If it looked like the Eagles knew a fake punt was coming, that’s because they did.

And it’s amazing how much went into them being prepared.

“I think it just goes down to your scouting and what you do throughout the week,” special teams coach Michael Clay said. “It’s not just a one-man job. It’s the whole organization to get us in the right spot.”

The Lions had a 4th-and-2 on their own 43 early in the second quarter Sunday night, and lined up to punt, but the Eagles left their starting defense on the field instead of going to punt coverage personnel.

Turns out that it was Clay who made the decision not to change personnel, and it paid off when Lions up-man Grant Stuard – a 5th-year linebacker – took the direct snap and got stuffed for no gain by Jalyx Hunt with assistance from Cooper DeJean, Jalen Carter and Co. 

It’s a little odd that the Lions stuck with the fake punt when they saw the Eagles’ defense stay on the field. But that’s Dan Campbell. He does what he does. And the Eagles were ready, thanks in great part to director of football operations Ameena Soliman and pro scout Terrence Braxton, who had shared intelligence to Clay on the Lions’ penchant for running fake punts from anywhere on the field.

“Ameena, I believe, was on the road down to Washington (where the Lions played last week), and she alerted us,” Clay said. “Terrence does a good job debriefing us on Mondays the amount of fakes that Detroit had ran since 2021 – I think it was 12 at that point – and then just kind of having kind of a sense what the game was going back and forth, kind of a defensive struggle, you’ve always got to be prepared for that.

“Then, on Friday, I usually get the entire team in here (NovaCare Complex auditorium) just to reiterate, ‘Hey, they’ve run this amount of fakes, not just at midfield, but they ran it from the minus-21, the minus-22, and I thought it was an awesome job by Moro (Ojomo), J.C., (Jalen Carter), Jalyx (Hunt), collapsing that pocket and a short field for the offense, which is really great.

“So kudos to all the intel we get prior to the game. Then the guys paying attention come Friday.”

The Eagles only managed a field goal after that failed fourth down, but in a low-scoring defensive battle, that was huge.

Lions special teams coach Dave Fipp was the Eagles’ special teams coach from 2013 through 2020 under Chip Kelly and Doug Pederson and has a reputation of being a guy who won’t hesitate to run a fake.

“Obviously, Fipp ran a wide amount of fakes, so it’s more of just understanding that they’re willing to gamble at any point on the field, whether it’s minus-20, at the midfield line.

“So just having that and just reiterating throughout the week to our players like, ‘Hey, they will gamble and try to get a free possession,’ and the players answered the bell.

“I could say it till I’m blue in the face that they’re going to try and run a fake, but the players out there do an unbelievable job of executing when that time comes.

“You always go back if there is a team that does a lot of fakes, a la when we used to play Dallas and Bonesy (John Fassel) was there. He ran a thousand fakes when he was with the Rams. So you always just go back and you always know that’s on your mind.”

It’s one thing to line up the defense on an apparent punt. It’s another to make sure those 10 guys – there’s still a returner deep, just in case – understand what is happening as the play unfolds.

Just lining up your defense doesn’t guarantee you’re going to get a stop. But if those guys are locked in, your chances are very good. 

You have to like a matchup of this defense vs. a linebacker.

“It’s the NFL, you expect anything, expect the unexpected,” Clay said. “Some guys take a play off when it is ‘D-stay,’ our guys don’t. So for them to still try to run it, kudos to them for trying to steal that extra possession, but we were able to respond and stop them in their territory.”