Game Review – PHI 26, LAC 24

There was a movie back in the 80’s called Seven Minutes in Heaven. That’s the way the end of the Chargers game felt.

The Eagles defense had just surrendered a long TD drive to cut the score to 26-24. The thought of a quick drive for a field goal made me nervous. I wanted the Eagles to go work the clock, but they couldn’t just run the ball three times and punt. They needed to move the chains.

The coaches mixed short throws with run plays and the players executed them brilliantly, allowing the offense to move the ball and eat up every second of the 6:44 on the clock. The Chargers never got to touch the ball again. That was a great finish to a tough game.

The Eagles were in control throughout the affair, leading 13-0, 16-7 and 19-10. The problem is that the Eagles could not put the Chargers away. They couldn’t get that TD on offense to really stretch the lead and the defense wasn’t making critical stops. Give both teams credit. The Eagles were clearly the better team, but the Chargers season was on the line and they played with a sense of desperation. That’s why the game stayed as close as it did.

COACHING

I don’t like to talk about coaches having their guys “ready to play”, but there are times when that phrase does make sense and Sunday was such a day. The Eagles were coming off a huge, emotional win. It would have been easy for a young team to stay distracted by that. The Eagles were on the west coast and were playing in a soccer stadium. It would have been easy to be distracted by that.

Doug Pederson had his guys focused and they took control of the game right away. He and the staff deserve a lot of credit for that. In terms of game decisions, there was only one questionable moment. The Eagles punted on 4th/1 late in the 1st half from near midfield. Was this Doug listening to the media? He said the situation was different this week. He had a 9-point lead (instead of 7) and he felt punting was the right thing to do.

The offensive gameplan was good. The Chargers sucked at run D so the Eagles did the obvious and ran a lot. Simple. Smart. The way the coaches mixed up the RBs throughout the game also seemed to work well. That’s a good rotation. LG? Not so much. They should just give that to Wiz.

The defense played pretty well for most of the game, but big plays killed them. There were different problems on each of the plays so you can’t say “the Eagles should have done X or Y to solve that”. I was hoping there would be a common theme (easier to fix), but the mistakes were all over the place and involved different players.

PLAYERS

Carson Wentz had a strong game. 17-31-242 with a TD. Did a good job protecting the ball. Didn’t throw an INT. Bobbled a shotgun snap on a 1st Qtr play and wisely dove on the ball rather than forcing anything. Took sacks on a couple of plays rather than taking a chance with the ball. Isn’t overly cautious, but is smart about not taking dumb chances. That’s critical for a young QB. Jameis Winston drives his coaches crazy with some of the plays where he forces things and turns the ball over. That’s a good way to lose a game.

Wentz had some great moments. He hit Agholor on the opening drive down the seam with a terrific throw. Right on the money. Great touch. Easy for his guy to catch. Big gain that set up at TD. That score came on a simple play. Wentz made the correct read and a good throw to Jeffery for the TD. Made a huge play late in the 1st Qtr. Chargers blew up a play-action pass. Wentz moved to his right and then threw back to the other side of the field and hit a wide open Blount for a gain of 20 yards. Not many QBs could pull that off. Showed escapability, arm strength and vision.

Threw a great pass to Torrey Smith down the seam for potentially huge gain. Dropped. Ugh.

The Eagles did an outstanding job on RPOs in the game. Wentz read the defense and when the LBs bit hard, he threw over the middle for easy gains. Hit Ertz and Agholor on a couple of plays to move the chains. Did a great job of throwing the ball over the middle throughout the game. Put passes right on his targets.

The Eagles were backed up near the goal line in the 2nd half. Wentz hit Ertz down the seam for a gain of 38. That might have been his best throw of the whole season. Perfect accuracy and touch. That flipped the field and was a key play.

Still feels like he forces some throws to Jeffery. Had Trey Burton running open over the middle in the late 1st, but threw the ball to Jeffery, who was covered. Pass was broken up. Forced a pass to Jeffery late in the half when Agholor was in the same area and more open. Forced the ball to Jeffery in the 2nd half. Burton was running open down the sideline. There was pressure, but Wentz locked in on AJ too quickly.

Wentz ran 4 times for 16 yards in the game. Got 1st downs on three of those, including a sneak. He is doing a great job of using his legs as a weapon, but not relying on them instead of passing the ball.  

Shot 8 – Wentz drops a dime over the top to Ertz (leads all NFL TEs with 17 1st down grabs; leads NFL TEs w/ 98 catches since 10/3/16) pic.twitter.com/0yOTNGWFMe

— Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) October 2, 2017

RB

LeGarrette Blount had his best game as an Eagle. 16-136 on the ground and 1-20 as a receiver. Watching the All-22 tape of Blount’s runs was a lot of fun. You saw this green tornado and bodies just flying off it. Blount did a great job with getting yards after initial contact. The highlight moment was his 68-yard run. Rookie DB Desmond King tried to tackle him a couple of times, but Blount viciously threw him off. That was beautiful. Blount is running as hard and aggressive as I’ve ever seen. He finished off the game with three runs that got the final first down and allowed the Eagles to just take a knee.

