What We Learned: Eagles Save Their Season
What We Learned: Eagles Save Their Season
Staring 1-3 in the face, the Eagles responded with one of their classic Doug Pederson-era desperation wins that we’ve become so accustomed to. Takeaways:
1. Feed Jordan Howard
Several Eagles fans (including myself) were calling for more touches for Jordan Howard. After the first three weeks of the season, it looked like he was going to go the way of Golden Tate, a talented player that we gave up a pick for, but didn’t know how to utilize. That changed on Thursday night. The one glaring weakness of a strong Packers’ defense was their inability to stop the run, and what better way to exploit that than to well… run the ball. Howard carried the ball 15 times and picked up 87 yards (5.8 yards per rush), adding two touchdowns on the ground and one through the air. He finished with 115 total yards and three scores. Every run he fell forward for maximum yardage, and Green Bay had no answer for him.
He wasn’t the only impressive runner from Thursday. Rookie Miles Sanders added 72 yards of his own on only 11 attempts. He avoided the unnecessary dancing that plagued his yardage totals in the first three games. He also had a giant 67-yard kickoff return that really brought Philadelphia to life after falling in an early hole. Overall a very encouraging performance for the youngster.
Credit should also go to the Eagles offensive line. This was the performance we’d been expecting to see from them all year. Every play they were paving holes the size of the team tunnel, making life significantly easier for the backs. Wentz also wasn’t sacked during the contest, a major difference from the six sacks he’d absorbed in the past two games.
2. When the Corners Aren’t Getting Burnt, They’re Hurt
Flashbacks to last season must be abundant because Eagles corners continue to get injured. In case you forgot, there was a time last season where De’Vante Bausby and Chandon Sullivan were taking a majority of snaps for this defense. Remember the playoffs where Josh Hawkins was matched up with Michael Thomas at times? Already missing CB1 Ronald Darby to a hamstring injury, the Eagles lost both Sidney Jones (hamstring一 again) and Avonte Maddox (neck) to injuries during the game. By the end of the contest, Rasul Douglas and Craig James (who?) were the only healthy CBs left for Philly. To add insult to injury, Maddox and Jones went down after taking turns getting toasted by Davante Adams. Adams passed 100 yards in the first quarter, and finished with a career-high 180 before leaving with turf toe. The Eagles ended up bringing back Orlando Scandrick the next day. The worst part about the injury to Maddox was that it came after he absorbed a vicious blow from a teammate. That’s right, Andrew Sendejo went for one of his signature kill shots (that he usually misses) and ended up taking out Maddox for the next few weeks.
3. Defensive Line
Aaron Rodgers was only sacked once, but don’t let that take away from the impressive performance put forth by the Eagles defensive line. Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham combined for nearly twenty (!) pressures on the night, and when Derek Barnett wasn’t causing players to be stretchered off the field, he was strip-sacking Rodgers. The run-defense was also elite as usual, holding Aaron Jones to just 1.6 yards a pop on 13 carries. The only downside I see here is that by being so good at stopping the run, the Eagles are forcing teams to pass, which seems to actually be a good thing for the opponent.
4. Carson Wentz
During Carson Wentz’s 2017 All-Pro campaign, the Eagles were actually at their best when they pounded the rock. That’s what they did this week and it resulted in only 27 pass attempts for Wentz. He completed 16 of those (with three touchdowns) and was able to manage the game effectively. When you can put up 34 points and win a game in which your $32 million QB throws for only 160 yards, that’s a very good sign for your team. It was similar to the Eagles 37-9 shellacking of the Cowgirls in 2017, another game in which Wentz threw only 27 times. The Eagles rushed for 215 yards in that game (on 33 attempts, just like on Thursday).
5. Pass Catchers
Nelson Agholor was only targeted once, and it worked just fine. Alshon Jeffery clearly wasn’t 100%, but he hauled in a score of his own. Kevin King played a great game against him. Zach Ertz caught seven passes on the day for 65 yards and Dallas Goedert caught a touchdown this time around.
Other Observations:
- Whenever the Eagles need to win a football game, they put together inspired performances. Remind me never to bet against Doug Pederson again.
- Craig James came through with the play of the game, a late pass breakup that fell into the reliable (not really) hands of Nigel Bradham. It was the Eagles second goal-line stand of the game.
- The Eagles have a great chance to reach 3-2 next week before a brutal schedule awaits them. After the Jets, they face the Vikings, the Cowboys, the Bills, the Bears, the Patriots, and the Seahawks. Ouch.
- On a side note, Dallas’ offense looked horrendous on Sunday Night. Maybe it was the cakewalk schedule that made them look so potent.
Philadelphia (2-2) hosts the New York Jets next week.
-By: Micah Jimoh