Another game, another nail-biting result! Philly has played three one-score games so far and has won all three. I had believed that Philly would win by a couple scores but that proved to be wrong; the Birds needed everything they could get to win the first overtime game of Nick Sirianni's career. Let's play “Trending Up, Trending Down” for the Birds, after the fourth game of the season:
TRENDING UP
Jalen Hurts. Jalen did leave some meat on the bone but I think that's nitpicking for the most part. He recorded the best TYP (7.34) and RPP (2.04%) of the season, and that TYP figure has improved each game. I noted that this was the first time this season that we saw the old Jalen as a runner; he had a couple really nice runs when the play broke down. There were a few underwhelming moments running and throwing the ball today, but I'm not going to dwell on that today.
AJ Brown. Brown was today's MVP, with several clutch and momentum-seizing catches. His long TD run that weaved through the entire Washington secondary was one of his best plays in an Eagles uniform. He gets dinged a bit for his taunting penalty that was partially responsible for getting the game to OT in the first place, but all in all this was a legitimately great effort by Brown.
Nicholas Morrow. If you had taken a bet on “Which Eagle will be the first to have a three-sack game?”, my guess is that Morrow would have likely gotten the longest odds of anyone (he wasn't even on the opening day roster!), and yet here we are. Morrow tied for the team in solo tackles today (10) and of course had the big safety last week vs. Tampa Bay.
Haason Reddick. It would be unfair to mention Morrow without throwing some serious credit Reddick's way. He finally broke through with his first credited sack but the havoc he created led to at least two other sacks. Reddick is making his way back.
Reed Blankenship. This guy continues to trend up. Eight total tackles and broke up two passes to lead the team in that category.
The offensive line. A solid effort against one of the NFL's best defensive lines; only 8 yards lost in sacks and a better day run blocking than the final stats will give credit for.
Jake Elliott. This guy just keeps trucking along; made all six of his kicks including yet another from 50+ to win the game. He's unquestionably the ST MVP of this team.
4-0 Eagles starts. 2023 marks just the third time that Philly has opened 4-0 in the Lurie era, and the first time it has done so in back-to-back seasons in franchise history. The previous two times (2004 and 2022) resulted in Super Bowl trips. I do suspect that this team isn't quite as good as its record, but opening 4-0 is nothing to sneeze at, as the Dolphins found out today.
TRENDING DOWN
Nick Sirianni's ability to make the right decision on accepting penalties. I noted several times last year (most notably against Dallas) that these decisions (4th and short vs. 3rd and long) were generally misadventures for the coaching staff last year, and this game was yet another example. To review, Philly had stopped Washington to force and 4th-and-2, but accepted a penalty that made it 3rd-and-6. The chances of converting a 4th-and-2 are approximately 57%; however, giving a team TWO shots at getting six yards gives them a 68% chance at converting (because of the second available down). Of course, the Commanders got a first down on the next play and ended up with a touchdown on the play after that. Side note; unlike some I'm not going to rag on the staff for that touchdown at the end of the game. I get that you'd like to see more clock run off before the score, but in football NOTHING is guaranteed and any time you can get a touchdown in a moment like this, you take it without apology. What do you want them to do, take a knee? Have Brown drop the pass intentionally?
Eagles' starting corners. Both Slay and Jobe got roasted on several occasions. Both had a few good moments too, but overall I can't pretend to be too excited about the effort of the corners today. Sam Howell looked really good against this group, and that was with Jahan Dotson missing some time with an injury.
Braden Mann. Many of us held high hopes for the Mann Era, but this was not a great start for the new punter. His 41.8 gross punt average for the first four punts of his Eagle career is a less than inspiring effort.
Officiating. This was a really poorly called game, with bad calls aplenty that affected both teams, as well as inconsistencies throughout. Thankfully, I'd have to remark that the bad calls seemed to eventually even out. Sad that this was even something that needed to be tracked.
All told, you always should feel good about wining your division opener, even if it was far closer than it should have been. These Commanders games rarely seem to go the way we think they will, and for awhile this game had the feel of the Monday Night Nightmare from last year, so kudos to Philly for getting through it. I'm still waiting on this team to put forth a complete effort, but they've shown promise in nearly every facet, so the fact that they keep stacking wins (and haven't yet been destroyed by injuries) is a very good sign.
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