When Running Works and Passing Doesn’t…Just Keep Passing?

[time2rock]

When Running Works and Passing Doesn’t…Just Keep Passing?

 

Wait, that doesn’t make any sense.

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Except I guess it did to Nick Sirianni during the Eagles 7-13 Loss to the New York Giants Sunday afternoon. For the first time since Week 7, the Eagles returned to the norm of passing the ball, throwing 31 attempts, and ending with 14 completions and 3 interceptions. The run game was working; the Eagles had become the #1 run team in the NFL and had just dropped 242 Rushing Yards against the #1 Run Defense in the entire League the previous weekend.

By the end of the first half, with 12 Rushes for 75 yards while Passing for 9/16, 76 yards & 2 Interceptions. The Eagles were disappointedly shut out at halftime by a Giants team giving up an average of 12.3 points in the 1st half of games.

With the passing game barely being above 50% with 2 interceptions by halftime, you’d think Sirianni would stick to the run? The part of the Eagles offense that has consistently worked for the previous six-plus weeks. As much as we could hope, that wasn’t the case. The opening drive of the 3rd quarter consisted of 3 runs for 35 yards and ended with 2 passes that fell incomplete to both Gainwell & Reagor.

The next drive was also over and done with quickly on a Jalen Reagor Intercepted pass that could only be compared to the Alshon Jeffery infamous bunny hop that had Wentz throwing game-sealing interceptions in years past.

Now surprisingly, the Eagles kept it on the ground the next drive. Ten plays for 66 yards that never saw the ball leave the ground had the Eagles within a Field Goal of being able to tie this game until the last 3 possessions ended in Punt, Fumble, and lastly, Downs.

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The most embarrassing part of this whole game is how avoidable so many of these mistakes could have been.

On Int#1 Hurts misses 2 wide open targets that could have extended the drive, Int#2 could have been thrown away and ended a 3-3 game at halftime. Int#3 has Hurts avoiding a wide-open DeVonta Smith, Boston Scott, and Quez Watkins on a 1st & 18 that could have picked up at least 6+ yards if he connects with any open receiver other than Reagor

The problems don’t just stop there; the play calling and targeting in this game was horrendous. Gainwell, Reagor, and Watkins saw a combined 16 Targets with only 7 Completions for 86 yards. While the biggest receivers on the Eagles-Smith & Goedert only saw a combined 7 targets with 3 receptions for 22 yards. There were plenty of missed opportunities that could have had either of the Eagles’ WR1 or TE1 make some massive plays and be able to change this game around.

As everyone has probably seen after the game, DeVonta Smith was open numerous times on the Eagles final play that could have converted for a first down, gotten the Birds within the red zone, or scored the game Winning/Tying Touchdown with seconds left on the clock.

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Play calling was one of the Eagles biggest problems in this almost must-win matchup; the turnovers didn’t help, but luckily the Defense was able to step up and hold the Giants to only 272 Total Yards, but that wasn’t enough due to the amount of dropped passes and blown-up plays that the Eagles experienced on Sunday.

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If anything, a disappointing loss like that helps us evaluate that the Eagles’ WR Core is not finished. With many Receivers coming up this Free Agency, it should be time to open the checkbook and get a big name signed be opposite DeVonta Smith. I talked about Jalen Reagor in my article last week and how he shouldn’t be a big part of the team moving forward.

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Although Nick Sirianni answered when asked about the potential of Reagor being benched that:

"I have not thought about that and not thought through that.”

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If anything, Sunday’s game further proved the point that he was a mistake at 21st overall and the Vikings with Justin Jefferson will continue to hold that against us for years to come, similar to how the Seahawks and D.K. Metcalf have shown how J.J. Arcega-Whiteside was also not a great 2nd round choice.

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The biggest thing Eagles fans can hope for this Sunday is a bounce-back game from the entire team against the New York Jets that Jalen Hurts is able to play and prove why we should give him another year to lead this team into the playoffs.

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With a 5-7 record, the playoffs still aren’t out of the question, but with 7 teams in the hunt for the 6th and 7th seed in the NFC, every game is almost a must-win if the Eagles want to get some playoff experience under their belts.

https://www.phlsportsnation.com/2021/12/01/when-running-works-and-passing-doesnt-just-keep-passing/

[UK_EaglesFan89]

I know the run pass numbers against NY seemed to be even but it never felt that way during the game. Always felt that we were too heavy one way or the other.