The Good, the bad and the ugly: week 7 vs The Giants

[e-a-g-l-e-s eagles!]

The Good:

1. Wentz in the clutch—It was not pretty from the opening drive to basically the last 6 minutes of the game for Carson Wentz, but he found a way to bring the Eagles back from the jaws of defeat. It looked like the Eagles were locking up a top 10 pick with just over 5 minutes left in the game. However, it wouldn’t be an Eagles-Giants rivalry if something crazy didn’t happen over the course of the game. That is just not how this rivalry works especially over the last 20 years. Nevertheless, from Eagles second possession to their final two possessions the offense managed to have drives end in punt, FG, interception, punt, missed FG, punt, punt, punt and turnover on downs. It was downright ugly. The offense had only produced 199 total yards on 9 drives. They had five 3 and outs on offense. Furthermore, when they did move the ball Wentz made some questionable decisions and throws. However, when the Eagles fell behind 11 points with 6:17 left in the 4^th quarter, Wentz and the offense came alive. Wentz and the offense put together two drives resulting in two touchdowns. The first drive took only 1:39 seconds. The big play was a dime by Carson into the hands of Hightower who was able to catch the ball and rumble down to the 14 yard line. The drive was ultimately capped up by a Ward touchdown. After a fortunate drop by Evan Engram, the Eagles had a chance to come from behind and pull off an improbable victory. Wentz was clutch on this drive. He was able to connect on a 11-yard reception to Rodgers before the 2 minute warning and then a 30 yard reception by Rodgers to get the Eagles inside Giants territory to the 30. Fulgham was able to draw a PI on Bradberry. Then a few plays later after a bad Kelce penalty inside the red zone that backed the Eagles up to the 17 but still first and goal, Wentz dropped the dimes of all dimes to Scott. Scott made a hell of a catch and got his feet in for the touchdown. And just like that Wentz and the Eagles found themselves up 22-21 with 40 seconds left.  On the game winning drive, Wentz was 3-for-4 for 59 yards and a touchdown to Scott. It wasn’t too long ago that a lot of us were complaining that Wentz had issues coming from behind and finishing the job. I get it was the Giants, but he did what he had to do. It was not a pretty game for most of the night for Carson. He finished 25/43 for 359 yards, 2 tds, rushing td and a interception. However, when the Eagles needed him the most, he stepped up. I cannot imagine the confidence this will give him going forward. Furthermore, he still was able to win this game even when being down 11 without Lane, Seumalo, Brooks, Dillard, DeSean, Miles, Ertz and Goedert. It isn’t going to be pretty at times this year, but we definitely found a gamer in Wentz. 

2. Dick Rod stepped up— I feel like every year Rodgers is on this team and I find myself asking why the Eagles continue to keep bringing him back and not just groom a younger tight end. Tonight, he had his best game as an Eagles and maybe his best performance in the last 5 years. Most of the year, the Eagles had still been targeting. However, he was not being very productive with those targets. If Rodgers would’ve been able to get a touchdown on the evening it might have been the best tight end performance by an Eagle on the season. Against the Giants, Dick Rod  was able to haul in 6 receptions for 85 yards. Additionally, he was a key figure in getting the Eagles game-winning touchdown drive started. He had a nice 11 yard gain and then followed it back with a massive 30 yard reception. Heck back on the first drive he had a 18-yard reception to get the Eagles down to the 1-yard line, which set up Wentz’s one yard td run. No one is ever going to mistake Dick Rod for Goedert or Ertz, but the Eagles needed weapons badly in this game and when they called his number he produced for him. 

3. Cox, Graham, and Barnett— I felt like the best defensive player on the field for the Eagles against the Giants was Fletcher Cox. While Cox didn’t register a QB hit or a sack, it felt like he was constantly creating havoc in the backfield. He was taking on doubles and moving guys so that other Eagles could make plays. He was able to register two tackles for loss. He forced a huge fumble around midfield on Dion Lewis. More importantly was his ability to command attention, which allowed his teammates to be able to make some plays. It isn’t going to look like the best day for Cox in the statsheet, but he was arguably the best defender on the team Thursday. As for Graham, he was really bad on the Daniel Jones run that I will talk about later. He bite really hard on that RO. Nevertheless, I thought he was a force for much of the game otherwise. I give Graham a ton of credit. He is aging, but the dude always shows up week in and week out. You do not have to worry about Graham showing up and giving it his all. He was his usual self in the run game and he was able to end the game with his strip sack of Jones. On the season, Graham has 6 sacks through 7 games. His career high in sacks is 9.5, which came a couple of seasons ago. There is a realistic chance if he keeps up this pace he will reach double digit sacks. Additionally, there is a chance he makes the Pro Bowl this year with how he is playing. I still hold out hope for Derek Barnett. I liked him when we drafted him in 2017. I still believe he hasn’t even reached the ceiling of his potential. He is still young at 24, but he needs to be more consistent. It feels like every other week he plays well. This week he played very well. With Malik Jackson out, the Eagles needed the DL and depth to step up their game. Barnett did so as he recorded a sack, TFL and 3 QB hits. He probably should have had a second sack if he wrapped up Daniel Jones better. I still think there is a chance Barnett can be a Brandon Graham type player for the Eagles future. Maybe I am foolish to think so, but I am willing to die on that hill. 

