DAMMIT, take the win!
EAGLES LEADERS:
(S) QB Carson Wentz: (25/43 – 58.1% – 359 – 2 – 1)
(S) RB Boston Scott: (12 – 46 – 3.8 – 0 – 0)
(S) TE Richard Rodgers: (8 – 6 – 85 – 14.1 – 0)
(S) DE Brandon Graham: (3 – 1.0 – 0 – 1)
I hear you asking, “What about all the stuff that stats don’t reveal?” Well, that’s the reason for the Four Things articles. It’s to point out what we need to address BEFORE the game. Then AFTER the game, there’s a no-bullshit assessment of whether or not the Eagles did any of what they needed to do, to ensure the win.
So how much of what I mentioned in Four Things: giants did the Eagles get around to doing? Well let’s see:
1) Hand it off 20 times: While the Eagles ran the ball 26 times, 7 were by Wentz. Aside from Wentz, the team amassed 19 actual handoffs, for 82 yards (4.3ypc). Mathematically, it looks more productive than it actually was. (NOT DONE)
2) Be sack religious: We got three sacks and generally had their QB under pressure for a good percentage of the night. The result was two turnovers from him, including the kill-shot fumble, forced by Graham in the fourth quarter. (DONE)
3) Spread them out!: We came out doing this, and then became less consistent with it, when we started with those bunch formations. The result was that we kept the giants base defense off the field, and were able to scrape together enough room to run the ball. (DONE)
4) No 50 yard field goal attempts: This was done, but technically no opportunity to attempt a 50 yarder, ever came up. However, with the way the K Jake Elliott is kicking, maybe we need to abandon kicking altogether this season. (Ugh!) Never mind. That’s just frustration talking. (DONE)
Heyyyyy! That’s a Four Things score of 3 out of 4 for the week! On the season we’re now 10 of 28. Now we get a Sunday where none of our players get hurt, for the first time since… Uhhhh… Um… Wait no, he broke his thumb peeling an egg this Easter. Okay, so it’s been a while! The point is, we get 10 days to rest up for our home match-up vs the Dallas Cowboys.
On The Whole:
For the last two weeks we’ve talked about how valiantly the Eagles have played, but always ended with: “BUT THEY STILL LOST.” This week we looked as good as a 90 year old hooker: “BUT WE STILL WON.” So take the damned win, Eagles fans. We may not see many of these in 2020.
I want to talk about how much good we did, in this game. The truth however, is that we barely squeaked by an awful team.
For the second week in a row, the Eagles gave up a long QB run. Again it was vs a look that featured no Safeties. The only way a guy like QB Daniel Jones can break an 80 yard run, is if a defensive coordinator schemes for it.
Then there was that film-study TD, where WR Sterling Shepard knew the Eagles DB’s (who weren’t pressing), would switch… This was a case of our Defense drawing up the opponent’s scoring play. A change is needed. I cannot express how badly it’s needed.
Boston Scott did catch the game-winning touchdown. Yes. Kudos. That said, his production at RB isn’t reliable. In 4 starts as an Eagle, his rushing totals (26, 59, 35 and 46) are the sort of numbers that require Wentz to carry the Offense. Something has to change.
NOTE: For the last two weeks, the fill-ins at Guard, (Jamon Brown and Sua Opeta, respectively) have had their lunch eaten by whomever lined up across from them. However, there may be a simple, and highly effective solution, waiting in the wings.
The local sports media is trying to jinn up a controversy about whether or not LT Jason Peters can reclaim his starting role from LT Jordan Mailata, once Peters returns from injury. My suggestion would be to move Peters to that RG spot that he was initially supposed to occupy this season, and move OG Nate Herbig to LG.
Okay. Just one more for the road:
EAGLEMANIACAL.com 