The Eagles won a game and I’m not quite sure what to do with myself! The Eagles handed the Lions their 8th loss of the season, cruising to a 44-6 victory. Let’s take a further look at how the Eagles did, as well as look ahead towards their next matchup against the Chargers. Here is the Week 9 State of the Eagles.
Recap
The Eagles looked like a competent football team during their win against the Lions. With that being said, it was only the Lions. Although the Lions are the worst team in football right now, they still are a professional football team nonetheless and a win like this has got to feel good for the Eagles team. The Eagles out-gained the Lions 350 yards to 228, and held the Lions to only 57 yards rushing. In addition to this, the Eagles had 0 turnovers during Sunday’s game. All around good performance from the Eagles.
Positive Observations
1.) Nick Sirianni’s play-calling
Who would’ve thought that running the ball actually works?! After being criticized week after week by media members, fans, and players alike, Nick Sirianni actually ran the ball on Sunday. The Eagles had 236 yards on the ground and were completely dominating the Lions in the trenches. Hats off to Nick Sirianni for understanding how to take pressure off of his young quarterback by pounding the football.
2.) Jonathan Gannon
This is the first week since Week 1 where Gannon’s name is in my positive observations list. He has become known for his soft defense, although that completely changed on Sunday. Gannon finally let his defensive backs play closer to the line of scrimmage which allowed the defensive line to get pressure on Jared Goff all day. The Eagles racked up 6 sacks as a team and also scored a touchdown on a fumble recovery forced by Avonte Maddox and returned by Darius Slay. The two former Detroit natives sure impressed in their homecoming game.
3.) Josh Sweat
Josh Sweat has been impressive as of late; he racked up 4 tackles, including 3 solo tackles as well as 2 sacks. If Sweat continues to improve, he will certainly be a force on this defensive line. He had a few plays where he flat out beat the Lions’ first-round pick, Penei Sewell, to put pressure on Goff. Great game by Sweat.
4.) The Eagles rushing attack
Although it pains me to see that Miles Sanders was unable to join in on the action on Sunday due to his injury suffered against the Raiders, the three-headed monster of Jordan Howard, Boston Scott, and Kenny Gainwell ran all over the Detroit defense on Sunday. The trio averaged 5.1 yards per rush and were a massive reason as to why the Eagles made this game so lopsided.
Negative Observations
1.) DeVonta Smith
Smith has become somewhat irrelevant in the Eagles offense as of the past few weeks after an explosive beginning to his season. Smith only had 1 reception for 15 yards on 3 targets in Sunday’s game; he would have had 2 receptions in Sunday’s game if not for an ugly drop on the first play of the game. Here’s to hoping that Smith figures out these drops sooner rather than later.
2.) Jalen Hurts?
Hurts had a “meh” game. He wasn’t incredible, and he wasn’t terrible. Hurts completed 9 of his 14 passes for 103 yards, as well as rushing for 71 yards. He didn’t make any egregious mistakes during Sunday’s game; however, he did make a few small mistakes that would be more costly when playing a better opponent. Hurts could only shine so much when only being asked to throw 14 times in a single game. Overall, decent performance from Hurts, but he certainly left many Eagles fans wanting to see more.
3.) Gardner Minshew’s Sleeves
Minshew Mania finally made an appearance in Sunday’s game when he came out on the field at the beginning of the 4th quarter. I personally would have liked to see him throw more, but him being on my negative observations has nothing to do with his performance. Minshew apparently cut the sleeves on his jersey and boy, they looked ugly. Shades of Sam Bradford when he entered the game.
Standings
With the Philadelphia Eagles win on Sunday, they move to 3-5 on the season and into second place in the division. The Giants and the Washington Football Team both lost their games this weekend, whereas Dallas won on Sunday even without Dak Prescott. As I’ve said this season, this division is Dallas’ to lose. The updated NFC East standings are as follows:
- Dallas Cowboys: 6-1
- Philadelphia Eagles: 3-5
- Washington Football Team: 2-6
- New York Giants: 2-6
Upcoming Game
The Eagles host the Los Angeles Chargers next week at The Linc. The Chargers are entering this game at a 4-3 record, losing their last two games against the Ravens and the Patriots. The Chargers boast a promising young playmaker at Quarterback in Justin Herbert, as well as having dangerous weapons on the outside in Mike Williams and Keenan Allen. Although the Eagles will have some confidence entering this game due to their beatdown of the Lions; however, this Chargers team is dangerous. I believe that this game certainly is winnable, although I foresee the Eagles losing this one and dropping to 3-6 on the year.
Final Thoughts
Although it is clear that the Eagles won’t be winning the Super Bowl this year, this win was a nice one to see. It should not have taken Sirianni 8 games to figure out how to run the ball; nonetheless, it was enjoyable to see the Eagles running backs get involved. Although it was only against the Lions, this team was fun to watch on Sunday. I am excited to see how this team develops over the course of the next few weeks. As always, Go Birds!
Subscribe to our posts and bookmark these feeds:
* * *
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.