Wendell Smallwood had a good game, going 10-34 on the ground and 4-45 as a pass catcher. Caught screen pass in the late 1st Qtr and turned that into a 24-yard gain. Read his blocks well. Smallwood is turning into a good 3rd down receiver. Knows how to get open and has good hands. Becoming a reliable weapon in the pass game. Got run over by blitzing LB late in the half. Slowed him down enough for Wentz to get rid of the ball.

Corey Clement was 10-30 in the game, but a couple of those runs were for key 1st downs. You could see his athletic limitations on an early run play. Tried to jump over a blocker who was on the ground and ended up on the ground himself. Good run up the middle on 3rd/3. No hesitation and he got up the field for 10 yards. Showed limited vision on a run late in the game when there was big cutback lane right in front of him and he kept moving laterally before turning upfield. One thing we have seen the last couple of weeks is that the coaches do trust him. That’s huge for a rookie.

WR

Nelson Agholor led wideouts with 3 catches for 58 yards. His 36-yard catch and run set up the first TD of the game. Alshon Jeffery didn’t post big numbers (3-29-1), but he made the catches count. Had an easy TD grab to start the scoring for the day. Caught pass on 3rd down in the late 3rd. That was important because the team was at the edge of scoring territory and AJ gave them a 1st down. Wentz gave him a shot at a 50-50 ball late in the half and AJ went up for it, but couldn’t haul it in. Torrey Smith dropped what could have been a huge gain. He did catch a pass on the final drive. Wentz put the ball too low, but Smith went down and got it.

Marcus Johnson went deep in mid-3rd. Wentz threw 50-50 ball his way. Johnson couldn’t catch it and made sure the DB couldn’t either. Interesting to see him get in and have a pass thrown his way.

TE

Zach Ertz shocked me with some good blocks on run plays to his side. Popped LB on goal line run early. Blocked Joey Bosa on run to his side and RB went that way for solid gain. On Blount’s long run, Ertz had a wind-back block and dove at one defender. That ended up taking two guys out. Helped Blount get free down the field. Another outstanding day as a pass catcher, going 5-81. Highlight grab was a 38-yard catch and run down the right seam. Had very impressive play in the late 3rd. Chipped DE and actually put the guy on the ground, then released into the flat and caught the pass.

Brent Celek had a good day as a blocker. You don’t run for 214 yards without Celek doing his part. Eagles tried to hit him with a screen in the Red Zone, but poor blocking threw off the timing and it was incomplete.

Trey Burton was wide open a couple of times with big play potential, but Wentz never saw him.

OL

The Chargers have a dynamic tandem in Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram. They were credited with 2 QB hits and one TFL. Ingram was just chosen Defensive Player of the Month so to contain him like that tells you just how good of a job Jason Peters and Lane Johnson did. Both had some outstanding run blocks as well. Strong day for the OTs.

Shot 1 – #Eagles averaged 6.5 ypc from 3 WR sets (11 personnel) on Sunday. Here are 3 examples of that w/ some great double teams up front! pic.twitter.com/OL9DKozZ0g

— Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) October 2, 2017

Jason Kelce had a good block of LB on 3rd/3 run up the middle. Gave Clement lots of room. Good block out in space on screen pass helped Smallwood get extra yards on the play. Another good outing for Kelce. He’s holding his own in the middle and doing a good job up the field.

Stefen Wisniewski got the start at LG and played well. Had one bad play. Eagles ran trap draw on 3rd/13. Middle of the field was wide open. Wiz didn’t block the DL coming down the LOS and that guy stuffed the RB. Play had a lot of potential. Wiz and Peters have developed good chemistry on their double teams.

Chance Warmack should not be splitting time. Failed to block DL on TE screen to Celek. Wentz needed half a second more, but had to throw the ball into the ground. Play had good potential. Still gets too grabby in pass pro. Had a couple of good run blocks, but he’s just not playing as well as Wiz right now.

Brandon Cooks had another steady game. He continues to get excellent push on the QB sneaks.

Big V played some snaps as a blocking TE. Couldn’t get good block on DE to his side on run and lost 3 yards.

*****

DL

Vinny Curry didn’t make many plays and had a couple of mistakes. He jumped offside in the 1st half. Called for late hit on 4th Qtr play in the Red Zone. Made it even easier for Chargers to score. Dumb. Got some pressure, but no standout plays. Solid vs. the run.

Brandon Graham also had some penalties. He was called for offsides and holding. The holding call came on a screen pass in the 3rd. Too bad. The play was going nowhere. Flushed Rivers in late 2nd, creating sack for Allen. Blew up 3rd Qtr run with penetration and created TFL for DB. Had a great rush in the 3rd when he looped inside and came free up the middle. Forced Rivers to get rid of the ball. Good game overall.

Tim Jernigan had a strong game. Had 2 tackles and a TFL. Got good pressure up the middle. Stout vs the run. Continues to play at a high level.

Shot 6 – Tim Jernigan stood out again; didn't always show up on the stat sheet but he was stout, changed the LOS and impacted the run game pic.twitter.com/MYHjjxlV5R

— Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) October 3, 2017

Beau Allen got the start in place of the injured Fletcher Cox. Allen had a sack and TFL. I was impressed with a  club move he used on a on pass rush. Really jolted the blocker. Threw LG out of way and got TFL in early 2nd. Got a sack later in the quarter. Effort play. Good game.