4. Creating 3 turnovers— Over the last two weeks since their 3 turnover performance against the Niners, the Eagles defense had reverted back to not being able to take the ball away. They had forced just one turnover over the previous two weeks. Against the Giants, the Eagles were able to cash in on some Giants mistakes. Jalen Mills was able to haul in a Daniel Jones pass for an interception to set the Eagles offense in good field position. Then Fletcher Cox was able to force a Dion Lewis fumble around midfield, which once again set the Eagles up in great field position. However, the biggest defensive play came when Graham got to Jones and stripped the ball. Vinny Curry recovered the football and the Eagles won the game. On the season, the Eagles have now forced 8 total turnovers. The Eagles are 3-0 when they force multiple turnovers in a game. They are winless when they have 1 or less turnovers. 

5. Hightower makes a critical catch; Ward being Ward—A lot of people were very critical of Hightower last week as he dropped a beautiful deep ball by Wentz last week. And the week before he misjudged a touchdown and didn’t get himself out of bounds in the 2 minute drill before the end of the half in Pittsburgh. He is a rookie 5^th round pick. They are going to be growing pains and ups and downs with him. He isn’t a finish product and you can see the potential there. He is creating space, which is something a lot of the Eagles WRs over the last couple years haven’t been able to do. I think his route running is also improving week by week. Tonight, he had one of the biggest plays of the game. He was able to haul in a deep ball by Carson. He used his hands to pull it in and then make some moves up field to get some YAC. I said last week, I think these reps are going to help him more and more especially next year. But tonight I think showed you he is growing in front of our eyes. Yes it is the Giants, but he made a big time catch when this team was on life support. I cannot imagine what that play will do for his confidence going forward. Besides Hightower, I think we need to give Ward some credit. The guy just does what he always does and seemingly finds ways to get open in the red zone. It is his third touchdown in 5 games. His statlines say he doesn’t have great yards per reception, but he makes big first down conversions for this team and finds himself getting open in the red zone. On the evening, Ward caught just five passes for 42 and a touchdown. He might just be a JAG to most people, but he is always dependable and always involved when the Eagles need someone to step up. 

6. Scott the Giant slayer—While it was one of Scott’s better rushing days (still not great), it was Boston Scott the receiver that really made the Eagles offense go on the first drive of the game and the last drive of the game he ripped out the Giants’ hearts. On the first drive, the Eagles did a terrific job of getting him the ball on a screen and out of the backfield. It really got the offense going. However, the Eagles couldn’t connect with him and really didn’t targeted him all that much after that until late in the fourth quarter when he scored the game winning touchdown. If Sanders is going to be out until after the bye week, then the Eagles really need to get Scott more involved in the screen game and in the passing game. It is something I have also alluded to with Sanders this year. Scott’s bread and butter is being a receiver out of the backfield at his size. He is a mismatch and he has very good hands. It is how he made that wonderful catch to give the Eagles the win.  I hope some of his runs late in the game and that catch really gets him going for next week. I do not expect Sanders back and Dallas is the type of defense you can attack with your backs out of the backfield. It is an advantage the Eagles have in that game. On the evening, Scott rushed for 46 yards on 12 carries (3.8 yards per carry) and recorded 3 receptions fro 46 yards and a touchdown. I will say this, if the Eagles managed to turn this season around and win the division, his catch will be the one that was the catalyst. 

7. Fulgham is McLovin— I do think this was arguably the worst of the 4 Fulgham performances he has had as an Eagles, but I will take it if this is going to be his worse. He was still good. There were one or two passes I felt he should have made, but all in all, the kid is legit. He made a great leaping play down the right sideline to pick up 40 yards. I really cannot wait until the Eagles get back Reagor and they can line him up opposite of him. I think Fulgham and Reagor is the dynamic that the Eagles had when the won the Super Bowl with Jeffery and Torrey Smith. I think Reagor has the potential to be better than Smith. As for Fulgham, I read that some were comparing him to former Saints Colston. I actually think he has more athleticism then Colston. Colston was a big receiver that could go up and get the ball and a good route runner, but I never viewed him as super athletic. I think Fulgham has slightly better athleticism. He reminds more of Devante Parker of the Dolphins. Now he might not be as tall, but he plays the game very similarly. I would be thrilled if the Eagles got a guy like Parker. Over the last two years, Parker has been one of the better WRs in the league. 

8. Giants-Eagles Rivalry— I have watched a lot of Rivalry games in my lifetime NFL or college, but I can never remember one with some many crazy type of games. You have the miracle at the meadow lands, Westbrook punt return to win the game, Miracle at the Meadowlands 2 and Elliott’s 61 yard field goal. They’re plenty more of them I could go into, but it feels like for much of the last 2 decades the Eagles have been super fortunate. I was in the blog when the Eagles got down 11 and I stated "knowing the Eagles-Giants rivalry, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Giants blew this 11 point lead with 5 minutes left.” And then they did. If I were a Giants fan, I would loath playing the Eagles because it has felt like for the better portion fo the last 15-17 years that things just seem to go the Eagles way against them. This is one of the craziest rivalries in terms of games and ugliness and luck in how the Eagles have pulled out some wins. 

9. Punters need love too—I probably should have given Cam Johnston more love this season than I have or any of us have. He has been great for the Eagles for much of the season. Tonight he had 5 punts, which averaged 51 yards per punt and a long of 57. On the season, he is averaging 50.9 yards per punt, which is about 3 yards above his career average of 47.9 Additionally, he is second in the league in average yards per punt. Only Jack Fox is a head of him on yards per punt. He might be the Eagles most consistent player and possibly a pro bowler. 

