Game Review – SEA 24, PHI 10

Posted: December 8th, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 32 Comments »

Sunday sucked.

I sat around all day, nervously awaiting for Sunday Night Football. I wanted to see an Eagles win. I would have settled for losing a shootout or a tough, defensive struggle. Just give me something to feel good about. Instead, Seattle made a handful of key plays and the Eagles made mistake after mistake after mistake. The result was a frustrating 24-10 loss.

The 2004 Super Bowl team started 7-0. They went to Pittsburgh at midseason and lost 27-3. That team was completely dominated and physically manhandled. There were serious questions that arose from that game.

Sunday night’s loss was nothing like that. The Eagles out-gained the Seahawks by more than 100 yards. The Eagle were just as physical as the Seahawks. Carson Wentz took some big hits, but so did Russell Wilson.

Penalties, turnovers and other mistakes doomed the Eagles. The coaches didn’t have a great game. Officiating didn’t help matters, with the Eagles getting the worst of several key calls. Seattle won the game, but I don’t look at them as the superior team.

Re-watching the game was torture. What if Wentz hits Agholor in the 1st quarter? Eagles might have been up 7-3. What if Jeffrey doesn’t hold on the run play? That could drive could have have easily resulted in a TD.

The Wentz fumble was a whole case of What If’s. What if Lane Johnson has a slightly better block on Sheldon Richardson, who knocked the ball loose. What if Wentz protects the ball better before the hit? What if Torrey Smith recovered the ball, which was right there for him, in the end zone? We’ve got a 10-10 game and the Eagles have momentum.

Instead, Lucy moved the ball and Charlie Brown ended up on his butt, staring into the Seattle night.

COACHING

Doug Pederson has had a great year, but Sunday night was not his best showing. He was conservative early and many people are wondering why. He mentioned that the team didn’t have a great week of practice. The team wasn’t crisp early and my guess is that Pederson was playing it safe until he saw some life from his team. Going for it on 4th down makes total sense if you think your team will convert or that it is worth taking the chance because your defense will hold. If you have doubts about them, there is something to be said for playing it safe.

You can argue that being aggressive might have jolted the team and helped them to play with more confidence. It is also possible Seattle could have built a bigger lead faster. Pederson has known which buttons to push so far this year. He was very different on Sunday, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he was wrong.

The situation at the end of the half was just bizarre. Pederson had the offense on the field and it looked like they might go for it, but then there was a timeout and out came the punting unit.

The biggest mistake of the night was not challenging a “forward lateral”. Pederson did challenge a 3rd down spot and lost (he was right, but officials almost never reverse those calls) and that left him gunshy about burning a timeout and getting rejected. In his defense, the replays he saw weren’t obvious. The stadium doesn’t have the TV feed. And we don’t know what the guys in the booth saw. That was such a key play that he probably should have challenged no matter what. There were only 9-minutes left in the game and it was 17-10. That play came on 3rd down and extended a scoring drive. Take that away and the Eagles are getting the ball back and only needing one score to tie.

It is hard to judge the offensive gameplan because Wentz struggled so much. It sure looked like there were open players and some potentially big plays. The players just didn’t execute well, mainly Wentz.

Judging Jim Schwartz is hard because Wilson creates so much on the fly. You can be right with the ball and almost perfect with the execution and next thing you know Seattle has some big gain. Schwartz did make one big mistake. He blitzed on 3rd down and Wilson burned the Eagles for a long play. Rodney McLeod was covering their best WR all alone. I don’t need to tell you that favors them by just a smidge. I have no problem with blitzing, but the Eagles had been getting pressure with their front four. Schwartz should have just rushed four. That one hurt. 

PLAYERS

Carson Wentz had his worst game of the year. His numbers look okay…29-45-348 with a TD and an INT. He did not play well.

