Victory! There is no sweeter feeling in the NFL. Equally sweet, however, is that Hurts is beginning to assert himself as a franchise quarterback, showing improvement every week over the past few weeks. Perhaps he’ll even assert himself as my most improved player over the second half of the year. The Eagles have looked respectable the past few weeks, which I’m sure has nothing to do with running the ball more. I guess as the weeks go on, we’ll just need to find out…
Almost Plays
Quez Watkins Dropped TD
This one makes me sad. Hurts has been criticized for his arm strength, and this would have been a good play to show people to discredit that statement (which I myself have made). Unfortunately, his 52-yard bullet to Watkins was dropped in shades of Nelson Agholor. That’s not to say that the game would have been impacted too greatly, as we ended up winning anyway, but it would have been nice to drop 40 on a defense that shut down one of the best offenses in the league just a week prior.
Group Plays
Zech McPhearson Turns McPhearsom
This is in “group plays” because of the amount of pressure that came from the interior. Teddy Bridgewater was flushed out of the pocket, but forgot about the “moving” part and threw an errant pass that easily could have been an interception. It’s hard to say who to credit the pressure with because pretty much everyone was pressing against Bridgewater, but McPhearson is the one who ultimately made the play near the sideline and caught Javonte Williams around 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage.
A Tale of Two Drives
I want to give love to the offense and the defense at the same time. Hurts was efficient with the ball and did a good job of extending plays on the first drive. If the Eagles scored a touchdown, this segment would have been called “Boston, Watkins, and Walk-Ins” because those were the main players that got us into field goal range. Meanwhile, on the defensive side of the ball, Gannon dialed up the pressure and forced a three and out, culminating in a Darius Slay tackle for loss (which wasn’t even his best play of the day).
Taylor-Made Darius Slay TD
It happened again! Darius Slay picked up a ball that was forced loose by 2020 3rd-round linebacker Davion Taylor. I don’t know how, but Slay found enough open field angles to take it 82 yards for a touchdown. Again, TDs tend to be higher up, but in the immortal words of Rob Base, “It takes two to make a thing go right.”
Individual Plays
Jalen Hurts 32-yard Run
I’m a big fan of flipping a negative into a positive. Hurts has been criticized for abandoning clean pockets too quickly and just tucking and running. In this case, his scrambling got his team into enemy territory. The unpredictability of this offense is elevated by the mobility of Hurts. In fact, extending plays is the one thing fans can agree Hurts does at a high, borderline elite, level.
Derek Barnett Sack
After a rough offsides penalty that contributed to an earlier Broncos touchdown, Barnett made his presence felt by getting a sack to pin Denver in their own 10. Context adds value to this sack, as the tackle was what brought an end to the Broncos drive (even though Bridgewater wasn’t going to get any points from where he was). Side note: even on his best play of the day, Barnett was fortunate to not be called for going low on Bridgewater’s legs.
Blocked Field Goal
Blocked field goals are some of the most exciting moments in football because they happen out of nowhere. In this case, I wasn’t even watching my TV/phone when it happened, it happened so fast. Surprisingly, this is the third time that a kick was blocked today (Indianapolis, Dallas, and now Philadelphia). The Broncos had the chance to make this a one-score game, but the special teams unit made a play and got Hurts and Sirianni the ball back.
Jake Elliot 52-Yard FG
Something good to bury the sting of the painful Quez Watkins end zone drop. I would have preferred four more points on the board, but Elliot continuing to be automatic is a nice consolation.. I will say this in Hurts’ defense: the fact that Elliot made a 52 yarder means Hurts had a 52-yard throw that was absolutely pristine.
Devonta Smith TD #1
I bet Smith made Surtain wish that he took the day off! Smith didn’t beat PS2 on a shifty route (that came later). Instead, he won on a go-route that became a 50-50 ball. I love the fact that Surtain lost the matchup on the literal first time that Smith was targeted today. Even better is that Smith beat Surtain with a giant cast on his arm! Also, Smith coaching Hurts how to throw last week clearly contributed to the young QB’s accuracy and I’m all for it.
Devonta Smith #2
For a second straight week, Hurts didn’t have to rely on garbage time to light up the stat sheet. In fact, both of Smith’s touchdowns were when the game was tied. Smith managed to get inside leverage on the corner in coverage. With a well-timed turn from Smith and a well-timed throw from Hurts, the Eagles took advantage of a red zone opportunity and left the field with the lead. Spoilers; they didn’t let go of that lead for the rest of the game.
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Dylan Patrowicz is a featured writer at The Birds Blitz. For more from Dylan, check out his archive and read through our Eagles articles for the latest news about the Birds.
Image Caption: Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith (6) celebrates after a second quarter touchdown during a game between the Denver Broncos and the Philadelphia Eagles at Empower Field at Mile High on November 14, 2021 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Icon Sportswire)
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