10. Better to be lucky than Good— Speaking of crazy, Will Parks is super fortunate that Engram didn’t pull in that reception. He makes that catch, the Eagles are sitting at 1-5-1 and likely looking at picking in the top 10 if not top 5 of the draft. 

11. Give Schwartz some credit for blitzing—I really didn’t like the drive where the Eagles just allowed the Giants to march down the field 97 yards to put the Eagles down by 11 or Jones massive run or the Tate td. However, I did like Schwartz bringing some much needed pressure with the blitz. Gerry recorded a sack. He likely should’ve had a second if he wrapped up properly. The Singleton was brought on a couple of blitzes and one where he just destroyed the Giants running back as he nailed jones. Additionally, he really went into the bag of tricks and had Mills blitz. And then even deeper as he sent NRC the smallest player on the field on a blitz.  The Eagles have a ton to still work on like not giving up big chunk plays, or allowing teams just to impose their will as they march down 97 yards in the most critical juncture of the game, but I give Schwartz credit for doing something he isn’t known for and it had success in this game. 

 

On the fence:

1. Gerry actually made a play…then did what he normally does— I give Gerry credit, he made a nice play on a called blitz by Schwartz. It was the best game he had in weeks for the Eagles. Nevertheless, he then reverted back to being Gerry as he was fooled on the Jones RO run, he gave up an easy first down to Gallman out of the backfield as he just left him wide open as it was his guy to cover. It is what it is. He isn’t very good. Frankly I thought Singleton looked OK in this game. He had 6 tackles and 2 QB hits and seemed to not be out of position constantly.

2. I think I liked what I saw from Huntley— We only got a small glimpse of Huntley. He had two carries for 13 yards and the Eagles used him in the pass game for a couple snaps. But I really want to see more from the former NMSU Aggie. I do not think much of Corey Clement anymore. He just isn’t the same player he was in the 2017 season. I think Huntley has some nice juice to him and some wiggle. He kind of reminds me of Raheem Mostert style and body type. I do not know if he will ever be that good, but when I go back and watch some of his college highlights and plays that is the first person that comes to my mind. I am excited to see him get more reps in this offense if Sanders is indeed out next week. 

3. JJAW picks up big first down then disappears—Like Gerry he made a nice catch to pick up a first down and keep the opening rive alive. And then he reverted back to disappearing the rest of the game and doing nothing. To his credit, he has made 3 nice plays for the Eagles in two weeks. Not that it will make any of us feel better about the pick. 

4. 3^rd down defense— The Eagles for the most part were very good on third down for. They held the Giants to 3-for-10 on third down. They also picked off Daniel Jones on third down. The Eagles started the game off hot on 3^rddown. They held the Giants to one first down in their first 7 3^rd down opportunities. Then the rest of the game, they gave the Giants 2 first downs on penalties to help continue a touchdown drive to put the Giants up 21-10. They also got some help as Engram dropped a pass otherwise it would have looked much worse. To me, you still just don’t trust Eagles third down defense especially in third and long situations (not so much tonight In this game, the Giants were 1 of 7 on 3^rd down and 7+) or when the game is on the line. Multiple times the Eagles had the Giants in 3^rd and 10 or longer and nearly gave up the first down with their coverage. They gave up a 3^rd and 9 inside the red zone (looked short, but still made it that close to begin with). Feels like the Eagles are living dangerously on the edge in games and that they are going to let you down. If Engram catches that pass it would have felt like that for all of us. 

 

 

The Bad:

1. Wentz’s decision making at times— As great as Carson was at the end of the game, he looked really bad for long stretches of the game and made a couple of poor decisions. His first poor decision was rolling to his right and throwing the ball back across the field to Fulgham. That is a dangerous and horrible decision. I feel like against a better defense that could have been huge trouble for the Eagles. He was fortunate Fulgham got his hands on it and it fell harmlessly to the ground. Then with the Eagles inside the red zone, Carson scrambled to make a play. Rolling to his left, he launched a ball to the end zone where only the Giants could make a play on it and it was picked. It was a dumb decision. He has to throw that ball 5-6 yards out of bounds so no one could catch it and live to fight another down. That cost the Eagles at least 3 points. The Eagles cannot afford to give away points. They are not good enough to do that. Additionally, Carson has to have a better clock in his head about when to just get rid of the ball. He took a intentional grounding cause he waited and waited to get rid of it and then finally did but no one was close to the throw. He also took some unnecessary hits and sacks not throwing it away. I love that he believes no play is dead, but he might not make it through the year trying to make every play work especially if he are going to keep running him on two point conversions. 

2. LeBlanc and NRC struggle— It was a tough night for both LeBlanc and NRC. I don’t think either did a particularly great job in the tackling department. However,  the same could be said of some other positions on the team in the second half. Let me say this, neither are outside corners so that is a major issue. The Eagles need a legitimate outside corner. Leblanc, Mills and NRC aren’t going to cut it most weeks. LeBlanc appeared to have good positions on Tate on the 39-yard touchdown pass, but Tate was still able to haul it in and then Leblanc couldn’t make the tackle after the catch. Later in the game on third down, LeBlanc was called for an obvious PI as he was holding Tate’s arm down the sideline. Instead of the Eagles being off the field on third down, it allowed the Giants drive to continue and ultimate finish with a score. As for NRC, I thought he had a particularly bad night. Shepard routinely beat him. He also got called for a PI in the end zone on third down that set up the Gallman touchdown. Granted, I thought it was foolish to have NRC on the outside. He has no business whatsoever being an outside corner. However, that doesn’t explain his piss poor effort to catch up and make a tackle on Jones’ run. If you watch the replay of Jones running you can see Mills busting his butt to try and make a tackle. Meanwhile, you see NRC start to slow down around midfield. That is unacceptable. Jones isn’t fast enough where he couldn’t have got him and tried to prevent a touchdown. They eventually scored it anyway but that could have been the difference in the game. I have been underwhelmed most of the season by NRC. Unlike others I didn’t have great expectations for him cause I thought there was a reason the Rams no longer wanted him and he was in his "prime”. I still think he has value on the trade market at the deadline. 

