Game Review – PHI 43, LAR 35

What a win.

What a loss.

The Eagles went to Los Angeles and came up with their most impressive win of the year. It was also the most costly, with Carson Wentz tearing his ACL.

This isn’t the first time the Eagles have had a star QB go down. Randall got hurt in the 1991 season opener. Donovan went down in Week 10 in 2002 and 2006. In some ways, the game reminded me of 1993.

The upstart Eagles surprised everyone by going 3-0 and then traveled to the Meadowlands to face the Jets. Randall Cunningham went down in the game. The Eagles made a crazy comeback in a shootout to win 35-30. It was great to see the team get to 4-0, but the injury to Randall put a gloomy outlook on the rest of the year.

That was a great win and a terrible loss in the same 3-hour period.

There are huge differences between then and now. Bubby Brister was the backup QB on that team. For those who don’t know him, Brister was a mediocre talent with a strong arm. He lacked accuracy and poise. But other than that…

Nick Foles is worlds better than Brister. This Eagles team is also worlds better than that bunch. Age, injuries and poor drafts weakened the Eagles over time and that really started to show in 1993. In the 12 games without Randall, the Eagles scored 10 or fewer points six times. Using my special formula I can tell you that’s not good. I’d explain the formula to you, but I doubt you’re smart enough to understand all the complex variables (like points and games).

The 2017 Eagles are an outstanding team. Carson Wentz has been the key to the season, but this is a complete team. They are Top 5 in points scored, yards gained, points and yards allowed. That doesn’t happen because of just Carson Wentz. This is a good team.

And Sunday was a team win.

Wentz was picked off on the third play of the game. The Rams scored three plays later, and made it look easy. I was a bit nervous at that point, but part of me also thought that might work against the Rams. Teams that score really quickly can sometimes go flat. Sure enough, the Eagles were up 21-7 early in the 2nd quarter. They looked dominant. It was hard not to be excited at that point.

The Rams faced 3rd and 10 on the next drive. Jared Goff hit Cooper Kupp for what was going to be a 1st down. Rodney McLeod missed the tackle. Then Malcolm Jenkins missed a tackle. 20 yards downfield Patrick Robinson missed him. Kupp ended up getting 64 yards on that play. About 50 of them came after the catch. That was a huge turning point in the game. The Eagles had another chance to make things right. Goff threw a bad pass that Nigel Bradham should have picked off inside the 5, but Bradham dropped it.

Instead of protecting the 21-7 lead, the Rams scored to cut it to 21-14 and it was Game On.

The Rams took control of the game in the 3rd quarter. They scored an offensive TD and then blocked a punt and returned that for a score. The Eagles 24-14 lead was gone and the Rams led 28-24. They also had momentum on their side. The Eagles looked a little shell-shocked.

Wentz then led a TD drive that put the Eagles back on top, 31-28. The happiness that brought was short-lived. Wentz headed into the medical tent and then walked to the locker room with a towel on his head.

Gulp.

I didn’t think the injury was all that serious initially, but the reports coming out changed that in a hurry.

The Rams showed no sympathy. They went right down the field and scored to re-take the lead, 35-31.

Nick Foles came into the game and nobody knew exactly what to expect. He led the team down the field and they got a FG to cut into the lead. That was encouraging. Foles had done his part and now it was up to the defense to theirs.

The Rams offense had gone through the defense with ease for parts of the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Schwartz said the coaches and players talked about making adjustments, but decided it was more important to just execute better. That’s exactly what happened.

Chris Long made the play of the game when he strip-sacked Goff and McLeod recovered the fumble. That set the Eagles up in scoring position and they got a FG to take the lead back at 37-35. The defense held the Rams to a 3 & out, giving the ball back to Foles and the offense with 2:02 left.

The Rams had the 2-minute warning and all three timeouts so this wasn’t some glorified kneel-down situation. The Eagles had to have a 1st down. Foles hit Nelson Agholor for 9 yards on 3rd & 8 to move the chains and all but end the game. The Rams did get the ball back with a second left, but their desperation play turned into a Brandon Graham TD and celebration for the Eagles.

That was a wild game with all kinds of twists. It would have been easy for the Eagles to fold after the blocked punt or the Wentz injury. Didn’t happen. The team kept grinding away and they dominated the 4th quarter. Goff has been brilliant this year for the Rams, but he looked nervous with the game on the line. The Eagles made clutch plays and came away with the W.

