In a lot of ways, this was possibly the most impressive and likely the most important win of the Eagles' season to date. Truthfully, I'm reminded of the 2017 team's signature win over Carolina in their famous Thursday night game. Consider how many factors were against the Eagles today:
They were on the road against a crowd that was ready for that game.
This was a short week game for Philly. Having to go on the road with less rest and the entire city of Philadelphia breathing down your neck is not an easy task.
They were significantly shorthanded for the first time this year; no Jordan Davis, Avonte Maddox, Dallas Goedert or Marlon T. All of these players were missed today.
The officiating was not nearly as bad as it was last week, or as it was in Carolina that night, but until the no-call on the facemask that could have been called on Reddick, one could have been quite unhappy about how this game was called (more on this in a little bit).
Philly also had to overcome their own coaching staff, who had what I'll charitably call a “questionable” effort in game management. More on this coming up.
This can't have been an easy game psychologically, considering how many echos there were to Monday night's debacle (defense getting pushed off the ball early, a WR fumbling away a promising drive in the second half, etc). Philly trailed for nearly the whole game (over 53 minutes), and by double digits for much of the second half.
Considering all of this, getting this win, especially with notable advantages in yards (314-284) and first downs (18-14) was a very impressive achievement. I'm not sure how the media will be talking about this game tomorrow, but I'm going to go ahead and say that the better team won today. A few other notes in no particular order:
We need to talk about the coaching staff's effort today. I have to assert that I think this was Sirianni's worst game in terms of game management this year so far. Here's the list of gaffes that I've got: 1) having Hurts line up in the gun on second and goal from the two (this happened in Q2) is a weird call that directly led to the botched snap and an eight yard loss. Just line up in a power set there, you don't need an explosive play. 2) On the same sequence, why kick a FG at four and goal? You only needed four yards and even if you fail, the Colts are backed into a corner. Most would say that the conservative play is the smart play so early in the game; the truth is that the team was struggling enough that they should have been looking to maximize their opportunities. They didn't get that deep again before the fourth quarter. 3) Trailing by ten at the end of the third quarter, why let the clock run out? The offense had significantly struggled to score to that point in the game (three points in three quarters); you need to give yourself every opportunity. 4) If that time they lost at the end of the 3Q wasn't that important, why on earth burn a timeout with nearly five minutes to play? In that scenario, having 4:10 and three timeouts gives you LOTS more options than having 4:40 and two timeouts. 5) Third and four from the Colt's 11; why run Boston Scott up the middle? I get that you want to set up a high-percentage fourth down attempt, but was it really so unlikely that you'd get the conversion on third down with a conventional play call? It's a loser mentality that also brought the game down to the result of one play. 6) On fourth down, wasting a timeout to try to draw Indy offsides was foolish. That gambit almost never works (lightning struck for Philly with that ploy earlier this season but luck was all it was), and by surrendering your second timeout you guarantee you'll never get the ball back if the fourth down isn't converted. 7) The Eagles had 89 seconds and three downs with which to get four yards for the winning score. Why overthink it? Instead of doing the obvious thing and running three straight line plunges, they ran a cute play with lots of motion that promptly lost three yards and substantially changed the odds. Thankfully Jalen Hurts (with an assist from a Colts defense that inexplicably lost him) bailed them out of that jam with a thrilling QB draw for the winning score. Fortunately, none of this cost the Eagles in the end but the record needed to show that mistakes were made.
Much will be made over the aforementioned missed facemask penalty on Hasson Reddick. I'm not going to feel too bad about it for a couple reasons. First, as we all remember too well, an even worse blown call of the exact same nature happened not six days ago. Second, it was hardly an egregious foul; more of a contact with the facemask than a true grab-and-yank. Third, and more importantly, multiple tacky calls short-circuited promising drives for the Eagles in the first half. These things happen.
The first drive likely gave all of us flashbacks as our DL was pushed off the ball consistently and the tackling was poor. After that drive, our defense was lights out. Nine points, 209 yards, 4.0 yards/play after that drive? That's the defense we've been looking for. Similarly, after the first drive, Jonathan Taylor was limited to 16 carries for 37 yards and no scores.
This was not Jalen Hurts' best game from the box score standpoint, but it might have been his best overall. The one fumble was not his fault (we've talked about the goofy play call, but Kelce had a bad snap to compound matters). The team clearly decided that Hurts' running ability would get their offense going and they were correct; Jalen's 86 rushing yards were his most since Week 1 in Detroit. He also became the first Eagles QB to lead a 10 point fourth quarter comeback since Mike Vick's masterful performance in the Miracle at the New Meadowlands. This game wasn't quite THAT game, but it was certainly reminiscent.
Miles Sanders was a shoestring away from three or four monster gains.
Ndamukong Suh and Linval Joseph sharing a sack shows that these guys came ready to play. That bodes well for the next few weeks.
Philly wins that game easily if it has Dallas Goedert; get better, big fella.
Brandon Graham's clutch sack on the Colts' final drive reminded me of the Super Bowl; he just keeps doing it in big moments.
Next up: a home game against Green Bay. The crowd will be out for blood; I'll be there with my family. Is it weird that I was more nervous about Matt Ryan at home than I am about Aaron Rodgers on the road this year?
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