REVENGE is a dish, best served cold.

EAGLES 38 – giants 20

 

EAGLES STATS:

Passing: QB Jalen Hurts (15/20 – 75.0% – 179 – 4 – 0)

Rushing: RB Saquon Barkley (14 – 150 – 10.7 – 1 – 0)

Receiving: WR DeVonta Smith (9 – 6 – 84 – 14.0 – 0)

Drive Killer: N/A (TD: /Int: / FR: / 4^th down stops: / FF: )

Sack Leader: 5 players (Sacks: 1.0/ FF: / Tackles: )

Special Teams Ace: RB Will Shipley (3KR – 99 – 33.0 – 41 – 0)

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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: GIANTS did the Eagles actually get around to doing? Well let’s see:

1) Slant Against Their Run: We didn’t do much of this early, but after the half, movement along the Defensive Line vs both the run AND the pass picked up. The upshot was a day that saw us hold New York to 68 rushing yards on 21 carries and add five sacks. (Three in the second half.) It’s certainly something to build on. (DONE)

2) Don’t Abandon Saquon: “In the area of 20 carries” was what I said. Saquon had 14. However, I’m giving credit for this, because he was on his way to that target, when he tweaked his groin muscle; and Head Coach Nick Sirianni wisely decided to rest him.

Besides, although Saquon could have come back if needed, with RB Tank Bigsby (9 – 104 – 11.6 – 0 – 0) killing it on the ground, why not let our starter get a jump on resting for the Bye week? Especially after watching giants RB Cam Skattebo (3 – 12 – 4.0 – 0 – 0) get carted off the field with a dislocated ankle, earlier. We played it smart. (DONE)

3) Target Our Wide Receivers: Jalen Hurts threw just 20 passes on the day, for 179 yards. Of those passes, 12 targeted WR’s for 8 catches, and 124 yards, with a touchdown on a 40 bomb to WR Jahan Dotson (1 – 1 – 40 – 40.0 – 1). Hurts made WR’s his mission in this one. (DONE)

4) Complete the Sack: We got 5 sacks in this game. There could have been more, but…baby steps. Let’s not be ungrateful. (DONE)

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This week’s Four Things score was a perfect 4 of 4, as we head into the Bye week with a win. Not just a win, but a win where we showed up in all four quarters. We’ll rest up, and then get ready to tackle the second half of the season.

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Game Hero: Offensive Coordinator Kevin Patullo – A lot of this has to do with the C position. First, we had OL Bret Toth filling in for starting C Cam Jurgens. Patullo didn’t call plays like Jurgens was out there. He instead frequently called plays where Toth had combo help.

We also ran the ball more from under C today. That makes it easier to sell play-action, because with the QB closer to the line, it’s harder to see if it’s a real hand-off or not. It also changes the timing of when the RB hits the hole, as Saquon demonstrated on his first carry going for a 65 yard score.

One of the best parts of the game was calling the 40 yard ‘Go’ route for Jahan Dotson. Knowing that Dotson validated his Coordinator and QB’s trust, by coming down with that ball, now makes him someone that future opponents have to account for. A loaded box with Dotson on the field, is now something opposing defenses have to weigh.

That wasn’t the case coming into this game.

Game goat: The Defense – In two games vs New York, our Defense has not forced a single turnover, despite the giants reliance on rookies. In this game, there wasn’t even a turnover on downs from them. Every time they surrendered the ball, it was either voluntary (a punt), or a score. We have to do better than that.

On The Whole: Offensively, this game featured 26 hand-offs to just 20 pass attempts. That ratio helps to stabilize the feel of a game, and allows any back-ups playing significant time, to not get swept away by the moment. We also won the Time Of Possession 33 minutes to 26, ensuring that our Defense wasn’t run into the ground.

Defensively, despite the 5 sacks, there were many instances of our linemen not keeping to rush lanes, and allowing their QB to escape all too frequently. It may also be why (in two games), we haven’t put enough pressure on their rookie QB, to intercept him even once. These are the sort of small problems that good teams correct.

There was also plenty of good on Defense! LB Nakobe Dean (5 tackles), LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr. (1 tackle), and DT Jalen Carter (2 – 1.0 – 0 – 0) played with a level of violence, that becomes more infectious as the season wears on. Did anyone else notice that we didn’t hear much about CB Kelee Ringo (2 tackles) in this game? Or that no giant had more than 3 catches, and their top guy had just 48 receiving yards?