3. Still need to find someone better than Clement—I will always be forever grateful to Clement for his role in the SB team in 2017, but it is really hard to watch Clement. He was brutal at times in pass protection tonight. This was something he thrived in during the SB year and got him on Duce’s good side. Furthermore, he just doesn’t look like he has much juice left as a runner. I get he is getting great lanes to run, but he just doesn’t appear to be hitting the holes or accelerating when he does. The Eagles wont make the move away from him cause they trust him, but with the bye week looming after Dallas I would love to see Huntley emerge with his snaps. 

4. Hurts package ineffective tonight— As well as the Hurts packages have worked over the past couple of weeks of the season, it was really not very good tonight. They tried to use Hurts on the two point conversion after the go ahead touchdown and it was sniffed out by the Giants. They tried to use him with a delay option and it was blown up. I think the packages are nice, but you cannot keep going to the well and hoping it is just going to hit every time he is out there. I would actually love to see him incorporate some more passes into the packages. I believe teams with more tape are focusing on stopping him from being a runner. If you don’t allow Hurts to throw the ball more and use his arm more out of those gadget packages then it becomes much more predictable and easier to defend for defenses. I think there is still a lot more you could do. If I were the coaching staff I specifically go watch how the Saints use Hill and try to install some of those plays but out of different formations.   

5. Going away from hurry up?— I am a little confused why the Eagles didn’t stick with some of the up-tempo stuff more in this game.  The opening drive of the game, the Eagles used tempo to their advantage and Carson along with the offense looked humming. And then the next 9 possessions they looked lost. And then the final two series of the game, the Eagles got back into using tempo to their advantage and managed to capitalize and get the ball into the end zone. On those three drives where the Eagles used some more tempo, the Eagles compiled 75, 78 and 71-yard drives. It is perplexing why the Eagles wouldn’t have tried to go back to what worked on the first series way earlier then the end of the game where they basically were forced too. We do not have to be chip Kelly go, go, go, but you can use it more than just out of necessity or the opening drive. 

6. Defense on the 97-yard drive and 4^th quarter—That 97 yard drive by the Giants felt like the Eagles are going to be picking in the top 10 of the draft type of drive. The Eagles offense didn’t help matters as they turned the ball over on downs, but the Eagles defense had them in the shadows of their own goal post. And then the Eagles just couldn’t get a stop. They gave up plays of 16, 12 and 19 yards. Nrc and Leblanc gave up two massive first downs on 3^rd down with PI penalties. The red zone defense was exposed again and the Eagles allowed the Giants on 3^rd and 9 to convert for a first down. It was downright horrific defense and looked like the Eagles defense checked out. The Eagles season as on the line and basically everything that has hurt the Eagles defense was exposed. Heck even their solid run defense against RBs was exposed. It was nearly as bad after the Eagles got a touchdown to pull themselves within 5. The defense somehow allowed Evan Engram to get wide open behind Parks. That should have been caught and ended the game and any chance at going to the playoffs or winning the division. These were the biggest moments of the game and the Eagles needed pure luck to not allow the Giants to just make them look useless when it mattered the most. I am sorry I still do not buy this defense is remotely good.  In the first half, I thought outside of the Tate play they looked the part. However second half, the DL was not great, the tackling was suspect and even the Giants ground game had some nice pickups. Even with the Graham strip sack, it just feels like you cant trust the Eagles defense to make the big play and get off the field late in games like the Claypool play, the Bernard 42-yard play or allowing Engram to somehow be wide open they just aren’t able to accomplish it.  Again the Graham play is nice with 40 seconds left, but that 97 yard drive or Engram being that open cannot and should not keep happening. 

 

The Ugly:

1. Red zone offense— Heading into the contest with the Giants, the Eagles red zone offense had been on fire. Over the last two contests, the Eagles were 6-6 inside the red zone. Now I give the Eagles a ton of credit, they were able to move the ball into the Red zone 7 times (technically 8 on the Graham strip sack but the Eagles kneeled the ball the next play and didn’t really get the opportunity to capitalize). Obviously, some of that was in large part due to the turnovers by the Eagles defense. However, they were awful for much of the game inside the red zone. With 7 trips inside the red zone, the Eagles had the potential for 49 points. The Eagles only managed to put up 22 points. They scored 3 touchdowns and 1 field goal. The other 3 possessions ended with interception, missed field goal and turnover on downs. That is simply not good enough to beat the better teams in the league. You cannot come away with 0 points on three red zone possessions. If this weren’t the Giants or any NFC East team, then the Eagles probably would have been in serious trouble leaving 27 points on the board. On the season, the Eagles have been inside the red zone, 23 times and only walked away with touchdowns on 14 of those trips. That is just 60.9% of their trips. That is not good enough. 