The biggest issue was errant throws. He had a chance to hit Agholor for a TD and just overthrew him. You can’t do that on the road against a good team. He had a chance to hit Agholor for a huge play later. This time the pass was complete and got 32 yards, but it was a bad throw and Agholor fell down after catching it. Should have been a huge gain. Zach Ertz was open over the middle a couple of times. One pass was too low to catch. Another required him to dive for the ball. Need to hit him on the move there. There were a lot of pass plays with a questionable read or bad throw. Rough night.

The other huge mistake came when Wentz tried to run for a TD. Got almost to the goal line and Richardson stripped the ball from him. That was a crushing moment. Settling for a FG would have been discouraging, but getting nothing was brutal. Real gut punch.

Wentz never looked quite right. I don’t know if he was nervous or some of the hits got to him. There was a sequence when the Eagles got inside the Red Zone. He dumped the ball for minimal gain to the outside on 1st down. Running play on 2nd. Another dump outside on 3rd. It was if he was playing to avoid making mistakes. Weird.

The crowd noise was a factor. It seemed like the Eagles snapped the ball with :01 left on a lot of plays. Wentz was clapping his hands furiously, trying to get the attention of Brooks, who would signal to Kelce to snap the ball. You can’t read the defense or think about the play if you spend the last 5 seconds of the play clock trying to get the ball snapped. That had to affect Wentz.

There were some good moments. He made an incredible throw to Agholor for a gain of 51 on the first play of the 4th quarter. Wentz was scrambling from pressure and started to stumble. He somehow got the ball off before falling. The pass was on the money and about 45 yards came via the air. That was a freakish play. A few plays later, Wentz avoided pressure and hit Agholor down the sideline for the TD. There was a play where Wentz spun from pressure took off running. He hit Jeffrey along the sideline with a bullet.

Wentz ran 6 times for 30 yards. 

RB

LeGarrette Blount was 8-26. As the Eagles got into pass mode in the 2nd half, he didn’t get many touches.

Jay Ajayi was impressive at times. Finished 9-35 with a long run of 11. Came close to breaking a couple of runs. Biggest moment of frustration with him came when he dropped a screen pass. Wasn’t going to be a huge gain, but he had a pair of blockers out there and only one defender close. Did catch 3 passes for 11 yards. Was a dump-off target on the sidelines for Wentz. No real success.

Corey Clement had a quiet night, going 3-7 on the ground. 3-30 as a receiver. Highlight was a 23-yard catch and run. Got the ball in space and got downfield for a good gain. Had a nice run on Flip 90 to the left side for a 1st down. Eagles tried to counter off that and ran from same look to the other side as a pitch play late in the half. Hope for was Clement to get a couple of yards and out of bounds. Would save timeout and get new set of downs. Johnson got tripped by Brooks and the play was blown up.

Kenjon Barner was a target on 4th/3. Had a chance for good gain, possibly TD. Problem is that he got tripped up in traffic while crossing behind the formation and that killed the timing of the play. Wentz was under heavy pressure and had to just throw the ball to that side and hope. Didn’t work.

WR

Alshon Jeffery was up and down. 4-61. Made a couple of really nice catches. Highlight was a gain of 23 over the middle that set up the Eagles on 1st/GL. Big mistake came when he held on a run play. Didn’t affect the run at all, but wiped out a play that had the ball down near the goal line. Jeffrey is sloppy with his hands when it comes to blocking. This must be addressed. He’s hurt the team multiple times this year. Let the friggin’ CB go try to tackle Blount.

Torrey Smith caught 5 passes, but only for 29 yards. Long play went for 11. Had a chance to be a hero on Wentz’s fumble. Ball was there to be recovered in the end zone, but Smith couldn’t get his hands on it. Ugh.

Nelson Agholor had the best game of his career. 7-141-1. Made plays all over. Showed RAC ability. Worked the sidelines and middle of the field. Could have had an even bigger night if Wentz made a couple of better throws to him.

Mack Hollins caught 1 pass for 10 yards. Had a couple of good blocks in the game.

TE

Zach Ertz was quieter than I expected. 2-24. Suffered a concussion and left the game in the 2nd half.

Brent Celek wasn’t targeted at all. His blocking wasn’t much of a factor because the Eagles didn’t run much in the 2nd half.

