Clutch

Posted: November 9th, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 101 Comments »

The Eagles beat Dallas 33-27 in overtime. That’s great, but it took at least 2 years off my life. I would really appreciate the team winning in less dramatic fashion in the coming weeks.

The Eagles are 4-4 and there are reasons for optimism.

The Cowboys lost their 6th in a row to fall to 2-6. It is panic time in Big D. Their season is all but over.

There are a lot of heroes in this game, but none bigger than the Eagles OL. Lane Johnson played LT for the first time in his NFL career and had a good game. Dennis Kelly made his first start at RT since 2012 and played far better than any of us expected.

The Eagles ran for 172 yards. Sam Bradford threw for 295 yards and was only sacked once. He got hit a few times, but had plenty of time to throw.

Jordan Matthews really stepped up. He was 9-133-1. He made several big plays.

Sam Bradford played well. He was 25-36-295 with a TD and no picks. That was a step in the right direction.

Jordan Hicks made his second huge play against Dallas. In the first game, he hit Tony Romo and knocked him out. This time he picked off Matt Cassel and ran it back for a TD. That was a huge momentum shift and helped the Eagles to keep playing with the lead.

There are concerns, but we’ll get into them in the next couple of days.

For now, be happy. Huge win that puts the Eagles right back into the mix and all but ends things for Dallas.

_


101 Comments on “Clutch”

  1. 1 TXEaglesFan said at 12:38 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Dallas sucks!

  2. 2 Baloophi said at 12:40 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Also a hero? Caleb Sturgis. AKA, Scuba Gristle.

  3. 3 Mr. Magee said at 12:42 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Good point. That was huge… and I didn’t think he could pull it off

  4. 4 FairOaks said at 1:17 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Yeah, without him, the refs wouldn’t have needed to make nearly as many egregiously bad calls.

  5. 5 TommyLawlor said at 1:12 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Not sure how I forgot him.

  6. 6 ICDogg said at 12:40 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Hicks has a pec injury but doesn’t think it’s too bad.

  7. 7 Mr. Magee said at 12:43 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    He said that? Hope it’s true..

  8. 8 ICDogg said at 12:43 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    He did say that. Getting an MRI tomorrow.

  9. 9 Mr. Magee said at 12:45 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    All we can do is keep our fingers crossed… He’s as important to the D at this point as Fletcher Cox

  10. 10 teltschikfakeout88 said at 12:44 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Link?

  11. 11 ICDogg said at 12:47 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Jordan Hicks says he feels fine, can move his arms, but will have an MRI on his pec #Eagles

    https://twitter.com/EliotShorrParks/status/663587656824061952

    Shared via Plume
    http://bit.ly/GetPlume

  12. 12 FairOaks said at 12:53 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Can we trust Shorr-Parks for an accurate quote?

  13. 13 teltschikfakeout88 said at 12:54 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Thanks man…

  14. 14 Ryan Stocker said at 12:04 PM on November 9th, 2015:

    Just remember, pec injuries are fickle. Najee Goode missed all season with one last year. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed

  15. 15 ICDogg said at 12:41 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Chip with the call to go for it on 4th

  16. 16 Bert's Bells said at 12:42 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Unless they were stuffed, then it would’ve been horrible.

  17. 17 Baloophi said at 12:44 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    He almost had to go for it with Hochuli flagging the field like a drag race starter…

  18. 18 mgrimas said at 12:49 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Agree. He didn’t even think about it. I loved him, but big Red would’ve burned a timeout, tried to draw them off, then hoped our D could make a play.

  19. 19 John Dunkerley said at 9:26 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Big cojones there.

  20. 20 the guy said at 12:43 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    My favorite part of the game is when DALLAS LOST.

  21. 21 the guy said at 12:59 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    I’m not serious. My favorite part was watching the Eagles be slightly less inept than the team we all rightfully hate.

  22. 22 NineseveN said at 1:58 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Sorry, I downvoted that because you harshed my buzz after making me smile. I upvoted the Dallas Lost post though. 🙂

  23. 23 Mr. Magee said at 12:44 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Did not think the D played well tonight (except for Jordan “pick Hicks”).