It wasn’t pretty, but it was certainly beautiful.

That was the kind of exciting, compelling, important game that should be talked about for years, but the focus will always be Wentz tearing his ACL.

COACHING

Doug Pederson was conservative in Seattle, but that changed this week. He went back to being aggressive and it paid off in a big way. He threw on 3rd/1. He went for it on 4th downs twice, throwing passes both times. He challenged a bad spot. 

There was an interesting moment in the 4th. The Eagles had just taken a 37-35 lead. There was a penalty on the Rams. Doug took points off the board. I wondered if that was wise, with a backup QB in the game and a backup LG as well. I understand the desire for a TD, but that was a gutsy move. And it was right. The Eagles still had to settle for a FG, but they burned 2 minutes off the clock. That proved to be huge at the end of the game.

I know some people blame Doug for Wentz’s injury, saying he shouldn’t have called a pass from the 2-yard line. That’s just dumb. The Eagles are the #1 Red Zone team in the league. Pederson has a good feel for what works. He thought a pass was the way to go. Wentz could have gotten hurt on the next play. Or the one after that. Doug wasn’t reckless or dumb in any way.

The offensive piled up 455 yards and scored 31 points. Ertz was out, but the coaches once again found a way to use the other TEs and get big results. The running game focused on Ajayi and not Blount. It was hard to tell if that was by design or how things played out.

Jim Schwartz wanted to really limit big plays. The DBs did a terrific job of that. The defense didn’t tackle well and that led to rushing yards and RAC yards. Schwartz was not happy about that. You could tell the players were well-prepared. The Rams are normally deadly with play-action. The Eagles handled those plays pretty well. 

PLAYERS

Carson Wentz played really well. 23-41-291. Threw for 4 TDs and had one pick. Not bad for 3 quarters of play. Had to deal with regular pressure.

Had some terrific moments. Made a good throw to Celek for short TD. Made a good throw to Burton for TD. Trey was between 2 defenders. Wentz underthrew it and let Burton adjust. Underneath LB never saw the ball. Hit Burton for an 11-yd TD on 3rd/8 . Put the ball up high where his guy could go get it. Good read, good throw. Showed great pocket presence on 3rd/11 late in the half. Moved up in the pocket and got the pass off as he was being hit. Strong enough that the pass was still accurate and had good velocity. Smith turned that catch and run into a 46-yd gain.

Used his legs a few times. Ran the ball 3 times for 16 yards. Did a great job to spin away from pressure and had AJ open down the field, but overthrew him. Had to really improvise on 3rd/1. Rams were on him and no one was open. Made a blitzer miss and that gave AJ time to get open. Wild play.

Made a dumb decision in the 2nd. Was backpedaling from pressure in the pocket and tried to hit Clement in traffic. Throw was off target and could have been picked off. Wentz has rarely done stuff like that, especially in the Red Zone. Got lucky it was just incomplete.

Hurt his knee while scrambling for TD in the mid-3rd. Penalty wiped out the score. Stayed in the game and threw TD on 4th down. Pass wasn’t ideal because of the injury and no one being clearly open, but gave Jeffery a chance to make a play and he did. Tough as nails and clutch. Gonna really miss watching this guy the rest of this year.

Nick Foles took over for Wentz in the early 4th. First play was from empty set. Foles bobbled the snap, then scooped it up and scrambled for 9 yards. Loved the confidence Pederson showed to go empty on first play. “Let’s attack.”

Hung tough in the pocket. Got rid of the ball at the last moment and took big shot from Donald. Hit Burton for gain of 16. Overthrew Jeffery on downfield pass. Was open in the end zone and the ball was out of bounds. Not an easy play, but needs to make that throw. Had Agholor wide open on 3rd down on crossing route and never saw him. Dumped ball off for minimal gain. Hit AJ for key 1st down in the RZ, but play was wiped out by Brooks hold.

Bizarre play on 3rd down. Had DT and DE on him quickly. Wanted to just get rid of the ball to avoid sack (so as not to hurt FG attempt). Threw it right to Big V. Refs ruled Foles was already down on the play. Ugly, ugly play.

Made a huge play at the end of the game. Hit Agholor on 3rd/8 for gain of 9. Made a terrific throw where only Agholor could get the ball.

Foles played just well enough to win. Wasn’t pretty, but was effective. Finished 6-10-42.

