Jets Stun Eagles in Instant Summer Classic

[time2rock]

Jets Stun Eagles in Instant Summer Classic

Posted: August 13th, 2022 | Author: Tommy Lawlor 

The Eagles lost their preseason opener on Friday night, falling to the Jets 24-21, but Eagles fans should be plenty happy with the team’s performance. When the starters left the game it was 14-0 and the Eagles were clearly the better team. The score was 14-3 at the half. The Eagles third and fourth stringers struggled and that’s when the Jets came alive and stole the game.

The biggest win of the night is the lack of major injuries for the Eagles. Britain Covey tore some thumb ligaments and will miss time. Jets QB Zach Wilson hurt his knee and is waiting to find out if he’s got a torn ACL or just a bone bruise. Hopefully it won’t be the ACL.

Eagles QB Jalen Hurts was 6-6-80 with a TD. The biggest moment of the night came when he ran out of bounds and took a big hit from a defender. Hurts was hit in the head and that made Eagles players and coaches irate. Hurts wasn’t hurt, thankfully. Coach Nick Sirianni went nuts and yelled at the Jets sideline "That’s Fing BS!” He said after the game he was upset with the player, not the coaches. That was as fired up as I’ve ever seen him.

Hurts played well. He showed good command of the offense, making some plays on schedule and others through improvisation. Hurts looked confident and made good throws. He hit Dallas Goedert for a 22-yard TD. And Hurts had to deal with a pair of penalties. The offense was good enough to overcome them and march in for the score.

The Eagles didn’t run the ball on that drive. Someone asked Sirianni about it after the game. You don’t gameplan for the preseason. You focus on things you want to work on. The Eagles proved last year they could run on anyone. The passing game is what needed work. Sirianni was smart to have the starters throwing the ball. That’s good coaching.

Cam Jurgens got the start at center and he played well. You could see what a good athlete he is. Not only did he move well, he was able to block effectively in space. You can see that he ‘s going to be a good starting center in the future.

After the Eagles got up 7-0, LB Kyzir White jumped a route and picked off a pass to set up a short field. Gardner Minshew and the backups then marched 44 yards to put the Eagles up 14-0.

Life was good.

Things got sloppy after that. Even Sirianni talked about how bad the third quarter was. The offense rallied in the fourth quarter and came up with an 18-play drive that resulted in a TD to put the Birds up 21-17. Then the defense and STs fell apart. The Jets had a 52-yard kickoff return to set up the winning drive. A 23-yard scramble put the Jets deep into Eagles territory. The Jets got a 5-yard TD pass to re-take the lead.

Overall Sirianni has a lot more to be happy about than frustrated with. The offense moved the ball and executed well in the red zone. The only turnover came on the final play of the game when the Eagles were in desperation mode. The defense came up with a takeaway and only gave up 111 yards in the first half.

Sirianni won’t be happy with the penalties (7-45). The STs play was less than ideal. NYJ had KORs of 52 and 31 yards. They also had a 14-yard PR. The Eagles punt return unit didn’t do anything. The number three offense really struggled at times. Blocking wasn’t good. QB Reid Sinnett struggled. The RBs weren’t making things happen. There were dropped passes. It wasn’t pretty. Sirianni won’t be happy with third down conversions. The Eagles were 5 for 17 for the game (only 2 for 7 in the opening half). That must get fixed in a hurry. The team gave up five sacks. That’s on the QBs, the blockers and the receivers. The Jets weren’t sacked at all. The Eagles were only credited with three QB hits. That’s not good, even with the backups playing most of the game. You must get to the QB more than that.

I came away from the game feeling pretty good. The key players played well and that’s what you focus on. Here are some quick thoughts on specific players.

G Minshew – Played pretty well after struggling for a lot of camp. Feel better about him after this showing. Games really do bring out the best in him.

Jason Huntley – Up and down game. 16-48 on the ground and 4-39 as a receiver. Showed some burst on a few plays. Had some success on inside runs, but you could also see his limitations. Doesn’t get much push. Isn’t going to create his own yards. He did have a 43-yard KOR that showed his speed. I just wanted to see more out of him at RB.

B Graham – Got a TFL on his first play. It was great to see him back in action and looking good.

Jordan Davis – The real deal. Showed the ability to control the middle of the line. Pushed blockers back on multiple plays. Showed a good motor and speed on a play where the QB scrambled.

Nakobe Dean – Credited with 5 tackles. Physical. Smart. Looked good.

Patrick Johnson – He was a bit of an afterthought with the addition of Reddick and the drafting of Kyron Johnson. I thought Patrick was one of the best defenders on the field. Played SAM and DE. Good job of setting the edge. Physical vs the run. Flashed on a couple of pass rushes. Caught my eye several times.

