Valuable Win

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Valuable Win

Posted: October 3rd, 2023 | Author: Tommy Lawlor 

As I thought about the Eagles win over Washington, it occurred to me there was real value in winning that game that way. Winning by a couple of TDs would have been a lot more fun, but as I’ve said in recent months, the focus is on doing anything possible to be ready for another Super Bowl run.

In case you’ve forgotten, let’s look back at the playoff scores from last year.

PHI 38, NYG 7
PHI 31, SF 7
KC 38, PHI 35

Both of the wins were over by halftime. The Eagles weren’t challenged in those games. They were challenged in the Super Bowl. They jumped out to a 24-14 halftime lead. The Chiefs came storming back and the Eagles weren’t able to make the key plays needed to win the game.

I think part of the reason for that is the lack of quality tight games in 2022.

PHI 20, ARZ 17
PHI 17, IND 16
DAL 40, PHI 34
NO 20, PHI 10

The Eagles game with the Cards was tight, but the Eagles had the lead for the entire game. They never could put Arizona away. Jake Elliott hit a FG late to put Philly up. The Cards missed a last second FG that could have forced OT. The Cardinals were a bad team. They didn’t play a great game. The Eagles sloppiness kept things close.

The Colts game. Ugh. Bad team. Their defense gave Jalen Hurts fits. The Eagles only had 3 points going into the fourth quarter. That’s insane. The Eagles just didn’t play well, but did come alive late. The Eagles were down 16-10 with 4:37 left. They needed to go 75 yards to get a TD. After an 8-yard pass, the Eagles got a PI call that moved the ball 39 yards and put the Eagles at the IND 32. There was plenty of time left so the Eagles ran the ball for the rest of the drive and did score the winning TD. The defense did get a stop of Matt Ryan and the Colts offense to seal the game.

The final two games were started by Gardner Minshew. He played well vs Dallas, but turnovers and sloppy defense cost them the game. The Eagles had a chance to score late, but the drive stalled out.

The Saints game was a debacle. The defense allowed Andy Dalton to go 18-22-205. The offense only scored 10 points and the TD came on a 78-yard TD pass.

Compare that with Sunday. The Eagles fell behind 17-7. They rallied back to take a 24-17 lead. Washington didn’t lay down. They battled right back. Sam Howell played the best game of his young career. He led Washington to the tying TD. Jalen Hurts got the ball back with 3:20 left. He marched the Eagles 57 yards for the go-ahead TD. Howell had another answer left and led the Commanders down for the tying TD. Once in OT, the Eagles defense finally got the stop they needed and then Hurts led the offense on the winning drive.

There is no doubt that the defense must improve, but you should be happy about Hurts and the offense. They had answers when they were needed. And there weren’t any fluke plays or generous officiating that made the difference. There were some impressive throws on those drives. Various skill players stepped up and made key plays. That should translate well to future games and tough situations.

Sunday was Hurts best comeback game. That’s important. Great QBs must be able to lead their team from behind. You can’t count on playing a great game and always having the lead.

The Eagles have won by 5, 6, 11 and 3 points this year. Those close games will help this team to be battle-tested. That will be important in the postseason. The Eagles aren’t likely to win blowouts in January two years in a row. They will have some team push them to the wire. And this Eagles team might be ready for that.

*****

Washington beat the Eagles last October by playing small-ball. They were able to methodically drive up and down the field. The defense couldn’t get the stops they needed. The Eagles offense didn’t handle the situation well. They only had 47 snaps. There were 4 turnovers and some costly mistakes. The Eagles didn’t play a smart game. Washington made them uncomfortable and it showed.

The Commanders came out on Sunday and played with a purpose. They were fired up after being embarrassed by Buffalo the week before. The Eagles were a bit flat and next thing you know Washington is up 17-7.

The Eagles never did panic. Guys made plays. They fought to get back into the game.

Last year Washington ran for 152 yards. QB Taylor Heinicke had 10 of those yards. On Sunday, they ran for 107 yards, but Sam Howell had 40 of them. The defense handled small-ball much better this year. It took a superb performance by Howell for Washington to have success.

There are plenty of things to fix from Sunday, but there is also a lot to build on.

*****

The offense hasn’t been exactly what we expected, but it is 5th in points and yards.

That’s good.

The defense? That’s another story. They have given up 365 or more yards in 3 of 4 games. Not ideal.

Part of this is due to injuries. The Eagles have had multiple guys in the back seven get hurt. That part of the team was going to take some time if everything went smoothly. With so many moving parts, there have been coverage breakdowns.

Sean Desai and the staff will have plenty of teaching tape to show the players. That will help the young guys to learn. Experience is invaluable. Josh Jobe got better from last week to this week.

It will also help to have some players get healthy.

No matter how it happens, the defense has to play better.

*****

The Giants are off to a bit of a slow start.

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