  24. 24 John Dunkerley said at 9:28 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    I look at this as glass half full. It showed the defense they aren’t the only part of the team that can make plays when needed, when the chips (ha) are down. Finally.

  25. 25 mgrimas said at 12:47 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    That was a lot harder than anyone wanted, but Eagles as a team needed that. They needed to learn to win in that fashion and I think (read “hope”) it propels them from here. Something feels good about getting the Cowboys out of the way this early. I know rest of season isn’t going to be easy, but I’m more optimistic now that they’ll make some noise than at any point this season.

  26. 26 Mitchell said at 12:48 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    I thought everyone played pretty well throughout the game except for the 4 play sequence where Dallas returned it 80 yards and scored that bull crap TD to Dez. Those were on the same drive right? Beasley is just a little rat and I’m happy with the adjustment Davis made placing Biggers on him.

  27. 27 Bert's Bells said at 12:50 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    The Eagles didn’t want to get beat by Dez or Witten. So Beasley was left with a some openings.

    Dallas did well on broken down plays too.

  28. 28 ICDogg said at 12:51 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    And on a Hail Mary where Free was blatantly holding

  29. 29 The original AG said at 12:52 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    The refs definitely gave them some calls tonight.

  30. 30 ICDogg said at 12:53 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    https://twitter.com/NFL_Memes/status/663585432920317952?s=09

  31. 31 John Dunkerley said at 9:29 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    The refs were Dallas’ best player last night. For sure.

  32. 32 P_P_K said at 12:53 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    I was screaming at the tv about that hold.

  33. 33 The original AG said at 12:51 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    This was bothersome, but at least it didn’t cost us the game.

  34. 34 mgrimas said at 12:53 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Dez is a beast and that other play (same drive?) that Witten took an Int from Hicks was a great play on the ball. But I think they did a great job containing those two otherwise.

  35. 35 Insomniac said at 2:44 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    I flipped out for a good 10 minutes when Dez caught that TD. Why can’t we have those nice things that they have?

  36. 36 John Dunkerley said at 9:33 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Like blown holding calls, like on Free? There are teams (Pats, Steelers, Dallas GB) who get breaks. I am starting to think the NFL tells close call penalties to be given to the offense, for more scoring chances to keep ratings and attendance up. That’s why good fundamentals and composure (discipline) are more important than ever in today’s NFL. Take the refs out of the game as much as possible.

  37. 37 Stephen E. said at 11:49 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Jenkins is a far better player, but he can’t cut like a nickel back and in this case it’s clear that even a mediocre one like Biggers got better results. This was the first game where Jenkins got burned like that.

  38. 38 Bert's Bells said at 12:58 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Big Question: Does Johnson’s success at LT spell the end for Jason Peters in Philly (and possibly the NFL) after this season?

  39. 39 Insomniac said at 1:00 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Nope.Lane will be back to RT once JP is healthy enough again.

  40. 40 Bert's Bells said at 1:03 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Talking 2016. I know it’s a way off.

  41. 41 Mac said at 1:07 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Folks have been talkin about JP talkin about moving to G in the future.

  42. 42 Bert's Bells said at 1:13 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    “Folks” are fans who don’t know what they’re talking about.

    Not going to happen.

  43. 43 Will:↑↑↓↓←→←→BA said at 1:17 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    I don’t see JP being ok with being moved to OG. I hope that happens but I wont believe it until I hear it from JP.

    We still need to draft a starting caliber OT and OG.

  44. 44 Bert's Bells said at 1:34 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    I can’t see the front office being OK with it either. It’s a lot of resources sunk into a declining player at a position they clearly don’t value.

    He’s never played inside the line. How many times have top tackles “extended their careers” by moving to guard?

    It’s just so unlikely.

  45. 45 Will:↑↑↓↓←→←→BA said at 1:51 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Yeah the money is another isssue

  46. 46 Anders said at 2:41 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    How many are build like a guard? Jason Peter’s is a “short” and heavy LT compared to most.

