Above .500

[time2rock]

Above .500

Posted: December 26th, 2021 | Author: Tommy Lawlor 

We knew there would be one bad team on Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday when the 4-10 Giants came to town to take on the Eagles. We didn’t realize that for a half, there would be two bad teams on the field.

The halftime score was 3-3.

The Eagles had several dropped passes, multiple fumbles, a dropped INT and too many penalties. Calling it a sloppy performance would be an insult to the word sloppy. That was some bad football.

Luckily things changed in the second half. The Eagles woke up and started making plays instead of mistakes. Rodney McLeod picked off an errant pass and returned it to the Giants 21. The Eagles offense took advantage of the great field position to go up 10-3. Then a 39-yard punt return by Jalen Reagor put the Eagles right back at the 21. That turned into a field goal and it was game over. Once the Eagles were up 13-3, the game was out of reach.

The Eagles scored 34 unanswered points to build a 34-3 lead. The Giants scored late to make the final score 34-10, but the game had been over for quite a while.

This was the fourth straight game where the Eagles fell behind early. The team is 3-1 in those games, but that is a bad trend. These recent games have been against some awful QBs. The Eagles are going to face a good QB sometime soon and they can’t count on coming back against a legit opponent.

The good news is that the Eagles are now 8-7 and 7th in the playoff standings, which would mean they get a berth. The Vikings lost to the Rams, dropping Minnesota to 7-8 and 9th in the NFC. The Eagles have now won 6 of 8 and they’ve had several blowout wins. When you face mediocre or flat out bad teams, you should blow them out. That’s a good sign.

Give the Eagles defense a lot of credit. They faced an awful offense today and limited them to 3 points for most of the game. Once the starters were pulled, the Giants were able to drive for a late TD. And they needed an Eagles penalty for that to happen.

The defense had 2 sacks and 2 INTs, one of which was a pick-6 for Alex Singleton. They limited the Giants to 192 total yards. Saquon Barkley had 15 carries for just 32 yards.

The Eagles offense had an odd day. Nick Sirianni had his offense come out throwing and was slow to embrace the run game. I can throw out some theories on why, but I was highly frustrated, to put it mildly. Jalen Hurts struggled early and his receivers weren’t helping him out. As awful as Jake Fromm was early on, Hurts wasn’t much better.

Hurts’ play improved in the second half. It still wasn’t a great showing, despite solid numbers (passer rating was 102.5). He underthrew several receivers. He made some questionable decisions. Hurts was good enough to get the win, but he’s got to play much better in the coming weeks. You love the fact he can overcome a slow start, but it would be good to see him play more consistently.

The unstoppable run game never really got the chance to dominate. Sirianni stubbornly kept throwing the ball. Miles Sanders injured his hand in the second quarter and didn’t return. Jordan Howard got hurt in the second half and went to the locker room. The Eagles still ran for 130 yards and a TD.

DeVonta Smith did have a big game, going 5-80-1. He made a pair of terrific catches. He went up and high-pointed a ball down the field that turned into a 46-yard gain. Smith had a crazy TD catch where he had to drag both feet. Incredible body control on both plays.

Smith, however, wasn’t the Eagles star receiver.

I didn’t think Lane Johnson would catch a TD when considering the possibilities for the game. Johnson is a gifted athlete and former TE so throwing to him makes complete sense. What a cool moment.

The Eagles now return to a normal schedule and will have a full week of rest before they play again. They’ll need that with Sanders and Howard nursing injuries. Hurts didn’t take a beating, but he could use some more rest as well. You can see that he’s not 100 percent.

The Eagles had a lot to deal with in the past week – a postponed game, Covid issues, injuries, Christmas. They won both games played in that span and dominated large portions of those games. There was a 27-7 stretch vs Washington and a 34-0 stretch against the Giants. When this team clicks, they are good. There are legit issues to work on, but there is also a lot to be happy about.

8-7.

The Eagles never had a winning record last year. They were 1-0 this year, but you have to go back to December of 2019 to find them above .500 after the opening week. Next up is a trip to Washington and, believe it or not, a chance to clinch a playoff spot.

The 2-5 start sure seems like a lifetime ago.

http://igglesblitz.com/2021/12/above-500/