Trey Burton played more when Ertz went out. He was 4-42 and looked good.

OL

Lane Johnson had the feature matchup of the night, going against Michael Bennett. Johnson won that battle. Bennett was in on one tackle and was only credited with a single QB hit. He did get some pressure, but Johnson kept him under control most of the night.

Halapoulivaati Vaitai played better than some are saying. He was beaten a few times and did get burned for a pair of sacks. There were issues. But Big V blocked well a lot of the time. There were plenty of pass plays when Wentz had a clean pocket and time to throw. Big V did a good job as a run blocker. V got burned on one play when he didn’t get off the ball well. That was strictly due to the crowd noise. He got beaten to the inside on another play. Can’t let that happen.

Jason Kelce had a good game. I thought he played the best of any of the OL. You didn’t see much pressure up the middle. He was good on runs. There were a couple of plays when he couldn’t get to Wagner, but that dude is one of the best LBs in the league. Kelce was real good on the QB sneaks.

Neither Stefen Wisniewski nor Brandon Brooks stood out to me, good or bad.

*****

DL

Vinny Curry had an up and down game. He went for the RB on the first play of the game and let Wilson run outside him for a good gain. Ugh. So much for playing with discipline. Curry went for Wilson a few times when he shouldn’t have and let the QB get outside of him. Curry did play with relentless effort and got the biggest hits on Wilson of anyone on the defense. Wilson is just maddening. There was one play that had to drive Curry nuts. He engaged the TE, who was blocking. Curry stayed backside and deep, to box Wilson in. Wilson just went backward and then ran around Curry.

Fletcher Cox got double-teamed a lot by the C and RG. Cox won the battle when he was single-blocked. Didn’t make plays, but no one does vs Wilson. Was disruptive.

Brandon Graham played well. Had 1.5 sacks and a TFL. Got one of the sacks from RDT. Just overwhelmed the LG and got back to sack Wilson. Was in on 5 total tackles.

Tim Jernigan had somewhat of a quiet night. Credited with a couple of tackles.

Derek Barnett actually did a good job of rushing from RDE and keeping Wilson contained. Had half a sack.

Chris Long had a chance to make a key play on the Wilson scramble and lateral. Was 3rd/8 and Long had a shot at Wilson, but just couldn’t bring him down. Would have forced a punt. Long was in on a couple of tackles.

Beau Allen actually got some pressure vs the LG. Got held a couple of times, but never drew a flag. Helped stuff a couple of runs near the GL.

Destiny Vaeao stuffed a run play at the GL.

LB

Mychal Kendricks was up and down. Played the run pretty well. Got burned a couple of times in coverage. Lost the RB once while watching Wilson and gave up a 23-yd catch and run to Davis. Was burned by McKissic (a former WR) for a TD late in the game. Bit on fake and let the guy get behind him wide open. Kendricks was in on 9 total tackles and had a TFL. Tackling was sloppy a couple of times in space.

Nigel Bradham was active and near the ball a lot. Got in on 6 tackles. Got burned at least once while trying to cover a TE. Focused on the run. Had a terrible holding call on pass play. Just bear-hugged the RB and wouldn’t let go. Weird.

Najee Goode played MLB. He had 3 tackles including a TFL.

Kamu Grugier-Hill played some LB in a GL set.

S

Malcolm Jenkins did not have his best night. Was in on 4 tackles. Got beaten by Jimmy Graham for a TD. Jenkins didn’t make plays. Had a chance for an INT early in the game, but the ball hit the ground before he could snag it. If that ball is a couple of inches higher, Jenkins makes a huge play.

Rodney McLeod had 5 solo tackles. Got burned on blitz play where he had to cover Baldwin 1-on-1. Let the WR get by him. McLeod did hustle and force Baldwin out at the 1, which is better than giving up a TD.

Corey Graham had one standout play. Wilson scrambled on 3rd down. Went upfield and pump-faked. Graham didn’t bite. Hit Wilson and put him on the ground to force a punt. Credited with 3 tackles.