RB

LeGarrette Blount didn’t have his best game. Looked slow. Made a strange read on one run. Had a hole directly in front of him. Had one to the right as well. Went right and by the time he got there the hole was gone. Why would you ever do that? Just run straight if you have a hole there. Bizarre. Finished with 7 carries for 12 yards.

Jay Ajayi had a good game, maybe his best as an Eagle. 15-78. Ran hard and did a good job of breaking tackles. Made several good cuts in the game. Had a terrific run in the early 2nd. Went to the left. Made a jump cut to get by the ILB and then read his downfield blocks well. Got 19 on the play. Ran for 10 yards in the 4th Qtr to move the team into good FG range. Made a real smart play when he went down inbounds on outside run at the end of the game. Forced Rams to burn a timeout. Bobbled the handoff on 3rd down run and made everyone hold their breath for half a second, but secured it and almost got the 1st down. Loved the fact he protected the ball on the final drive. Also had some good pass blocks.

Corey Clement got 28 yards on early screen pass. Read his blocks well and showed good patience on the play. 6-24 on the ground. Best run came after the Wentz injury. Ran 10 yards up the middle to put the Eagles right back near the goal line.

WR

Alshon Jeffery battled CB Trumaine Johnson all game long. Both guys made plays (and talked a lot). AJ finished 5-52-1. Drew a PI call on Johnson on deep ball in 1st Qtr. Pass was underthrown and AJ tried to slow for it and Johnson ran into him. Easy call. Failed to catch back shoulder type throw on 3rd/long in the mid-3rd. DB got a hand in there, but that’s a play AJ needs to make. DB stupidly said something after the play and was called for taunting. Gave Eagles a fateful 1st down (Wentz injury came a few plays later). Amazing grab for the TD in the 3rd. Wentz threw odd pass and AJ was able to secure it before it could hit the ground. Clutch play. Had some good run blocks.

Torrey Smith had his best game of the season, going 6-100. Came up big late in the half. Caught 15-yd pass on 2nd/10 along the right sideline. Later caught pass over the middle on 3rd/11 and turned that into a 46-yd gain. Put the team in scoring range. Had a terrible non-block of DB on Ajayi run in the 3rd. If he just gets in the way, Ajayi might have gotten 5 or more yards. I don’t know why Smith ignored him to go not block someone else.

Nelson Agholor got off to a bad start. Couldn’t bring in pass on initial 3rd down and the ball went right to CB for easy pick. Made a huge play in the 2nd. Caught quick out on 4th/1 and turned that into a gain of 18. Got a pick from Smith to get wide open. Made a diving grab for 5 yds in the Red Zone. Made a clutch catch on 3rd/8 at the end of the game. Sealed the win. So weird to see him making so many clutch plays. Finished 8-64 for the game.

Mack Hollins ran a really good route and got open near the goal line, but couldn’t make the catch. Ugh. Might have been a TD. Eagles scored anyway, but you like plays like that to work.

TE

Zach Ertz missed the game, but you’d never know it by the way the other TEs played.

Brent Celek drew a PI call in the end zone that helped set up the Eagles first TD. Ran a good route and drew contact from the MLB. Celek caught the TD pass. Got open from a bunch set and Wentz hit him with a good throw. Dropped a pass in the early 2nd. Wasn’t going to be easy, but should have made the catch. Blocked well in the run game.

Trey Burton had the best game of his career, going 5-71-2. First TD was a thing of beauty. Lined up left and flexed off the formation. Ran a post and got behind the DB covering him. There was an underneath LB as well. Wentz underthrew the ball and let Trey adjust. He did and made an impressive catch for the score. Caught a 9-yd pass on 3rd/10 to set up makeable 4th down. Caught his 2nd TD a few plays later. Ran a simple route and had good position on the defender. Wentz put the ball up high and Burton went up and got it. Terrific play. Made a huge play in the 4th. Got open over the middle and went up for ball. Caught it, took a big hit and held on for gain of 16. Moved the Eagles into FG range.

OL

Lane Johnson did his usual thing, controlling the right side of the line. Outstanding in pass pro. Had a false start on the 1-yard line that wiped out a TD. Eagles scored on the next play so all was forgiven. Was called for holding on Wentz’s run where he scored, but got injured. All for nothing.

Halapoulivaati Vaitai played pretty well. Had a good block of DE that opened big hole for Ajayi on early run. Sealed Donald on Ajayi run in the 2nd that went for 19 yards. Good block. Beaten to the inside in the mid-2nd for sack. Some may have blamed Warmack, but V can’t lose to the inside like that. Continues to improve as a run blocker. Played better with Wiz beside him.