2. We spent how much on Hargrave?—I was pretty adamant this offseason that the Eagles should have invested in Robbie Anderson. He was a deep threat they needed and he was an upgrade over what they had at WR. Additionally at the price the Eagles could have got him at it would have been a bargain. That is proving itself out right now. I didn’t hate the Hargrave signing, but I also wasn’t thrilled by it either. So far, it has been an outright disaster for the Eagles and Howie. In this game before Ridgeway left with a biceps injury, he looked like the better player over Hargrave (just 7 snaps had a TFL and 2 tackles). Hargrave just doesn’t look very good. Against the run late in the fourth quarter, the Giants were just moving him and going right at him. He had no answers. Additionally, he missed a gimme sack as Barnett pushed Jones right into him. So far this season, he has had 7 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL and 2 QB hits. He hasn’t even been in the statsheet in 3 of the games he has played in. The Eagles spent a ton of money on Hargrave, they really needed him to step up with Malik Jackson who is out the next two weeks and he came up small once again. Maybe the Pec injury is worse than we thought and still bothering him. Maybe he just isn’t as good of a scheme fit as the Eagles originally thought when they signed him. Or maybe the Steelers knew what they were doing when they let him go to sing a big money contract. 

3. Penalties— The penalties against the Eagles tonight really hurt them, but they managed to over come them. The Eagles had 7 penalties for 75 yards. The 22- yard PI by Leblanc and red zone PI by NRC kept the Giants touchdown drive alive. Kelce’s facemask penalty late in the 4^th quarter on the game winning drive backed the Eagles from the goaline to the 17 yard line. That could have been a deathblow type of penalty. To have first and goal from the 17 isn’t an easy thing to overcome. We were fortunate Wentz delivered a dime to Scott and Scott made a spectacular catch otherwise that penalty might have cost the Eagles huge. The Eagles have really been up and down with the penalties this year. One week they are great and the next they have a ton. In 4 of the 7 games played, the Eagles have been called for 5 penalties or less . However, the Eagles have been called for 75 penalty yards or more in 3 of their 7 games. The Eagles aren’t good enough to continuously overcome that many penalties. In fact, they are now 1-1-1 in those 3 games. 

4. Red zone defense struggles continue—Heading into this game, the Giants were 31^st in the league in red zone offense. They were only converting touchdowns in the red zone at a 33.3% clip. This should have been a game where the Eagles had a get right game, but like much of the season, the Eagles had no answers on defense inside the red zone. The Giants only managed two trips inside the red zone, but the Eagles gave up touchdowns on both of those trips. On the season, the Eagles have allowed touchdowns on 18 of 24 trips, which is 75%. They are one of the 5 worst teams in the NFL. This used to be a great area of strength for the Eagles over the past couple of years, but this year they have been downright atrocious. Furthermore, it doesn’t seem to be getting better. It actually is getting worse. Over the last 3 weeks, Eagles opponents are 7-for-8, which is an alarming and league worse over that span 87.5% touchdown conversion. Yes even the Jets are better than the Eagles over this span as they have held their opponents to 6-for-11. It is that bad. 

5. What are you doing Doug?— Besides the going away from the tempo offense that was clearing working, there were other big time head scratchers for me. First, those are the two best plays we have for two point conversions? So we are willing to have our QB behind a makeshift offensive line just try to run through people with poor run blocking by his oline and Boston Scott being the lead blocker to get the 2 points? That seems rather foolish and likely to get your QB hurt. Last week Doug said they ran out of plays for 2 point conversions, but I feel that is a bunch of BS. You should have a ton of plays for inside the five that you can run. It feels like the Eagles are just not being very creative with their plays in those situations and not utilizing their strengths. It isn’t just the 2-point conversion calls, it is overall plays inside the red zone. Why are we running a fade route to DeSean Jackson being covered by James Bradberry corner with very good size? Why not run a fade route with Fulgham who has excellent wingspan and can go up over Bradberry and get it. Additionally, Hakeem Butler has only been in the Eagles system for 2 weeks. So we decide to put him into a huge spot where we need a touchdown and run a fade pattern? I get the call due to his size (frankly not a great throw by Wentz either) and it should have been PI, but I hate the fact you put a kid out there when he has had limited time with Carson and the offense. Add on he hadn’t been out there nearly all game on offense. I think that is sending a signal that we are likely throwing a jump ball to him in the end zone. It was telegraphing what we were doing on the play. Additionally, a bone I have to pick with Doug and the offensive coaches is why do we go away from what is working nearly all the time? For instance, Wentz is killing it rolling out of the pocket or getting him outside the pocket. So we go away from it for over 2 quarters. Or if we are running the ball well (not great lately), we seemingly just ignore going to that well for over two possessions.  Add on I have no clue what Doug is doing at the end of some of these halves? We run the ball deep in our own territory with under two minutes and let the clock run. Seemingly felt like we were just going to run the clock out then completely do a 180 to lets throw the ball twice.  That does not make sense. There is just something off about this offense and play calling this year. We will be super creative like the first play on DeSean having a reverse then or the screen which was set up beautifully to Scott and then forget about Scott in the pass game or getting the ball to Fulgham for long periods of time. 