  47. 47 Insomniac said at 2:42 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    He needs to put back that weight though.

  48. 48 Anders said at 2:56 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Peters is still around 330

  49. 49 D3FB said at 8:24 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    https://twitter.com/Jeff_McLane/status/662434947714666496

  50. 50 NineseveN said at 2:00 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Or they move him to RT…let Lane run LT from here on out.

  51. 51 Insomniac said at 2:41 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Lane held his own today but he definitely didn’t dominate like JP used to. I would let Lane stay at LT if Kelly is really solid at RT though. Let JP play whichever the weaker OG spot is.

  52. 52 Anders said at 2:42 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    JP should play what ever spot Tobin isnt playing.

  53. 53 Insomniac said at 2:43 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    LG? I’m definitely not against replacing Barbre.

  54. 54 Anders said at 2:56 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    yea, provide Dennis Kelly is good enough at RT

  55. 55 D3FB said at 8:23 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    JP to LG would make the most sense. Don’t know that it’s going to happen this year, but he’s never played guard, so that’s already going to be a trasition, no need to also invert his footwork.

  56. 56 ICDogg said at 1:00 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Won’t know for a while

  57. 57 The original AG said at 1:22 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    I think it means JP will be moving positions.

  58. 58 Bert's Bells said at 1:24 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    To the couch?

    While anything is possible, I bet you anything that he’s not moving to OG -a position he’s never played and taking a 15 million dollar pay cut in the process. It doesn’t make any sense.

  59. 59 D3FB said at 8:22 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Peters himself has said he will likely end his career at guard

    https://twitter.com/Jeff_McLane/status/662434947714666496

  60. 60 Bert's Bells said at 8:49 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Well, that’s interesting. More solid than fan speculation.

    Now do we think that the Eagles are going to tie up $8 million in a 34 year old guard? If the team cuts him, he’ll get $8 million somewhere to play LT.

    It’s just so unlikely, I’ll believe it when I see it.

  61. 61 D3FB said at 9:22 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    No one thought Celek or Ryans would be back.

    I think they try to get him down to $5 million. He likely would only get around that on the open market. Good teams won’t have the cap space. Bad team likely want to let a young guy win the job.

    I think they keep him until at least the draft, they’ll have a better idea of if they need G or T help on the opening day roster then.

  62. 62 Cafone said at 11:50 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    How about we get another tackle before we retire our best one?

  63. 63 ICDogg said at 12:59 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    pbs.twimg.com/media/CTWLkh6U8AAFgRR.jpg

  64. 64 The original AG said at 1:04 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    It feels good to be a gangsta…

  65. 65 A_T_G said at 6:26 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    I suddenly feel as if my printer is in danger.

  66. 66 Will:↑↑↓↓←→←→BA said at 1:15 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    I hear the Undertaker theme playing

  67. 67 Insomniac said at 2:38 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Is there a Johnny Manziel for them to take in the top 10? That would be the icing on the cake.

  68. 68 Eagles_Fan_in_San_Fran said at 1:27 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Gotta re-post this one, which never gets old.

  69. 69 Geoff said at 1:38 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Q: Weirdest call of the game?

    A: Whatever that drive was before the end of the half by the Eagles… Were they trying to make the Cowboys think they were playing for half time to see if they would sleep on a go route?

    Parkey might not have a job to come back to if Sturgis keeps nailing 50+ yarders with the game on the line. Clutch.

    Is it me or did Bradford seem comfortable all game long? Eagles seem to still be missing a consistent deep ball threat (I’m still waiting for a deep jump ball opportunity to Jordan Matthews)

    Matthews and Murray ran tough and punished defenders in a way McCoy can’t.

  70. 70 Will:↑↑↓↓←→←→BA said at 1:51 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Bradford has steadily been improving each week. If we catch those 7 balls we beat CAR last game. He protected the ball and delivered some good throws tonight.

