollmer, who played about half the game before suffering a foot injury, and Solder combined to allow one pressure from Babin in 23 snaps. They received help 39 percent of the time.
The eight total quarterback pressures allowed by the Patriots were a season low.
■Defensive strategy: Bill Belichick and Matt Patricia came in with an excellent game plan to slow down McCoy and force the game into Young’s inaccurate hands.
They moved the sometimes-overused Rob Ninkovich full-time to end so he could set the edge against the run but also defend McCoy in the pass game. And when McCoy was in the backfield, safety James Ihedigbo was brought into the box to spy McCoy.
Ihedigbo has been up and down since entering the starting lineup against the Jets in Week 5, but he was most confident and effective against the Eagles. That’s because the way the Patriots used him was very similar to the “Dig package’’ (his nickname) that his former team, the Jets, designed for him against certain opponents.
