Recap
The Eagles cruised to a 30-13 victory over the Denver Broncos on Sunday which now improves their record to 4-6 on the season. The offense was humming the entire game with 386 total yards, 214 of which came on the ground. Philadelphia looked like a competitive and competent football team on Sunday, dismantling a Denver Broncos team who has swept the three other teams in the NFC East. The Eagles look to take this momentum into their Week 11 matchup against the New Orleans Saints at the Linc. Let’s take a further look into how the Eagles performed on Sunday.
Positive Observations
1.) Nick Sirianni
Sirianni has continued his excellent play calling over the past few weeks by having a balanced rushing and passing attack. By doing this, he has allowed Jalen Hurts to flourish and gain confidence. The Eagles rushing attack has been incredible over the past few weeks, averaging just under 200 yards per game over the past 3 games. Sirianni’s use of the run has been essential to the Eagles recent offensive success, it seems as if Eagles fans may have jumped the gun by calling for Sirianni’s job so early. Good stuff from him on Sunday.
2.) Jalen Hurts
Hurts had an outstanding game on Sunday; he completed 70% of his passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns, while also adding 53 rushing yards to his stat line. I will point out that he did not play perfectly; he threw two pretty bad passes in the second half with one resulting in an interception. Other than that, Hurts had an exceptionally good game; he threw a beautiful deep ball to DeVonta Smith that resulted in a touchdown, as well as picking up some first downs with his legs. The best part about his game, however, was his development that was apparent throughout the game. Hurts did a great job of stepping up in the pocket to escape pressure and create throwing lanes rather than simply bailing out to his right. This game was a great way for Hurts to make his case to be the franchise QB for the Eagles.
3.) The Birthday Boy!
DeVonta Smith had one of the best games of his young career on Sunday; he hauled in 4 receptions on 6 targets for 66 yards and two (!) touchdowns. In addition to this, he did it all on his birthday! Smith has started coming into form as of recently; he has racked up 9 receptions for 182 yards and 3 touchdowns over the past 2 games. He has now surpassed last year’s total leading receiver through only 10 games. Smith was an excellent first-round draft pick, and he seems to be heating up as the season wears on.
4.) Darius Slay
Slay is the true lockdown corner that the Eagles have been missing over the past few years. He had a great day on Sunday with 1 reception allowed for -2 yards as well as a fumble recovery for a touchdown. Slay has done an incredible job of locking up opposing wide receivers this year. Although he does not have many interceptions on the year, he’s locked up opposing wide receivers so well that Quarterbacks aren’t even looking to throw it in his direction. Sunday was a great game by Slay in an impressive season by him.
5.) Uniforms!
The Eagles rolled out a new uniform combination on Sunday that many fans had been clamoring for; white tops on black pants. This was the first time in their history that the Eagles wore this combination, and hey, it looks like it worked. Personally, I enjoyed this look; it was a different vibe from the typical white pants on a road game. Here’s to hoping that Hurts can convince Lurie to wear midnight green tops on black pants for this Sunday’s game.
Negative Observations
1.) Defensive scheme?
Sunday’s win was a great one; due to that, I’ll have to reach for this one. Although the defense looked good on paper, there were still a few things that I would have liked to see on Sunday that were lacking. The Eagles played well overall, but Gannon seemed to fall back into his old ways of running strictly zone coverage with the defensive backs giving the opposing wide receivers way too much room. With that being said, the Eagles defense tightened up over the course of the game.
2.) Taunting Penalty
The taunting rule is single-handedly one of the worst things that has happened to the NFL in recent years; if you put 22 highly competitive grown men on the field for each snap, chances are there will be some trash talk. These players have worked for their entire lives for this moment, let them have fun! Trash talk is part of what makes football so great, and to take that away is ridiculous. Let the players celebrate a good play, let them talk a little trash. No harm, no foul.
3.) Derek Barnett
Barnett has made himself a home here in my negative observations list, and he paid rent with yet another penalty during Sunday’s game. Barnett hit Teddy Bridgewater late which resulted in a roughing the passer penalty on Barnett. Although Barnett did record a sack this game (finally!), his penalties are hurting the Eagles in extreme ways this season. He has committed 8.6% of all the Eagles penalties this year. Yikes.
Standings
The Cowboys got back on their horse and absolutely annihilated the Falcons on Sunday, the Washington Football Team upset the Buccaneers, and the Giants were on a bye week. The Cowboys certainly look like a formidable football team; as I’ve said this entire year: this division is their’s to lose. The updated NFC East standings are as follows:
- Dallas Cowboys: 7-2
- Philadelphia Eagles: 4-6
- Washington Football Team: 3-6
- New York Giants: 3-6
Upcoming Game
The Eagles host the New Orleans Saints this Sunday at 1pm in Philadelphia. Philadelphia looks to win their first home game this season as they are 0-4 while playing at the Linc. This game is winnable, the Saints are down to their 2nd string quarterback in Trevor Siemian who simply hasn’t been extremely impressive after taking over for Jameis Winston. I expect the Eagles to move to a 5-6 record after this game, while finally winning their first home game of the year.
Final Thoughts
This team was fun to watch on Sunday; I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t impressed. Hurts made some really good plays and the defense held its own. The birds are only a few spots out of a wild card berth; I, for one, am excited to see how the rest of the season plays out. If Hurts continues to play at a high level, we may have found our new franchise QB. This is a long season and anything can happen throughout it. As always, Go Birds!
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Nate Eichner is a featured writer at The Birds Blitz. For more from Nate, check out his archive and read through our Eagles articles for the latest news about the Birds.