    I don’t know why Chip doesn’t play Matthews outside. He has the speed and body type of an outside WR. More and more teams are playing their #1 CB or bigger CBs on him in the slot negating that size advantage he had last year. I think we should move him around more like other teams do with their top WR threat

  71. 71 Geoff said at 1:58 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    I’m with you on moving Matthews around, he’s been so physical after the catch, I can only imagine the damage he could do if he got more of the 1-on-1 isolation coverage outside WRs get. For now, I’m happy with the win against a scrappy, talented, and desperate Cowboys team (let’s not forget that this same team nearly beat Seattle last week). Long way to go, and time to squish the fish

  72. 72 A_T_G said at 6:25 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    That was the plan at the half, and it looked like it worked in the secondary. If 95 doesn’t get the hit on Bradford, I think that is a TD.

  73. 73 D3FB said at 8:21 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    They started that drive normally.

    After the Kelly holding penalty Chip decided to back off. They were behind the sticks and he felt it wasn’t worth it to get aggressive and potentially give Dallas a big boost before half.

    Questionable decision but we got hurt by that in the ATL game so you can understand the thought process.

  74. 74 BC1968 said at 1:39 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Funny watching the rightwing nutjob qq come back under another name and claim she’s only been here a week. Dumber than a rock.

  75. 75 anon said at 6:51 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    where’s a-aron now?

  76. 76 Aaron said at 7:34 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    right here, enjoying the win over the cowboys and trying to ruin my cowboy friends day

  77. 77 A_T_G said at 8:00 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    I don’t think he is who you think he is. Aaron has been around since the Giants game. He certainly goes overly negative during the game, but I don’t think he is that troll.

  78. 78 Joe Minx said at 2:13 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    F YEAH

    https://twitter.com/MarcFarzetta/status/663597420366794752

    https://twitter.com/inkstainedretch/status/663590963084836864

    https://twitter.com/inkstainedretch/status/663591308150239232

  79. 79 kimsarah said at 2:36 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    How bout that. Those Iggles won in spite of “31” Maxwell’s “efforts.”

  80. 80 JoeBlow said at 3:15 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Um Maxwell played pretty well, he had two bogus PI’s called on him. I was at the game sitting in a sea of Cowboy fans and even they were raising their eyebrows at those calls during the end.

    finally a big game out of JMatt, it’s nice to see what he’s capable of when he actually catches the ball. Bradord was solid and didn’t make any stupid throws….although him and chip and the receivers need to get together and discuss actually running routes beyond the first down marker on third and short.

    I’m still a young guy but that 4th quarter and OT nearly gave me a heart attack.

    Jordan Hicks made a play that can turn a season around, that was sooooo huge.

  81. 81 Anders said at 3:16 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    I just saw the replays of those plays. That was perfect coverage on both plays.

  82. 82 Joe Minx said at 3:21 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    I’ve been as tough on Maxwell as anyone but those calls were BRUTAL.

  83. 83 Will:↑↑↓↓←→←→BA said at 3:59 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    He had a good game…
    The first PI was a bad call and the second was just awful

  84. 84 ian_no_2 said at 3:12 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    This was really the first enjoyable game of the regular season. The other wins were nervous cases of salvaging the season. None of the wins have been without flaws. But after all the hype, Kelly’s offseason moves are making sense individually and the team is gradually getting its cohesion. Gambling on the younger OL and WRs works if the young guys hit their strides in a playoff run, and the jury’s certainly out on the WRs tho the OL was encouraging tonight. The Eagles boards have been dreary because of that grey area between patience and denial.

    I’ve had a couple games where I sort of wanted Bradford pulled. But what I liked about the trade initially was how the college star was improving over his NFL career, after being a bit of a disappointment at first. Getting the vertical game going depends on the receivers as well as the line, Sam, and the running game. It takes a while for them to learn to play together, especially with a number of key unproven players.

    The drive where they ran the ball all the way was exactly what Kelly had in mind all offseason. And after all the training camp wheel routes, Sam and DeMarco connect!