6. OLine continues to look bad—It was not pretty for the offensive line against the Giants. The Giants were able to sack Wentz on 3 occasions and they had 10 QB hits. These hits are really beginning to pile up on Carson. I do not know how many he can take before his body is going to start wearing down. Over the last 4 weeks, Carson has been sacked 19 times (about 5 per game average) and hit 47 times (about 12 QB hits per game). The Eagles also lead the league in sacks given up. I get this offensive line is a makeshift OLine, but right now there is no way Wentz is going to be able to survive this type of punishment for another 9 games. Individually, this was probably the worst game Mailata has played since taking over the LT spot. He was beaten a couple times around the edge and in the run game he and Opeta got pushed back on multiple occasions. Obviously it didn’t help that he was playing along side Opeta who was making his first career start. I think both of them had their struggles tonight, but that should be expected as both are young in their careers and will have growing pains. I also think the communication should get better the more they lineup next to one another.  As for the right side of the line, Lane left once again. He was ok but he didn’t look like his old self. The foot was definitely likely still bothering him and he now has a knee issue. I thought Herbig was serviceable but even he was beaten a couple times and made some mental mistakes. I do give the offensive line some credit. The last two series of the game, they weren’t fantastic but they were serviceable for the Eagles to march down the field. It is actually incredible with the fact Mailata, Opeta, Kelce, Herbig and Pryor were out there and the Eagles managed to move the ball over 140 yards and score two touchdowns. Granted it was still not a good performance by an offensive line that’s dealing with growing pains and inexperience. 

7. Jake Elliott’s 2017 reputation is eroding— Maybe when the Eagles brought in the CFL kicker a couple weeks back they were onto something. Jake Elliott has been trending downward over the past couple seasons. Tonight he missed a chip shot field goal from 29 yards. That is unacceptable. That field goal could have been the difference in the game. Furthermore, Elliott since 2018, hasn’t been lethal from distance either. He is just 5-for-13, which is 38%. The league average is 61%. That means he is far below the rest of the league since his stellar 2017. On the season, Elliott has made just 8-of-12 field goals. In his defense he is 7-8 inside of 49 yards and 1-4 from 50+. Nevertheless, 67% is one of the worst in the entire nfl. In fact, it puts him just ahead of Tyler Bass and Gostkowski. Add injury to insult, the contract the Eagles give him makes it impossible to just move on from him. If he is cut, the dead money is $8 million. If Elliott continues to kick the way he is, then the Eagles are in trouble. This feels like he continues to miss big time kicks that could give the Eagles some series momentum. It actually feels like he misses the kick and starts the snowball that turns into the avalanche against the Eagles. Maybe Peters could talked to him again. 

8. Running game—The running game is starting to look like a bigger and bigger problem. If Sanders is out through the bye week or longer, we are in some trouble. While Scott looked better today than he did at any other point in time this season, it still wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t all his fault as I felt the Eagles continued to try to run to the left side of the line when they were not very effective and Opeta was being moved back. To me I want to run behind Lane and Herbig. I think Herbig at RG at his size is capable of creating some holes and Lane is our second best OL behind Kelce. I feel more comfortable leading the way behind them. I have to re-watch the game and see how many times we went ran behind the left side and right side, but from memory it was more left, but more success running right. That said, the run blocking has not been very good over the past 3 weeks. If you remove the two long Sanders runs, the run game has been atrocious. In this game, the Eagles rushed 26 times for 96 yards (3.7 yards per carry) and a touchdown. The Eagles running backs combined for 23 rushes for 68 yards, which is 2.95 yards per carry. Over the last three weeks Eagles running backs have rushed for 273 on 46 carries, which is 5.9 yards per carry, but it is deceiving. Without Sanders back to back games with 74 rushes, the Eagles RBs in the other 44 carries have rushed for just 125 yards and just 2.8 yards per carry. 

9. Big plays on defense— Last week, Lamar had a big time 37-yard run for a touchdown and this week, the Eagles actually allowed Daniel Jones to provide a bigger run than that Jackson run. Over the course of the past couple years, the Eagles just seemingly have always had problems giving up big plays. This year really hasn’t been much different. The Eagles defense has given up plays of 30 yards or more in 6 consecutive games. In the last 6 games, they have given up 15 plays of 25 yards or more. Additionally this season, they have given up plays of 35 yards or more in 6 of their 7 games. Additionally, the Eagles have given up 9 plays of 35+ yards on the season. That is just over 1 per game. 

10. Misdirection still an issue—It is not as embarrassing when you allow Lamar Jackson and the Ravens to use misdirection and beat you for a long touchdown run by Lamar. That is what makes him so good. It is another when Graham, the Eagles linebackers and basically NRC running into a blocker and then half assing it to catch up to Jones who is running for 80 yards. This seems to be something the Eagles have struggled with in every single game this year besides Washington. The Rams utilized it to perfection. The Niners had Aiyuk get a 38 yard touchdown off of it. The Steelers had McLeod rumble for a 58-yard gain. Lamar picked up a 37-yard touchdown. Jones ran for 80 yards. This is alarming how badly the Eagles keep falling for the misdirection and how many huge plays and game-breaking type plays keep occurring cause of this. At this point, I am not sure what the Eagles can do because I cannot imagine in practice and meetings it isn’t harped upon. 

