A Fun Day

[time2rock]

A Fun Day

Posted: November 14th, 2021 | Author: Tommy Lawlor 

One of my biggest complaints this year is that the Eagles haven’t been much fun. Winning and losing aside, the team has been frustrating. Too many penalties. Too many passes. A Charmin soft defense. Sundays have not been fun days.

That changed in Denver.

The Eagles came out running and jumped to a 10-0 lead. Denver responded with a 10-0 run of their own to tie the game. The Eagles didn’t panic. They didn’t fold. They closed out the first half on another 10-0 run and controlled the game for the entire second half. Winning is always fun.

We’ve already seen blowout wins over Atlanta and Detroit. This felt different to me. The Broncos were 5-4 and coming off a big win. They have one of the best defenses in the league. This was a real test.

The Eagles passed with flying colors.

They ran for 214 yards, with the OL opening big holes on a regular basis. Jalen Hurts played the best game of his young career. DeVonta Smith continues to look like a star receiver. The Eagles defense did their part, holding Denver to 1 for 5 in the Red Zone. The Eagles defense even scored a TD. The STs unit did their part by blocking a FG.

This was a team win.

It was an odd game for Hurts.

Because the Eagles ran the ball so well and scored a defensive TD in the second half, there just wasn’t a need to throw many passes.

Hurts was terrific in the opening half. He has made real strides in the past few weeks. You can see he is forcing himself to stay in the pocket and not just take off running. Hurts is being more balanced in throwing left as well as right. He spread the ball around more evenly in Denver. Hurts threw a pair of terrific deep balls, one for a TD and the other should have been a TD but went through Quez Watkins hands. I thought his overall accuracy was better.

Don’t make any definitive declarations right now. Hurts has shown real improvement the last two weeks, but we need to see how he plays over an extended period. At his best, he looks good. But he’s got to stack strong performances before we can say "Hurts is the guy!”

Today was very encouraging. If he can build on that, Hurts will start to make a good case for his future.

As happy as Hurts must be, Jonathan Gannon is even happier. His defense forced 4 punts, got Red Zone stops and came up with a scoop and score. QB Tedy Bridgewater finished 22 of 36 throwing the ball, just 61 percent. This year, that feels amazing. Gannon won’t be peppered with questions about his soft coverages and how the opposing QB set some kind of completion record.

The Eagles never trailed in this game. It felt like they were the better team (time will tell if that is true or not). This wasn’t some amazing performance where every little thing went right. This was a good performance, with all three parts of the team playing winning football.

The Eagles are now 4-6. They have won 2 of their last 3 games and appear to be heading in the right direction. They have a soft schedule ahead of them so this team could make a run. We can debate what is best for the long term health of the franchise, but these players and coaches are going to do everything they can to win.

I’m just happy to have a Sunday night where I can sit back and think good thoughts about the Eagles. Football can still be fun.

*****

Watching Howard run really entertains me. I love runners that get north-south and run behind their pads.

Howard knows what he is and runs accordingly. It drives me nuts to see bigger backs who try to use juke moves. You’re big! Just run at the defender. You’ll either run over him or punish him for tackling you.

I think Howard’s style has brought some juice to the offense. You know the O-linemen love watching him pound on guys. Howard is averaging more than 5 yards per carry this year and I hope they keep feeding him the ball.

http://igglesblitz.com/2021/11/a-fun-day/

[PoconoDon]

The Eagles are 4-6 right now with some less than lethal opponents on the schedule. I have to say I predicted 4 or 5 wins, and it looks like they're gonna outperform my estimate. Good. Now if Miami and Indy could go one narrow margin losing streaks, that'd be nice.

[birdman#12]

3 hours ago, time2rock said:

Watching Howard run really entertains me. I love runners that get north-south and run behind their pads.

Howard knows what he is and runs accordingly. It drives me nuts to see bigger backs who try to use juke moves. You’re big! Just run at the defender. You’ll either run over him or punish him for tackling you.

I think Howard’s style has brought some juice to the offense. You know the O-linemen love watching him pound on guys. Howard is averaging more than 5 yards per carry this year and I hope they keep feeding him the ball.

http://igglesblitz.com/2021/11/a-fun-day/

Unfortunately, the eagles will let him go in the offseason as they clearly didn't understand that earlier in the year.  Howard is a perfect compliment to guys like sanders, scott and gainwell.

How this guy was cut and signed to the practice squad was an indication of this FO and coaching staff's lack of ability when it comes to player evaluation.

Enjoy it while he's here, he's only going to be here for 7 more games.