    Hicks, the headscratcher pick, has perhaps been the key offseason addition, and the front seven manhandled America’s OL. The whole secondary had its rough spots but it’s a good unit.

    They need to spend the rest of the month refining their game, cutting down mistakes, and developing certain players. Then in December and into next year, they have to prove they can do more than beat bad teams. I still think they can rise to that level, they stuck with the Panthers, so we’ll see when they go to Foxborough. The team shouldn’t look ahead like that obviously but the fans can do whatever they want.

    And I was wondering early in the season if Chip was close to losing the team. Right now they’re well behind him unless there’s a December meltdown and the Giants beat them to the playoffs.

  85. 85 bubqr said at 4:25 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    I actually thought that Sam played rather well, in fact he probably had his 2 best games in a row, and once again it looked like his receivers did let him down by not being able to create separation,

    Let’s pray that Agholor will return and be productive, because it seems obvious that JM81 is not made to be a #1 WR, Cooper/Austin should not be anything more that #4/#5 WR, and Huff breakout season is not this one. Oh and Ertz, aside of a great catch, is not producing.

  86. 86 A_T_G said at 6:43 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    It warms my heart to think of how people in Texas this morning are cursing the name of Hicks, questioning how we found him in the 3rd, and lamenting over the idea of facing him for the next decade.

  87. 87 anon said at 6:53 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    his new name might be dream-crusher. defense was terrible last night in a big game. looks like we’re once again no bueno against shifty slot recievers, but hopefully biggers will earn that coveted slot

  88. 88 Bert's Bells said at 7:19 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    I learned last night that slot corner is the hardest and most important position on defense. #collingsworthed

  89. 89 Aaron said at 7:32 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    any injury report out on him yet

  90. 90 A_T_G said at 7:56 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Something from ESP saying he talked to Hicks and it doesn’t seem overly serious. Not much, and questionable source, but that is all I read.

  91. 91 Aaron said at 7:58 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    yeah, I cant find anything, too early I guess

  92. 92 D3FB said at 8:13 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    The arm never hit 90 degrees. So while I’m sure he pulled something, it looks more like a strain pec or oblique, rather than a torn pec. Fingers crossed.

  93. 93 Corry said at 7:15 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    I thought Bradford played a good game last night. He looked accurate and largely made good decisions. There’s stuff to complain about, but beating Dallas just makes the world a better place.

  94. 94 Aaron said at 7:39 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    my complete loathing of the cowboys increased more this year with the addition of the woman hitter, and the remarks ol Jerry made about him, contract extension, building the team around him, etc…, and now I see a rumor, a rumor mind you, that they are looking at ray rice, completely a rumor, but it would not surprise me

  95. 95 FairOaks said at 11:08 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Frankly, out of all these incidents, Rice is the one who has showed (by far) the most remorse and probably the one who deserves a second chance the most. Unfortunately for him, he was bad as a running back his last year (though perhaps injured). Hardy might have been the worst dude, and of course Jerry couldn’t wait wait to sign him.

  96. 96 eagleyankfan said at 7:50 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Wow. What a game! Winner winner chicken dinner.
    ….
    I still do not know what 55 was flagged for 15 yards. Did he use hurtful words and hurt someones feelings?

  97. 97 Aaron said at 7:51 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    he must have, the ref busted him quickly, the PI’s at the end were just awful calls

  98. 98 A_T_G said at 7:54 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    There was plenty to complain about from the officials, but that taunting call was not one of them. That was stupid by Graham.

  99. 99 eagleyankfan said at 5:55 PM on November 9th, 2015:

    what did he do?

  100. 100 A_T_G said at 6:52 PM on November 9th, 2015:

    After the defense stuffed McFadden on third and short, Graham was walking past the pile, stopped and leaned over McFadden lying on the ground and said stuff emphatically.

  101. 101 Mike S said at 11:20 AM on November 9th, 2015:

    Less noticed but also clutch was Biggers’ play on Beasley after Jenkinms struggled to stay with him. Clutch switch (Davis props) and kudos to Biggers.