LET’S get to the elephant in room.
EAGLES LEADERS:
(B) QB Jalen Hurts: (5/12 – 41.6%– 109 – 1 – 1)
(S) RB Miles Sanders: (10 – 31 – 3.1 – 0 – 0)
(S) TE Dallas Goedert: (7 – 5 – 66 – 13.2 – 0)
(S) DT Javon Hargrave: (1 – 1.0 – 0 – 0)
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: Packers did the Eagles get around to doing? Well let’s see:
1) Run to pass: Running on first down had us moving the ball on the first drive, but then we abandoned it. Silly enough, we didn’t really pick it up when we put out our rookie, back-up QB. On the whole, there were 17 handoffs in this game (1 to a WR.) Compared to 27 pass attempts and 8 QB runs, it’s just not how to run an offense. (NOT DONE)
2) Force their QB left and hit him: We did this. Unfortunately on those same downs, NO ONE was covering, and it led to big plays. Easy, big plays. I don’t know whether we’re failing at succeeding or succeeding at failing, but both paths led to a big fat “L”. (DONE)
3) Start fast: We came out and established a 3 – 0 lead. Our first lead since they tore down the Vet. Or at least that’s how it felt. Then we abandoned the run and started playing like chumps again. (DONE)
4) Avoid starting drives inside of our 20: We did a much better job of this than we have in many prior weeks. We also didn’t bury ourselves in penalties. (And that holding call on LG Isaac Seumalo was bullshit. So was the ticky-tack push off on WR Alshon Jeffrey.) (DONE)
We actually did 3 of 4 things this week. But we had problems elsewhere that were laid bare, when we switched QB’s in the 3rd quarter. Next on the docket: the New Orleans Saints.
On The Whole:
Let’s get to the elephant in room. Should Jalen Hurts be the starter next week? The answer is “No”. Inserting him didn’t fix any of the problems we’ve been suffering all year long.
Today Wentz was sacked 4 times, to Hurts 3 times. Hurts ran for 29 yards on 6 carries (5.8 yards per run), to Wentz’s 18 yards on 3 carries (6.0 yards per run). One repeated knock on Wentz, has been that this year, he’s as likely to throw an interception (15), as he is a TD (16). Today Hurts threw one of each. Everyone has been upset that Wentz has had trouble completing 60% of his passes in games. Hurts had a completion percentage of 41.6 today.
If results matter to you more than the color of the QB (Oops! Did I put that out there?), you can’t claim to be happy with what you saw. Everything Hurts did, was slightly worse than what we’ve come to expect from Wentz. If you want to grade Hurts on a rookie curve, go right ahead. I won’t even argue. What I will do, is point out that wins and loses stem from his results, not curved grades.
Folks, the problem is with the system. I told you this WEEKS ago, and I even mentioned how to fix it, and I EVEN said that it likely can’t be done in-season.
EAGLEMANIACAL.com 