EAGLES Killmongered that ass!

EAGLES 21 – Panthers 18

EAGLES STATS:

New categories include an EXCLUSIVE weekly Offensive Line Report (Rushing TD’s + 3rd and 4th downs converted:missed of 2 yards or less – sacks allowed); as well as Drive Killer (Int – FR – 4th down Tackles – FF – TD).

Passing: (S) QB Jalen Hurts (24/37 – 59.4% – 198 – 0 – 1)

Rushing: (S) RB Miles Sanders (11 – 45 – 4.0 – 0 – 0)

Receiving: (S) WR Devonta Smith (8 – 7 – 77 – 11.0 – 0)

Offensive Line Report: (2 +2:0 – 2)

Drive Killer: (S) CB Darius Slay (2 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0)

Sack Leader: (S) DE Josh Sweat (4 – 1.0 – 0 – 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: Panthers did the Eagles actually get around to doing? Well let’s see:

1) Run the Damned Ball!: Of the Eagles 13 hand-offs today (11 to Sanders), 4 were on the final drive. Sanders carried 3 times for 22 yards (7.3) on that series, but kept running out of bounds for some reason. Until that point (in the 4^th quarter), we’d handed it off only 9 times, yet the Offense couldn’t quite get going. I wonder why…

Miles Sanders had 16 touches (11 rushes, 5 catches for 6 yards), which was his second most this season. He also led the team in rushing. Under Head Coach Nick Sirianni, this has been the recipe for him winning games. He’s 2 – 0 when these two things happen. The goal however, was 16 rushes for Sanders. Didn’t happen. (NOT DONE)

2) Don’t Help Carolina: Limit penalties to 6 or fewer this week. We committed just 6 penalties. Not a great thing, but it was a season low, and a step in the right direction. Give the team credit when they earn it. Lord knows we roast the shit out of them, when they blow it out their asses. (DONE)

3) Back the Line: Our Linebackers did little to dictate the action in the game. It seems like all LB Alex Singleton (13 – 0 – 0 – 0) does anymore, is make tackles at or beyond the first down marker. The other LB’s show up even less than that. If not for LB T.J. Edwards (2 – 0 – 0 – 0) punt block in the 4^th quarter, you might not even realize that he played. (NOT DONE)

4) Take Away the Edges: CB Darius Slay shadowed the Panthers #1 WR D.J. Moore (7 – 5 – 42 – 8.4 – 0) today, grabbing two interceptions as a result. On the first, Slay used the sideline to trap the receiver, allowing him to make a play on the ball. CB Steve Nelson (2 – 0 – 1 – 0) used that same technique to sit on a WR, and drive on the ball for his first interception as an Eagle.

The Eagles CB’s took away the outside, by playing aggressive Man Coverage. They were still lining up on cushions, but they were very good at allowing the receivers to run themselves into being covered. With results like this, it will be hard for Defensive Coordinator Jonathan Gannon, to sell anyone on going back to Zone. (DONE)

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So we did 2 of the Four Things and squeaked out a win. But this is no time for high-fives and handjobs. We have a short week that features the Tampa Bay Buccaneers paying the Linc a visit.

There is no team I hate to have in the Linc, more than Tampa. The last game played at Veteran’s Stadium was our 2002 NFC Championship loss to the Bucs. In 2003 we played them again, and their website ran a video that said “We tore down the Vet” and featured a ship swinging a wrecking ball.

You can’t find that video anywhere, but I will never forgive them for that. If it were up to me, every time Tampa came here, they’d have to play down 10^th and Bigler, where Bok High School plays.

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On The Whole:

Three turnovers, three sacks, and holding the Panthers to 16 points. The Defense is why we won this game. People may try to turn it into a discussion about Jalen Hurts, but the Defense is why we won. Thank our CB’s, and DT Fletcher Cox (1 – 1.0 – 0 – 0). All the attention that he commands inside, has been allowing DT Javon Hargrave (3 – 1.0 – 0 – 0) to strong-arm, Deebo, and generally wreak havoc in this game, and all season so far. Hargrave is currently on a 20 sack pace.

As a DT!

The Offense gave away two points on C Jason Kelce’s errant snap. Also, for the second week in a row, it committed another offensive pass interference penalty, which took 4 points off the board. In retrospect, this game should have been 25 – 16, not 21 – 18.

Offensively, we couldn’t get anything going, because of a total lack of balance in our play-calling. Look. Listen. The first time that Hurts was sacked, was on a play where he used play-action. Didn’t fool that LB. Not one bit. The LB never even slowed. A QB can’t sell play-action, if the offense doesn’t run the ball.

Fundamentals. We’re going to have to do better, from here on out.