Reed Blankenship – Led the Eagles with 7 tackles. Came up aggressively and really attacked his targets. Good showing for a UDFA trying to get the coaches attention.

I’ll have more thoughts after I have a chance to re-watch the game. This is just some of the stuff that stuck out while watching it live. Good start to the preseason. And the game was even interesting. Some preseason games get ugly and painful to watch. The third quarter was ugly, but the fourth quarter was fun, despite the outcome being less than ideal.

http://igglesblitz.com/2022/08/eagles-instant-classic/

[Rob331]

I don't think the headline fits the article. First of all - it is inaccurate. No one is stunned when their lineup of guys who are the 70th through the 90th players on the roster don't play well. 

Aside from the headline it's a well thought out article worth the read. 

Thanks Tommy!

[NCTANK]

yeah, our starters were smoking their starters. that’s all that matters to me. plus, the Jets stink again.

[NYEagle]

Where was Landon Dickerson?  Did he play?  I saw Opeta out there.......I think......

[time2rock]

1 hour ago, NYEagle said:

Where was Landon Dickerson?  Did he play?  I saw Opeta out there.......I think......

Opeta started at LG in place of Dickerson.  

[Lloyd]

4 hours ago, Rob331 said:

I don't think the headline fits the article. First of all - it is inaccurate. No one is stunned when their lineup of guys who are the 70th through the 90th players on the roster don't play well. 

Aside from the headline it's a well thought out article worth the read. 

Thanks Tommy!

The headline is a joke. I don't think he's seriously referring to a preseason game as a "summer classic"

[Procus]

It's the first preseason game and nothing to get too hyped up about, but it sure was fun watching Davis and Dean do their thing.

[VaBeach_Eagle]

I don't care how a pre-season game goes or what happens in it, but it can never seriously be dubbed a 'classic'. 'Classic' games count toward wins and losses. Pre-season doesn't. 

[Crazy Legs]

16 hours ago, VaBeach_Eagle said:

I don't care how a pre-season game goes or what happens in it, but it can never seriously be dubbed a 'classic'. 'Classic' games count toward wins and losses. Pre-season doesn't. 

Aside from the headline, a thorough, objective and informative review of Friday's outing.

Tom, I immensely enjoyed your college scouting reports that you previously contribute as an amateur. Can you still pursue them in the future?

[birdman#12]

I would love for Fletcher Cox to have bounce back season.......I love the eagles DL rotation......Davis, Cox, Hargrave and Williams is going to be a headache for O-lines.  

 

[Rob331]

On 8/13/2022 at 6:33 PM, time2rock said:

Where was Landon Dickerson?  Did he play?  I saw Opeta out there.......I think......

Held out due to a sore foot. 

[time2rock]

1 hour ago, Rob331 said:

Held out due to a sore foot. 

How the heck did that quote me?  That was NYEagle's post.  Weird.  

[matchew88]

On 8/13/2022 at 3:05 PM, Rob331 said:

I don't think the headline fits the article. First of all - it is inaccurate. No one is stunned when their lineup of guys who are the 70th through the 90th players on the roster don't play well. 

Aside from the headline it's a well thought out article worth the read. 

Thanks Tommy!

 

On 8/13/2022 at 3:44 PM, NCTANK said:

yeah, our starters were smoking their starters. that’s all that matters to me. plus, the Jets stink again.

 

On 8/13/2022 at 4:59 PM, NYEagle said:

Where was Landon Dickerson?  Did he play?  I saw Opeta out there.......I think......

 

On 8/13/2022 at 6:33 PM, time2rock said:

Opeta started at LG in place of Dickerson.  

 

On 8/13/2022 at 7:23 PM, Lloyd said:

The headline is a joke. I don't think he's seriously referring to a preseason game as a "summer classic"

 

On 8/13/2022 at 10:30 PM, Procus said:

It's the first preseason game and nothing to get too hyped up about, but it sure was fun watching Davis and Dean do their thing.

 

On 8/13/2022 at 11:34 PM, VaBeach_Eagle said:

I don't care how a pre-season game goes or what happens in it, but it can never seriously be dubbed a 'classic'. 'Classic' games count toward wins and losses. Pre-season doesn't. 

 

23 hours ago, Crazy Legs said:

Aside from the headline, a thorough, objective and informative review of Friday's outing.

Tom, I immensely enjoyed your college scouting reports that you previously contribute as an amateur. Can you still pursue them in the future?

I think the NFL needs to have a game like NHL Winter Classic and MLB Field of Dreams game. Perhaps have an artificial snow game somewhere and call it the Snow Bowl.

[Rob331]

20 hours ago, time2rock said:

How the heck did that quote me?  That was NYEagle's post.  Weird.  

No idea my friend - the electron gremlins are at it again