What we need to know about this game (other than the general statistical dominance, which we'll talk about), is the following moment from early in the fourth quarter:
With 14:11 to play, the Eagles are backed up in their own half due to multiple penalties and a couple poor misfires in the passing game. The fans are beyond restless and the announcers are pouring it on with criticism and warranted speculation about what's gone wrong with this team. Jalen Hurts is angry but has looked ineffective and AJ Brown is hobbling. The Eagles have all but lost a dominant first half lead with two complete garbage scores (one set up by the NFL equivalent of an own goal on the kickoff fumble and another on a 76 yard pick six caused by a slip on the turf by Dallas Goedert), and are clinging to a 20-18 lead with the real possibility of letting another thoroughly winnable game slip through their fingers again. It's one thing to lose to SF or Dallas, two of the best teams in the league. It's one thing to lose on the road to Seattle, who's a playoff contender. It's another thing to possibly give up a home game to the hated Giants, who aren't even good, and yet that reality is staring the Eagles in the face.
Remember this moment?
You likely recall what happened next; Jalen rolls right and throws a looping strike over the defender right to AJ Brown, who makes first down yardage and then some. Although clearly uncomfortable, Brown makes another first down conversion later in the drive that sets up Swift's touchdown. You could hear the atmosphere in the stadium shift positively and it seemed to carry over to the team itself, who played with restored confidence from that point on. If this win is in fact the start of a turnaround for the 2023 Eagles, mark down that play as when it started.
Other than that, don't let someone trick you into thinking that somehow the Giants really pushed the Eagles tonight. I'm aware that on the final drive they theoretically were a play away from being a two point conversion away from overtime, but that isn't the same thing at all as saying that they really challenged the Birds. Philly dominated that game (28-14 FD, 74-59 total plays, 465-292 total yards, 34:38-25:22 TOP). Take away the total fluke plays mentioned above (two plays that you likely won't see again this season), and the Birds win this one by three touchdowns. I'm watching the Eagles Postgame Live guys shred Philly yet again; to be sure, such criticism has been merited in the past but it just isn't tonight. New York got all the big breaks of the game and Philly still prevailed.
I had said that perhaps all that we needed to get things headed in the right direction again was to just start winning again and the Eagles did that tonight. They weren't perfect but the final score didn't reflect how well the Birds did.
A few final quick hitter style thoughts about tonight's game:
Jalen Hurts has a solid effort. Detractors will point out the boneheaded play at the end of the first half where he failed to run out of bounds and nearly killed the clock. The pick six will show up in the box score but there were a couple other moments where he put the ball within the grasp of a Giants defender but it was dropped. That's the negative; the positive was an overall rock solid performance with several top shelf throws and his 15th rushing score of the season. The Giants defense isn't total trash and the OL didn't have a great game, making Jalen's performance more impressive to me.
Defense has another OK day. Actually, with the exception of the big catch-and-run that got the Giants back within striking distance late, the defense was dominant. On the whole they limited NY to 4.9 yards per play, which would be the 8th best figure in the NFL if it were spread over the full season. I know it was "only" against Tommy DeVito and Tyrod Taylor, but there are worst QBs out there. Baby steps, people.
Run the ball, baby. The Eagles ran off 35 attempts for 170 yards (4.9 YPC) and two scores. Tonight was the first time they went back to back games over 170 rushing yards as a team since September.
Eagles overcome their own mistakes. We know about the two turnovers that turned the game (by the way, tonight was the FIFTH time this year that the Eagles won a game while losing the turnover battle). The mental mistakes were notable; not only Jalen's near disaster with clock management in the 1H but the legion of dumb penalties come to mind, as well as drops by both Goedert and Brown. Still, the big plays they made will be what I remember when I think back on this game.
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