Jason Kelce played his best game of the year. Broke a screen pass open by flattening a defender on the 2nd drive. Great block on Clement run up the middle near the GL. Helped double DL, then got LB and moved him backward. Gave Clement big hole. Pulled and was lead blocker for Ajayi on outside run in 4th. Great block. Got LB and drove him 10 yards downfield. Gave a ton of help to the LGs, especially against Donald. Did a great job helping them to double team.

Stefen Wisniewski hurt his ankle early in the game and it limited his effectiveness. Looked very good in pass pro at times, even vs Donald. Positioned himself well and used angles to slow down Donald. Great block of Donald on 2nd TD throw. Actually knocked him to the ground. Carson had a clean pocket. Wiz wasn’t moving well.

Chance Warmack took over at LG in the mid-2nd Qtr. Struggled vs Donald. Just couldn’t control him regularly.

Isaac Seumalo replaced him in the 3rd Qtr. Started off pretty well and gave me some hope. Donald ate him alive in the 4th Qtr and I think it eroded his confidence in a big way. Had some success early on. Good block of Brockers on run to his side. Called for holding Donald on play-action pass in mid-3rd. Solid block of Donald on Clement run up the middle. Beaten by Donald on pass play in 4th. Got big shot on Foles, but ball was out. Donald beat him to the inside and got another big hit on Foles. Beaten by Brockers to the inside. Foles was sacked on the play. Pushed them back for key FG attempt.

Brandon Brooks had a solid game. Had to block Aaron Donald plenty of times and held his own. Held Donald too, on one play and got called for it. Good block of Brockers on a draw to his side helped Clement have a nice run. Helped on an early screen. Controlled the DL at the snap, then released and got down the field. Moved well for a big man. Couldn’t get to anyone to block, but kept any defender from flying over to light up Clement. Good block of Brockers opened big lane for Clement on run for 1st down. Called for holding in 4th. Wiped out 1st down in the Red Zone.

*****

DL

Vinny Curry was up and down. He took hard inside move on early Flip 90 run and let Gurley get outside for big gain.  Got pressure on 2nd drive and forced incompletion. That was close to being a lateral, but did look like it went forward just a bit. Missed a tackle of Gurley to open the 3rd Qtr. TFL became a gain of 17. Just missed a sack in the mid-4th. Goff dumped the ball off at the last second.

Fletcher Cox had a strong game. Had a couple of highlight plays. Lined up over the C on 3rd/4. Went around him at the snap and just leveled Goff. Forced an incompletion with that. There was literally a repeat of that on 3rd/3 in the 2nd Qtr. Destroyed Goff with a huge hit and pass was incomplete. Tackled Goff in the 4th as he tried to scramble up the middle. Hit Goff on final 3rd down after he moved up in the pocket and had to get rid of the ball. Clean hit.

Brandon Graham didn’t fill the stat sheet, but made his presence felt all game long. Lined up at LDT and met Cox at the QB on 3rd/4. They buried Goff right as he got the ball away. Should have had a sack in the 2nd when they tried to block him with a TE, but Goff used a good spin move to elude him and throw the ball away. Pursued well on run plays. Beat TE to pressure Goff into what should have been an INT, but Bradham couldn’t secure the ball. Lined up at LDT on 3rd/short and got in Goff’s face, forcing a throw short of the sticks. Blew up 4th Qtr run by getting into backfield and forcing Gurley to go deeper. Created TFL for Bradham. Rushed from LDT on final 3rd down. Got into the backfield cleanly and forced Goff to move up. Got a gift TD at the end of the game when he had a fumble come right to him and he could run it in for a TD.

Tim Jernigan was somewhat quiet. Played 30 snaps. Had a few plays when he got penetration, but wasn’t disruptive enough. Had 1 tackle. Hands to the face penalty in the early 4th.

Derek Barnett had a quiet game.

Chris Long had a good game vs his old team. He made the play of the game when he chased Goff from behind and got a strip-sack in the 4th Qtr. The Eagles recovered and scored the go-ahead points because of that. Great effort on the play. Also loved the fact he focused on the ball. So many DL want to hit the QB. No, hit the ball. Tackled Gurley on run up the middle.

Beau Allen didn’t play a lot but had some good plays. Offside penalty gave the Rams 5 free yards in the Red Zone. Not ideal. Made a good tackle of Gurley on 3rd down run. Hustled to make that play in pursuit. Got in on TFL of Gurley on 1st down run in the mid-4th.

