Recap
The Eagles beat the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football with the score of 24-7. The Eagles offense was roaring throughout the majority of the game, putting up just under 500 total yards. The defense played much better than they did in Week 1, holding the Vikings to only 7 points and 264 total yards, some of which coming on garbage time drives. Philadelphia’s recent success has now turned the heads of many NFL analysts; some of which have now ranked the Eagles as a top 5 team in the NFL.
Positive Observations
1.) Jalen Hurts
Words cannot express how well Hurts played on Monday night; he was consistently finding open receivers and making good reads. Hurts threw for 333 yards and a TD, ran for 57 yards and 2 TD’s, and boasted an 84% completion percentage. The young Quarterback played arguably his best game of his young career on Monday night; his poise in the pocket allowed him to progress through his reads and find the open man.
Hurts all in all is having an outstanding start to the 2022 NFL season. He is the highest graded QB under pressure this season, and has had a 50+ yard completion in back to back weeks. His production on Monday night was nothing less than outstanding; so much for the notion that he can’t throw.
2.) Big Play Slay
Darius Slay was tasked with guarding what may be the NFL’s most explosive receiver in Justin Jefferson. Going into the game, I figured that Jefferson would have a decent showing. I could not have been more wrong; Slay held Jefferson to only 7 yards on one reception, while also intercepting Kirk Cousins twice. Slay had an outstanding game; he certainly lived up to his nickname of “Big Play Slay.”
3.) Defense
After a rough showing in Week 1, the Eagles defense played lights out on Monday night. The defense held the Vikings to only 93 yards in the first half. The defensive line only recorded two sacks, but were able to pressure Cousins into some bad throws. Ideally, I’d like to see some more sacks from the Eagles defensive line; however, the pressure that they generated was crucial to the Eagles victory on Monday night.
In addition to this, the Eagles secondary had three interceptions last night; two by Slay & one by Maddox. The much improved Eagles secondary came to life in Monday’s game; defensive backs absolutely blanketed the Vikings’ receivers and seemed to make a play almost every series. Kudos to them.
4.) Offense as a whole
The offensive unit was on fire on Monday night; the Eagles had 486 total yards, 163 on the ground and 333 through the air. This statistic helps the Eagles in the future, because it shows opposing defenses that if they decide to stack the box in order to stop the run, Hurts can do damage in the passing game. Overall outstanding game from Sirianni & Co.
Negative Observations
1.) 2nd half offense
There were not many negative observations from Monday night, but I will say that I would’ve liked to see the Eagles offense keep their foot on the gas throughout the second half. The Eagles were in complete control during the game, but their offense failed to score a single point and only gained 139 yards in the second half. The season is young, so I’m not too worried about this.
2.) RIP, beloved wordmark
During the offseason, the Eagles decided to change their signature wordmark to a more modern font. Many Eagles fans were outraged when this happened, myself included. I had forgotten that this had happened until the Monday night game, and man, I really do miss the old font. Howie, if you’re reading this, please bring the old one back.
Standings
With Monday night’s win, the Eagles have jumped out to a 2-0 record. The Giants also were able to win their game, moving to 2-0. The Cowboys won their first game of the season, and are now sitting at 1-1 with Washington. The updated NFC East standings are as follows:
- Philadelphia Eagles: 2-0
- New York Giants: 2-0
- Washington Commanders: 1-1
- Dallas Cowboys: 1-1
Upcoming Game
The Eagles travel to FedEx Field to face the Washington Commanders in their first NFC East matchup of the season at 1pm on Sunday. Tensions will be high as Carson Wentz plays against his former team for the first time. Wentz has had a decent start to his tenure as a Commander and he most likely will have revenge on his mind. With that being said, I fully expect the Eagles to win this game & head back to Philadelphia as a 3-0 team. The Commanders’ run defense is ranked last in the NFL; Jalen Hurts & the Eagles’ RB committee should feast.
Final Thoughts
This game was simply fun to watch; the Eagles dominated on both sides of the ball throughout the game. The Eagles looked like a strong contender and genuinely surprised people with the way that they performed. Although I am ecstatic about how the Eagles played, we are still only through 2 weeks of this season. Here’s to hoping that the Eagles can play consistently at the level that they played on Monday night. 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.