CB

Ronald Darby didn’t play well. Gave up too many completions. Seemed a half-step slow. Called for PI on a scoring drive. Questionable call, but gave Seattle 19 free yards. Credited with 3 PDs.

Patrick Robinson was up and down. Gave up a couple of 1st down grabs. Credited with one PD. Called for holding on pass play on 3rd/1. Eagles had them stopped, but that kept alive a scoring drive. Can’t have that.

Jalen Mills was up and down. Missed a few tackles, which he hasn’t done all year. Had good coverage on throw in end zone, but penalty on other DB made that play meaningless. Got lost in traffic on other GL pass play and gave up TD. I’m not sure how a DB is supposed to stay with a WR on plays like that. In on 7 tackles. Almost broke up a pass to Graham.

 

*****

ST

KOR – Barner averaged 21.5 on a couple of KORs. Had one good return wiped out by penalty.

PR – Kenjon Barner only got to return one punt and got 0 on that.

Donnie Jones – All 3 of his punts were inside the 20. Good job of pinning them deep.

Jake Elliott – Quiet night. Hit one FG and one XP.

MISC –

Clement had a good stop on KO coverage.

Hollins wiped out a good return with block in the back.

***

GAMEBOOK

 

_


32 Comments on “Game Review – SEA 24, PHI 10”

  1. 1 Masked Man said at 3:39 AM on December 8th, 2017:

    Yeah Tommy. It’s been a long time since a Sunday sucked. And when a Sunday sucks, then the Monday usually sucks too.

    I think we’ll have a better Sunday this week. Go Eagles!

  2. 2 Insomniac said at 6:11 AM on December 8th, 2017:

    Just found out that the Saints lost. Today was a good day.

  3. 3 Rob Jarratt said at 7:29 AM on December 8th, 2017:

    I would like the Eagles to start with a hurry-up offense. For some reason recently, they seem to sleepwalk their way through the first quarter/half of the game. IMO, playing with a sense of urgency energizes the offense and gets them off their heels. I don’t mean a Chip Kelly offense, but more like a NE offense that sets the tone early-on.

  4. 4 mtn_green said at 5:02 PM on December 8th, 2017:

    Doug did that last year at times. Hurry up on first possession.

  5. 5 Rob Jarratt said at 6:18 PM on December 8th, 2017:

    I hope he tries it on Sunday.

  6. 6 GermanEagle said at 8:21 AM on December 8th, 2017:

    Anybody ever been to JJ Bootleggers in Philly watch an Eagles game?

  7. 7 Insomniac said at 8:42 AM on December 8th, 2017:

    I stand corrected. We lost Beau’s replacement to Andy. Today was not a good day.

  8. 8 or____ said at 9:28 AM on December 8th, 2017:

    Yeah that sucks

  9. 9 xeynon said at 9:45 AM on December 8th, 2017:

    Hamilton is JAG. Losing him is not a huge deal.

  10. 10 Insomniac said at 10:00 AM on December 8th, 2017:

    JAG? Showed way more promise than Qualls and Vaeao in his opportunities.

  11. 11 gherbox said at 11:31 PM on December 8th, 2017:

    He wasnt important enough to sign to the roster

  12. 12 Insomniac said at 4:24 PM on December 9th, 2017:

    I’d argue that some players should have been cut from the roster already.

  13. 13 xeynon said at 10:10 AM on December 9th, 2017:

    Literally every team in the NFL has viewed him as not worthy of a roster spot for most of the season. He was on the street before training camp. If he were really that promising he would’ve been picked up earlier.

  14. 14 Insomniac said at 4:26 PM on December 9th, 2017:

    Right, just like how the other 31 teams whiff on players all the time. He had much better showings than our DTs not named Cox, Jernigan, and Allen.

  15. 15 sonofdman said at 10:08 AM on December 8th, 2017:

    How dare you. Hamilton fought in the Revolutionary war and was the first Secretary of the Treasury. He died too young in a pointless duel. Losing him was a huge deal.

  16. 16 RobNE said at 4:02 PM on December 8th, 2017:

    are you about to break out in song?