Destiny Vaeao played 9 snaps.

LB

Mychal Kendricks had somewhat of a quiet game. Only credited with 1 tackles. Had to deal with 3 blockers on screen pass in 3rd Qtr. Showed great effort in fighting through them to keep Gurley near the sideline, where he eventually ran out.

Nigel Bradham was all over the place. Had 6 solo tackles, 2 PDs, FF and a TFL. Good game that could have been great if he could catch the ball. Solid job on early screen. Fought off block of OL to get free and tackle Gurley. Gave up some yards, but limited the play. Hustled to chase down Kupp on the long catch and run. Almost made that pay off. Dropped into coverage on next play and should have had an INT, but he dropped the ball. Read the play and got into perfect position, but couldn’t make the grab. Knocked down Gurley to keep him from catching pass near GL. Quality hit. Had another chance for a pick in the 2nd Qtr. Was right there in the passing lane and got a hand on the ball, but couldn’t make the grab. Got TFL in 4th. Gurley had to dodge Graham in backfield and Nigel was there to clean up. Forced a fumble on the final play that Graham recovered and ran in for a TD.

S

Malcolm Jenkins made a good tackle of TE over the middle on 3rd down. Kept him short of the sticks. Missed a tackle of Kupp that gave up an extra 50 yards on the play. Just can’t have that. Had him pinned to the sideline. Ugh. Did a good job on 2nd/short run. Kept outside leverage and battled TE. That forced Gurley to stay inside and Allen made the tackle. Finished the game with 3 tackles. Missed at least 3 as well. Not his best outing.

Rodney McLeod had an up and down game. Had to cover WRs on some blitzes. Not his forte and had mixed results. Highlight came on 3rd/3 late in the half when he flew up and put WR Josh Reynolds down short of the sticks. Refs gave it a bad spot, but play was challenged and overturned. Big hit. Tackling vs Gurley was not good. Too often came in high and passive. That won’t work vs powerful runner. Must explode through him. Laid a big hit on Reynolds in the late 3rd after catch. Made a good tackle of Watkins after catch and run. Made a huge play in the 4th when he recovered a Goff fumble and returned into FG range. Credited with 4 tackles.

Corey Graham played, but didn’t make any plays.

CB

Ronald Darby was up and down. Had multiple quick screens thrown to his side, all for decent gains. Got turned around by Kupp and gave up easy gain of 23 yards on TD drive in the 3rd Qtr. Made a good tackle of Gurley on run up the middle after other DBs had missed him. Had 6 solo tackles.

Patrick Robinson got a sack when he chased Goff out of bounds for a minimal loss. Secondary had great coverage and Goff had no one to throw to. PR hustled over to make sure he didn’t run for anything. Broke up a short pass over the middle in the 2nd. Missed a tackle of Kupp on the same play where Jenkins missed his. PR dove at his feet and just didn’t wrap him up. Gave up an additional 30 or so yards. Generally covered well.

Jalen Mills had great coverage on play-action pass deep ball. Forced Goff to overthrow it. Gave up short TD to Kupp on jerk route. Bit inside and Kupp pivoted and went hard outside, just able to get in for the score. Gave up short TD in the 3rd Qtr. WRs were stacked to right. Mills read the play and went for the ball, but just missed. Good coverage on that play. Just better throw, catch. Called for PI when covering Cooper on 3rd/short play. Wasn’t credited with any tackles.

*****

ST

KOR – All touchbacks.

PR – Kenjon Barner was 3-11 on returns. Had a good fake on fair catch and let punt get in end zone.

Donnie Jones – Averaged 47.3 yards per punt. Had a 62-yd punt in the 2nd Qtr. Got some help from a favorable bounce.

Jake Elliott – 5 of 5 on extra points. 3 of 3 on FGs, including the go-ahead FG. Clutch.

MISC –

The Rams came up the middle and almost blocked a punt in the 2nd Qtr. Corey Graham might have been at fault on that. Player just missed the ball. Should have been a block. The Rams did block one in the 3rd. Corey Clement let the inside rusher go free and boom…blocked punt being run back for a TD. Clement should know to take the inside rusher and let the outside guy go. He’s further away and has a tougher angle.

Shelton Gibson made a tackle in punt coverage.

***

GAMEBOOK

Fran Duffy wrote a great review. Make sure you go read this.

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