Handing out 10 awards from the Eagles-Rams game

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Handing out 10 awards from the Eagles-Rams game

What stood out the most to Jimmy in the Eagles most recent victory?

BY JIMMY KEMPSKI
PhillyVoice Staff

GARY A. VASQUEZ/USA TODAY SPORTS

We saw "2022 Jalen Hurts" on Sunday against the Rams.

The Philadelphia Eagles are 5-0 after handling their business on the west coast against the Los Angeles Rams. As always, win, lose, or tie, we hand out 10 awards.

1) The 'Oh Hey, That Looked Familiar' Award 👀: Jalen Hurts, and the Eagles' offense

The Eagles only scored 23 points, but their offensive attack looked a lot like it did in 2022. They racked up 454 yards, and hit on a bunch of explosive plays in the passing game. Hurts was 25 of 38 for 303 yards, a TD, and an INT. He also ran 15 times for 72 yards and a TD along the way.

In recent games, when a defender was in the same zip code as Hurts, he was sliding, which makes sense given his importance to the team and the $50 million/year contract he signed. On Sunday, there was no sliding.

The Eagles' offense operates on another level when Hurts is making plays with his legs. He and the coaching staff are going to have to find the right balance of aggressiveness and preservation when it comes to Hurts' running.

2) The 'He's On Fire' Award 🔥: A.J. Brown

A.J. Brown's last three games: 

• At Buccaneers: 9 catches, 131 yards
• Commanders: 9 catches, 175 yards, 2 TDs
• At Rams: 6 catches, 125 yards

His one-handed grab while in full sprint: 

Special player.

3) The 'Momentum Swing' Award 📈: The Eagles' drive at the end of the first half

With 32 second left at the end of the first half, after the Rams had just scored a go-ahead touchdown, the offense went to work.

• Hurts scramble for 9, out of bounds.
• Hurts incomplete pass to DeVonta Smith.
• Hurts 38-yard pass to Brown, with 14 yards (half the distance to the goal) tacked on for a horse collar tackle (shown above).
• Derion Kendrick pass interference on Brown in the end zone, Eagles ball at the 1.
• "Brotherly Shove" TD.

32 seconds, 75 yards, 7 points. Killer drive.

4) The 'No One Likes It, They Don't Care' Award 🍑👐: The Brotherly Shove

Early this morning, water carrier Adam Schefter tweeted that "the NFL and the NFLPA plan to study all the injury data related to the [Brotherly Shove] this offseason," in the wake of two Giants players being injured on their crappy version of it last Monday night.

On that Giants play, TE Daniel Bellinger wasn't really even part of the play, and he certainly wasn't being pushed on it. Rookie center John Michael Schmitz injured his shoulder, but he is expected to return to the lineup soon. (He was not placed on injured reserve or anything like that.)

To correct Schefter's tweet, it is most certainly not "customary" for the NFL to thoroughly investigate injury data on a play the first time a guy gets a minor injury while running it. G. T. F. O. H. Call it what it is. One team is great at it, and the rest of the NFL doesn't want to defend it so they're trying to legislate it out of the game.

Anyway, the Eagles converted four Brotherly Shoves on Sunday. They did fail on two of them in garbage time, but whatever.

5) The 'Young Beast' Award 👹: Jalen Carter

Carter had two sacks, bringing his total on the season to 3.5. I mean, dude: 

Carter had a big game on a day that the Eagles were without Fletcher Cox. The torch is being passed, and Carter has a chance to be better than "prime Cox."

6) The 'Closer' Award 🙅‍♂️: Haason Reddick

Reddick made a string of huge plays late in the game against the Commanders Week 4, and he saved his best for the Rams late in the game once again in Week 5. He had back-to-back sacks to effectively put an end to the game. 

On the play shown above, backup Warren McClendon entered the game for staring RT Rob Havenstein. Reddick was ready with a plan.

"We watch film on everybody," Reddick said. "We watch everybody, whether they're starters, backups, even third stringers, we watch film on everybody... I knew he struggled a little bit around the edge, and they tried to help him with the running back. They brought the running back up to try to chip me. But I seen that, and I just figured that if I could get the running back off of me I could use my speed." 

7) The 'Breakout Game' Award 💫: Dallas Goedert

Goedert's first four games: 13 catches, 88 yards, 0 TD.

Goedert's game on Sunday: 8 catches, 117 yards, 1 TD.

Lol at poor No. 97 trying to keep up with Goedert down the field.

Goedert is a great player, and it was only a matter of time before he had a big game. He did get trucked by D'Andre Swift, though.

8 ) The 'Tale of Two Halves' Award 📖: The Eagles' pass defense

In the first half, the Eagles couldn't cover Cooper Kupp, and the Rams' passing offense shredded the Eagles' secondary. In the second half, the Eagles' defense adjusted, and the Rams' passing offense... (fart noise).

9) The 'Nitpick' Award 😟: The Eagles' red zone offense

The Eagles were 2 for 6 on Sunday in the red zone. They were 1 for 2 against the Commanders, and 1 for 5 against the Buccaneers. That's 4 for 13 in their last three games. "Execution," said Jalen Hurts, when asked why the Eagles were having difficulty in close.

The bet here is that the Eagles will get that fixed. They have an elite offensive line. They have contested catch heroes at receiver. They have a dual threat quarterback. They should dominate in the red zone. They're just not right now, and they're winning anyway.

10) The 'Eagles Win Either Way' Award 🤷‍♂️: The Cowboys-49ers game on Sunday Night Football

Barring a tie between the Cowboys and 49ers on Sunday Night Football (it's 21-7 Niners in the second quarter as of this writing), the Eagles will either be the lone undefeated team in the NFL or they’ll have a two-game lead in the NFC East. Both are pretty good options!

https://www.phillyvoice.com/handing-out-10-awards-eagles-rams-game-2023/