  17. 17 xeynon said at 10:12 AM on December 9th, 2017:

    Dak Prescott-esque media hype. Advanced metrics show that his contributions were overrated, and that the country would’ve been fine with a replacement level Founding Father. 😉

  18. 18 sonofdman said at 2:36 PM on December 9th, 2017:

    Lol.

  19. 19 or____ said at 10:47 AM on December 8th, 2017:

    Nope

  20. 20 ChoTime said at 9:38 AM on December 8th, 2017:

    I was speculating that Pederson was being conservative in the first half because Wentz hadn’t been playing well that week. It’s kind of odd, though; I’ve never actually heard of a coach adjusting his gameplan because of practice. Maybe Dug’s the only one who actually admits things. Kind of an anti-Bellichick.

  21. 21 Taylor Bolton said at 11:22 AM on December 8th, 2017:

    Tommy, What was your opinion of letting Bradham be the Spy and Kendricks playing man coverage against Mickisic? I’ve always felt Kendricks would be the ideal Spy in a Man spy scheme since his best attribute IMO is his run and chase inside/out. I feel like he would have attacked Wilson with more speed which is what you really need against Wilson as opposed to say Newton or other running QBs

  22. 22 SteveH said at 1:03 PM on December 8th, 2017:

    Kendricks was successful spying Wilson last year, not sure why we would do it any differently. He’s one of the few players on the team with the speed and agility to genuinely be problematic for Wilson.

  23. 23 Mac said at 1:19 PM on December 8th, 2017:

    Might sound crazy, but I would have liked to see us send a CB to hunt Wilson on his 15+ yard drop backs.

  24. 24 A_T_G said at 4:30 PM on December 8th, 2017:

    Douglas could fill that role. Or bring Tre Sullivan up, his history of hard hitting in PS would terrify Carroll.

  25. 25 SteveH said at 1:05 PM on December 8th, 2017:

    I thought the 0 blitz call by Schwartz was a major error. Hell Schwartz had even talked about how good Wilson is at not just escaping horizontally and making plays, but backpedaling and being able to make plays.

    What works well against a zero blitz? someone who can backpedal and still has the arm strength to make throws down the field.

    There’s a handful of qbs in the league I would not run a 0 blitz against and Wilson is one of them, Brady and Rodgers being the other 2, Brady because he’d just check to a manbeater that their 6th string running back would probably take to the house, and Rodgers because he’s just as much of an arm strength freak as Wilson is.

  26. 26 ColorSgt said at 6:36 PM on December 8th, 2017:

    Tough game, but I’d rather see a loss where the Eagles best themselves rather than another team. The bad parts can be corrected, hopefully by Sunday.

  27. 27 Masked Man said at 7:28 PM on December 8th, 2017:

    Remember this?

    “The Browns signed (Kenny) Britt to a four-year, $32.5 million contract that
    included $17 million guaranteed…”

    Welp, today they decided to cut him. And their still on the hook for the guaranteed money!

    http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/12/08/browns-cut-kenny-britt/

  28. 28 Insomniac said at 7:52 PM on December 8th, 2017:

    Lol

  29. 29 SteveH said at 9:49 PM on December 8th, 2017:

    Browns.

  30. 30 Someguy77 said at 9:52 PM on December 8th, 2017:

    http://www.espn.com/blog/philadelphia-eagles/post/_/id/23269/eagles-soak-up-advice-from-kobe-bryant-before-huge-game-against-rams

    Kobe’s advice: Pay that women before it heads to court!

  31. 31 daveH said at 10:20 PM on December 8th, 2017:

    Hey if Shaq can cheat on his wife why can’t i ??

  32. 32 Eagles_Fan_in_San_Fran said at 3:32 AM on December 9th, 2017:

    “Ronald Darby didn’t play well. Gave up too many completions. Seemed a half-step slow”

    Sure seemed like Seattle’s gameplan (at least at the outset) was to pick on him – and it seemed like the right move. Maybe he came back too early from the ankle injury?