11. 3^rd down efficiency— For the second consecutive week the Eagles offense really struggled on third down. Against the Giants, the Eagles were 4-for-13, which is 30.8%. Over the last two weeks, the Eagles have converted on just 7-for-25, which is 28%. Like much of the season, the Eagles found themselves in 3^rd and 7+ 8 of their 13 third down opportunities, which is 61.5% of their 3^rd downs. They managed to only convert on one of those 8 chances. That is a big reason why the Eagles offense for much of the game wasn’t able to sustain drives and offense. On the season, the Eagles have had 99 third down attempts. On 47 of those 99 attempts, the Eagles have found themselves in 3^rd and 7+. That is 47%. Lets dive a little deeper, the Eagles so far this year have only converted 50% of their 3^rddowns in just 2 of 7 games. The Eagles have finished with 35% or below in 4 of their 7 games. Overall for the season, the Eagles have converted on third down at 43% (43-99). [had to recheck my numbers over the last couple weeks—these are up to date and accurate]

12. Lane with a knee and DeSean knocked out again—I am hoping Lane’s knee injury isn’t super serious. I haven’t been on Twitter to see what the initial report is, but I am guessing he is likely to be out next week vs. Dallas. Frankly the Eagles really need to let him completely heal. He is leaving games and now sustaining more injuries on top of his initial injury. I think you let him sit out next week. That means he will have about 3 weeks until the Eagles face the Giants in week 10. As for DeSean, that felt like it might have been his last game of his Eagles career. It didn’t look good and it looked like a cheap shot imo. If it is, he has had some great memories for the Eagles, but his second tenure with the team has been nothing but a disaster after a loud bang against Washington in week 1 last year. I am hoping he is going to be fine and can return, but at this point I do not expect it and if he does I don’t think you can trust he stays on the field with everything that has happened. 

13. NFC East winner—Whoever comes out of this as the division winner is going to win the NFC East battle of 2020 but really lose the war of the future in terms of draft positioning. I don’t see how any of these teams in the division are going to matchup against the 5^th seed in the NFC and beat them even if it is at home, which this year doesn’t mean all that much unless you get a dome team or maybe a warm weather team. These are four not good teams. The Eagles might have more injuries then just being an overall bad team, but I just do not see the winner of this division having more than 6 wins. 

[UK_EaglesFan89]

50 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

1. Wentz in the clutch—

Remember when there was a question mark over whether Wentz was clutch? I think there are still some concerning issues with Wentz but I don't think whether or not he is clutch is one of them anymore.

51 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

7. Fulgham is McLovin— I do think this was arguably the worst of the 4 Fulgham performances he has had as an Eagles, but I will take it if this is going to be his worse

Spot on bud! If that is a bad Fulgham game then we really have found something special with this guy! I just don't see him majorly falling away either. I don't think the way he plays lends itself to a player who is suddenly going to just fall away and never be heard of again.

[BKLYNYG]

All I want to know is which one of you paid off Evan Engram? 

[manz2821]

7 minutes ago, BKLYNYG said:

All I want to know is which one of you paid off Evan Engram? 

I think it was Judge. Drop the ball, lose the game and we have a top 5 pick and in the Lawrence sweepstakes 🙂

[20dawk4life]

Mills and Gerry were awful. 

[UK_EaglesFan89]

9 minutes ago, 20dawk4life said:

Mills and Gerry were awful. 

Gerry is awful every freaking week. He's terrible. Awful. Atrocious. The worst player to ever play in the NFL I think. There is literally nothing he does well or even half decent or even poorly. He's a disaster.

[hoosierdaddy]

Awesome as usual bro. And I am also still a believer in Barnett. Color me crazy 😜 

[LacesOut]

I still can't see this team winning more than 5 games.

Thanks for the write up.

[GeorgeM37]

RE: OP

 Some of my own notes to add:

I do not like Mills NOR Gerry...they both should go and are awful at their positions. 

Good catch but no....still wish JJAW was not here.....he needs to go...

It was the G-Men and those games are always going to be a full on war but I still hate Schwartz and feels he needs to leave. We have much better teams to face so let's see what he does.....

Fulgham is the truth, he is legit and I think we have found our replacement for Desean. Thanks for the memories but I am really loving this kid from ODU...

Wentz is still himself with the decision making...which is pretty bad but my honest opinion is that he wants to be the gunslinger that Brett Favre was....just my opinion though....let's see what he does with better teams coming up. I still do not see 2017 form there but at least its an improvement....

Clement is done. Nothing more to say as you summed it up perfectly, he is extremely hard to watch these days...

LeBlanc....I was never sold on him and he showed me exactly why last night...

Doug and his play calling continues to mystify us.....really head scratching moments with the playcalling YET AGAIN....I wish he would give up those duties to someone else....a real OC perhaps...

I have said consistently that you need big backs to have an effective running game in this league. It is a problem for this team. It is a MAJOR problem that Boston Scott and Clement are not going to fix....we need bigger running backs like yesterday....

Desean's injury was definitely a cheap shot and I totally agree....it looks like that was his last game

Always look forward to these write ups....thanks for all that you do

[Portyansky]

[Kz!]

I think Opeta deserves his very own slot in "The Ugly" category. That was horrendous. 

[eagle45]

Ugly: all but trying to end Lane Johnson's career with either a re-injury or associated compensation injury while he was limping out there.

They aren't unlucky that he got hurt again.  They are lucky that he wasn't carted off with a 12 month injury.

[QBhunter58]

At this to the What are you doing doug? section...

WTF is doug doing with Jalen Hurts. If you are gonna draft him in the 2nd either let him develop on the bench or put him our there and call an actual play (I am not sure, but I think Jalen Hurts has thrown the ball in the past?). I am so done with the predictable gimmick QB designed runs and options. Its almost like he intends to give the defense a free down whenever Hurts comes out on the field. 

[IFB DOG]

8 hours ago, GeorgeM37 said:

Yet another great write up, I swear you should do this for a living because you are extremely good at picking apart the entire game accurately. Some of my own notes to add:

I do not like Mills NOR Gerry...they both should go and are awful at their positions. 

