VICTORY has such a sweep taste to it!
EAGLES 38 – Commanders 31
Passing: QB Jalen Hurts (29/38 – 76.3% – 319 – 3 – 0)
Rushing: RB D’Andre Swift (16 – 57 – 3.5 – 1 – 0)
Receiving: WR A.J. Brown (8 – 8 – 130 – 16.2 – 2)
Offensive Line Report: (TFL: 3/ Sacks: 2/ Scrums Won: 0/ Scrums Lost: 1)
Drive Killer: FS Reed Blankenship (TD: 0/Int: 1/ FR: 0/ 4th down stops: 0/ FF: 0)
Sack Leader: OLB Haason Reddick (Sacks: 1.0/ FF: 1/ Tackles: 3)
Special Teams Ace: Hands Devonta Smith recovers Commanders onside kick attempt
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I hear you asking, “What about all the stuff that stats don’t reveal?” Well, that’s the reason for these 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: COMMANDERS did the Eagles actually get around to doing? Well let’s see:
1) Run the Ball: D’Andre Swift had just one carry in the first half. One. As a result, we had little offensive rhythm or cohesiveness. We got back on our horse in the second half, and Swift finished with around fifteen carries (16), as I said he should. Hurts had 4 carries, but only two were actual carries. The other two were kneel downs.
We attempted the Brotherly Shove just once with Hurts (he fumbled it away). The other time we lined it up, we pitched a Brotherly Sweep™ to Swift for a 7 yard touchdown run. The assholes wanted us to not run the Brotherly Shove, and we were happy to OH-bliiige them. Congratulation dickheads, you’ve made the Eagles more dangerous. (DONE)
2) Run Swift to Brown: I said that Washington wasn’t going to let A.J. Brown go off for 175 yards and 2 touchdowns again, and I was right! They instead let him catch all 8 of his targets for 130 yards and 2 more TD’s, while basically giving an entire coaching staff PTSD, whenever they see anything shaped like an 11. Poor Jack Del Rio, staring at his fork and just screaming and screaming and screaming.
I said they would weaken their secondary trying to keep a man in the box, and that’s precisely how WR Devonta Smith (7 – 7 – 99 – 14.1 – 1) was able to get loose for a 38 yard touchdown pass. He was so wide open on it, that he had to stop and catch it like a punt. Let’s not forget to mention WR Julio Jones (2 – 1 – 8 – 8.0 – 1) catching his first touchdown as an Eagle. Still, we ran more up the middle than to Brown’s side. (NOT DONE)
3) Get At Least One Turnover: On a day when we allowed a mutt QB to complete 75% of his passes, FS Reed Blankenship managed to snag an interception. Our coverage again allowed free releases, while giving up five yard cushions. Really hard to generate turnovers when the ball never gets near a defender. That said, we got one in this game, and one is what was asked. (DONE)
4) Lock Up Their Run: I won’t keep you in suspense. We did this one. Their run game (13 – 73 – 5.6 – 0 – 0) looks decent until you take away their 29 yard run, and are left with (12 – 44 – 3.6 – 0 – 0) a more accurate picture of what they were relying on, down in and down out, during the game
We limited their run (12 hand-offs), and made them put the game on their QB (52 pass attempts). He threw four touchdowns, but he also threw the interception that helped put the Eagles up for good. (DONE)
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This week’s Four Things score is 3 of 4. Normally you’d expect a larger margin of victory with 3 of 4 posting, but the Eagles waited to run the ball, and waited to play smart enough to get a turnover. This gave Washington life they should never have had.
Next week we return home to the Linc, to face the 5 – 2 Dallas Cowboys; as we wrap up the second quarter of our season, and go into our Week 10 Bye.
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Game Hero: WR A.J. Brown – The guy was flat-out uncoverable, and he kept us in the game even when the Offense was unbalanced and had no rhythm.
Game goat: RG Sua Opeta – The drop-off between he and starter Cam Jurgens (Injured Reserve), is huge. That’s not to take a swipe at Opeta, it just is what it is. There is a noticeable lack of re-active quickness to his game, as defenders seem to get into his frame too fast, too often. It’s allowing pressure in the middle of Jalen Hurts’ protection, and is becoming more and more problematic for the run, by the week.
On The Whole:
Offensively, turnovers and injuries are killing us, right now. The injury at RG leads to a back-up who struggles create reliable run holes, and to protect a QB who is himself nursing an undisclosed injury (I’m sure Vegas bookies LOVE that).
Not to mention that Hurts mobility usually acts as a threat, which enhances our RB run game. Hurts inability to run now, is negatively impacting the RB’s and so the Eagles run game as a whole. It would be different if we had a big back who could impose his will and force the issue, but…
Defensively, the unwillingness to rush five, or use more press man coverage, is resulting in opposing QB’s looking like dads playing catch with their kids. This game was no different. We got one sack at the very end of the game, when Haason Reddick murdered their last gasp of hope. A QB who’d been sacked 40 times in 6 games (6.6 sacks per game), and we reached him just once.
Lesser pressure and five yard cushions with free releases, will let even a novice QB carve up a defense. Which is why we allowed that team to put 30+ points on us, twice. The only other team they put 30 on, was Denver. The way this Defense is being called, is a formula for failure, vs really good teams.
Many will say that I should be celebrating the win. However, at this point, with the gauntlet that faces us starting Sunday afternoon, I’m more concerned with cleaning up the sloppiness. These turnovers, these easy completions, this repeated stalling out in the red zone, the lack of explosiveness in the run game…
Yay for the win, but if we’re going to go anywhere in the post-season, we can’t expect that playing like scrubs will get us where we’re trying to go.
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