Interesting look. 3-man DL with Barnett standing up as a LB. Had to cover Keenan Allen. Stayed with the WR and made a good tackle. Gave up limited RAC yards. On next play, got by LT for a TFL. Good rush on 3rd/long. Blew by the RT and got into the backfield. Rivers had to dump the ball off to a RB. Barnett was in on 2 tackles and recovered the only Chargers fumble. That was also a hustle play. You have to love his motor.

Chris Long had a strip sack on the opening drive. Great hustle. Also smart to knock ball out and not just hit the QB. Had offside penalty in the early 3rd.

Steven Means played some RDE. No real highlight moments.

Justin Hamilton played and had multiple good rushes. Moved well and used bull rush effectively. Showed great effort on 4th Qtr pass play when he hustled to the far side of the field to keep pressure on Rivers. I would prefer to see Hamilton playing over Qualls.

Elijah Qualls got pressure on one pass play. More effort than skill.

LB

Jordan Hicks had 8 solo tackles and was pretty good in coverage. He showed great range, making plays all over the field. Had one key error. Overran run play in the 4th and RB cut upfield for long TD. Hicks wasn’t the only one at fault on that run, but he made a mistake.

Nigel Bradham had an up and down game. Showed great hustle late in the half to chase down Allen after he got loose for 49 yards. Had some missed tackles. No lack of effort, but needs to get runners/receivers down. One of those came on 3rd/14 and let the WR get the 1st down. Had 4 solo tackles on the day.

Mychal Kendricks had his first big mistake of the year. Was playing outside in early 4th. RB cut inside of him and went for long TD. Kendricks looked like he was focused on Rivers and a possible bootleg. Dove for the RB, but couldn’t get him. Solid other than that. Was in on 4 tackles.

S

Malcolm Jenkins was solid again. Had 5 solo tackles and covered well, but didn’t make any huge plays. Good tackle of RB on 3rd down kept him short of the sticks and forced a punt. Hustled to make sure he got Allen down after a long catch and run in the 4th Qtr. Gave up TD late in the game. Had pretty good coverage, but TE made a great catch.

Rodney McLeod was up and down. It can be tough at times to tell what he supposed to do on a given play. I thought the big plays the Eagles gave up would show McLeod more at fault, but that really wasn’t the case.  Had good deep coverage on a couple of 3rd Qtr passes. Rivers didn’t bother throwing one and forced a ball into double coverage on the other. It is disappointing that McLeod only had 1 tackle. There was one big play where McLeod was deep, but got blocked by another receiver and couldn’t get to the ball. Ideally you want him to find a way to beat the blocker or at least affect the play (force the runner to change his route).

CB

Jalen Mills was a busy man last week, but things were much quieter on Sunday. The Chargers didn’t go after him much. Mills covered pretty well. Broke up one pass and got in on 4 tackles. Made one big mistake. Went and hit the wrong receiver on pass play down the deep middle. Hit the guy without the ball. The one with it got loose for a huge gain because Mills wasn’t in the right spot.

Rasul Douglas beaten for 75-yd TD. WR ran by him. FS was playing up close. Douglas hesitated for a moment and never caught up to the guy. Very next snap by Chargers offense, WR went deep. Douglas played this one much better and Rivers was forced to dump the ball off. Good job on 3rd/long. Covered WR initially, released him to other DB and then covered his zone. Tackled RB after catch and kept him short of the sticks. Badly beaten by Allen late in the half for a gain of 49. Went too far inside and let Allen get outside. Short catch and long run. Has to be smarter/better than that. Might have gotten away with PI in the end zone late in the half. Had tight coverage, but also had hands on the receiver. Pass was off target because of the tight coverage. Good tackle of RB after minimal gain. Called for PI in the late 3rd. Made a pretty good play on the ball, but had his hand around the receiver’s waist.

Patrick Robinson almost made a spectacular INT in the 1st half. Was covering his receiver and saw the ball go deep. Tried to make a diving grab, but couldn’t hold on. Great effort. Failed to tackle WR in bounds late in the half, which gave Chargers an extra snap. Didn’t hurt, though. Got TFL on run play in the early 3rd. Fought through block to make that play. Really popped a WR when making a tackle in the 3rd. Had excellent coverage on downfield throw in the 3rd Qtr. 3 solo tackles, PD, TFL. Solid day of work for the slot guy.

*****

ST

KOR – All touchbacks.

PR – Kenjon Barner had his first game in place of Darren Sproles. Caught the ball smoothly. Showed the ability to make the initial guy miss, but couldn’t do anything beyond that. Averaged 5 yards per PR.

Donnie Jones – Only 2 punts, but averaged 47.5 per punt. Both were inside the 20. Good day.

Jake Elliott – Great game. 4 for 4 on FGs, including kicks from 47 and 53 yards out. Put the ball down the middle. All 7 of his kickoffs were touchbacks.

***

GAMEBOOK

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