Good catch but no....still wish JJAW was not here.....he needs to go...

It was the G-Men and those games are always going to be a full on war but I still hate Schwartz and feels he needs to leave. We have much better teams to face so let's see what he does.....

Fulgham is the truth, he is legit and I think we have found our replacement for Desean. Thanks for the memories but I am really loving this kid from ODU...

Wentz is still himself with the decision making...which is pretty bad but my honest opinion is that he wants to be the gunslinger that Brett Favre was....just my opinion though....let's see what he does with better teams coming up. I still do not see 2017 form there but at least its an improvement....

Clement is done. Nothing more to say as you summed it up perfectly, he is extremely hard to watch these days...

LeBlanc....I was never sold on him and he showed me exactly why last night...

Doug and his play calling continues to mystify us.....really head scratching moments with the playcalling YET AGAIN....I wish he would give up those duties to someone else....a real OC perhaps...

I have said consistently that you need big backs to have an effective running game in this league. It is a problem for this team. It is a MAJOR problem that Boston Scott and Clement are not going to fix....we need bigger running backs like yesterday....

Desean's injury was definitely a cheap shot and I totally agree....it looks like that was his last game

Always look forward to these write ups....thanks for all that you do

Please delete that quote dude.  Just put "RE: OP".

[GeorgeM37]

6 hours ago, IFB DOG said:

Please delete that quote dude.  Just put "RE: OP".

its done, I think...

[EazyEaglez]

The good: Beating a terrible NFC East team.

The bad: The way this team can look good to horrible series to series. 

The Ugly: The constant injuries. 
 

Beating the Giants does not make me suddenly think this team can make some kind of playoff run, and for all those "once we get our people back” fans well, this game was a prime example of why that logic is flawed. They got two guys back only for those two and another to go down again. Beat the Saints and some of these other teams coming up. Then I might feel differently about this group. 

[GeorgeM37]

1 hour ago, EazyEaglez said:

The good: Beating a terrible NFC East team.

The bad: The way this team can look good to horrible series to series. 

The Ugly: The constant injuries. 
 

Beating the Giants does not make me suddenly think this team can make some kind of playoff run, and for all those "once we get our people back” fans well, this game was a prime example of why that logic is flawed. They got two guys back only for those two and another to go down again. Beat the Saints and some of these other teams coming up. Then I might feel differently about this group. 

Totally with you on that. And don't we go through that exact same scenario every single year?? Once so and so gets back then we can make a run. Or...when we get some our guys back it will be just in time for the playoffs....its the same ish every single year

That's why I said in another thread....let's see how this team plays GOOD team and then we can go from there. Other than that, I am expecting very few wins this year....I want someone to prove me wrong for feeling that way

[EazyEaglez]

1 hour ago, GeorgeM37 said:

Totally with you on that. And don't we go through that exact same scenario every single year?? Once so and so gets back then we can make a run. Or...when we get some our guys back it will be just in time for the playoffs....its the same ish every single year

That's why I said in another thread....let's see how this team plays GOOD team and then we can go from there. Other than that, I am expecting very few wins this year....I want someone to prove me wrong for feeling that way

The only people who can change my mind are the Eagles themselves. Go out there and win these games against teams that aren’t just in this division. Go make a strong playoff push. Go be consistent every game instead of moments in games. If my skepticism is their motivation to do it then so be it. Prove me wrong Eagles. I would love to see them try. 

[Uscg-green]

What I'm loving about the eight in a row streak is that each game ends in heartbreaking fashion for them and their rotten fan base. They have hope and it's snatched away. 

[Vman1968]

So I spent exactly 10 seconds looking at this post.  I saw he called Richard Rogers Dick Rod. I new he was an idiot and probably about 11.  I didn’t spend another second reading the novel he posted with his preteen humor

[e-a-g-l-e-s eagles!]

7 hours ago, Vman1968 said:

So I spent exactly 10 seconds looking at this post.  I saw he called Richard Rogers Dick Rod. I new he was an idiot and probably about 11.  I didn’t spend another second reading the novel he posted with his preteen humor

Cool Story bro. FYI it’s his nickname. I guess bo wulf, Berman, sheil, zangaro and some of the other beat writers must also be 11 and "idiots”. But hey name calling it’s totally A way to show maturity. Kettle meet pot. Don’t worry that won’t get you suspended or eventually banned on here. 

also it is "knew” not "new.” So if you are going to insult someone’s intelligence know the difference  

[CaliEagle]

On 10/23/2020 at 4:15 AM, BKLYNYG said:

All I want to know is which one of you paid off Evan Engram? 

He's basically your version of LJ Smith.  Looks like Tarzan, but plays like Jane.

[Swoop]

6 hours ago, Vman1968 said:

So I spent exactly 10 seconds looking at this post.  I saw he called Richard Rogers Dick Rod. I new he was an idiot and probably about 11.  I didn’t spend another second reading the novel he posted with his preteen humor

You sound like a real gem.

[EazyEaglez]

Am I the only one that’s pretty annoyed with these gadget plays? Feels like the final year of McNabb when Vick was first here. 

[GeorgeM37]

16 hours ago, EazyEaglez said:

Am I the only one that’s pretty annoyed with these gadget plays? Feels like the final year of McNabb when Vick was first here. 

Not the only one and they almost never work or do all of these gimmicks just to get a few yards. When teams see Hurts in there they know its gonna be a gadget play.....how about just, you know.....letting him actually throw it to a receiver??