EAGLES 24 – Falcons 15
THIS week the Eagles didn’t get cute with the Offense. In fact, we were at our best when we were playing smash mouth ball and running the ball right up the gut. Head Coach Doug Pederson called a monster of a game, which featured controlling the clock, limiting Atlanta’s opportunities for possessions, and dominating the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.
The Eagles piled up 208 rushing yards at 5.5 yards per tote, while holding Craplanta to just 48 rushing yards and capping them at yards 255 passing (sack adjusted). We also kept them to 2/11 on 3rd down conversions.
QB Carson Wentz (25/36 – 69.4% – 231 – 0 – 0) still looks like he’s hit the rookie wall, but there were a couple moments in the game where he looked like that next level is just around the corner for him. One such moment was the 13 yard run up the middle on 2nd and 12. There was no one around him and he went into a head first dive once he’d secured the needed yardage. No risking his body and still getting every needed inch. Very heads up play for a QB at any stage of their career. Right, Steve Young?
The engine of the day was RB Ryan Mathews (19 – 109 – 5.7 – 2 – 0) giving us the sort of tough, inside running that RB Darren Sproles (2 – 19 – 9.5 – 0 – 0 / 8 – 57 – 7.1 – 0) simply can’t provide. WR Jordan Matthews (6 – 73 – 12.1 – 0) seemed to be on his way to a monster day. However, in the second half the clock struck midnight, the coach became a pumpkin, the horses became rats, Matthew’s hands turned back into bricks… The guy who impressed me most though, was TE Zach Ertz (6 – 55 – 9.1 – 0). The routes he ran, gave Wentz somewhere to go with the ball quickly, and kept him from having to resort to Screen passes. We threw what, just 2 or 3 Screens all day long? That was beautiful. Let’s keep trending down with that.
Speaking of trending down, WR Nelson Agholor continues to be a bust. And I didn’t forget his stats. I’m giving them all the attention they deserve.
Did you see my LB’s out there taking away any quick passes from the Falcons? Did you see that play where OLB Nigel Bradham (3 – 0 – 0 – 0) stopped QB Matt Ryan from scrambling OR hitting WR Julio Jones on a short pass in the 1st quarter? That’s BEAST level football my friends. The return of DT Bennie Logan (no stats) went a long way to helping us not have to blitz, so the LB’s could be used in coverage.
Nobody had a an awesome statistical day, but they played amazing team concept Defense. We held a team that came in averaging 34 point per game to just 15. That’s just 44% of what they normally do.
Did you notice?
After a few bullshit, non-calls in the game, our players seemed to get a little angry out there. It was nice to see the Eagles playing with a chip on their shoulders. Been a while.
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