Quite the Comeback

The Eagles were down 19-3 with 4:06 left in the first half. I thought they were done, for the game and the season.

The defense had given up 319 yards to that point. It was amazing the Giants “only” had 19 points. The Eagles simply had no answers.

The Eagles offense wasn’t much better. They had moved the ball somewhat, but couldn’t truly sustain drives. Once again, there were too many mistakes. A holding penalty on Jason Kelce wiped out a 52-yard TD run by Josh Adams. That play could have changed the complexion of the whole game. If the Eagles go up 7-6 early on and the crowd goes nuts, we probably have a very different game.

Instead, the Eagles were down big and things looked bad.

At that moment, the rock bottom point of the season, the Eagles got going. It started with a 5-yard run up the middle by Adams. Five plays later, Zach Ertz bulled his way into the end zone and the Eagles had life. Pederson then called a terrific play on the two-point conversion, with Carson Wentz running the option and pitching the ball to Corey Clement for the score. The scoreboard now showed 19-11 in favor of the Giants.

But the Eagles had momentum.

Eli Manning led the Giants downfield before throwing an incredibly dumb interception to end the half. That kept the Eagles momentum going. The Giants had the lead, but the Eagles had Uncle Mo.

The second half wasn’t full of big plays and wild moments. The Eagles won by being methodical. They limited the Giants to just three yards in the third quarter. They limited the Giants to just three points in the second half.

The Eagles played the run well, giving up only 16 yards after halftime. The Eagles tackled well. They sacked Eli twice. The Eagles also covered better. The Giants passing game was smooth and efficient in the first half, but was erratic in the second. Once the Eagles defense got a bit of confidence, that made a huge difference.

It also helped that the Giants did some questionable things. Pat Shurmur quit feeding the ball to Saquon Barkley. Eli was off-target with some throws. Corey Coleman dropped an easy catch. A false start penalty put them behind the sticks on one drive.

The Eagles offense still wasn’t clicking on all cylinders. They managed one field goal in the third quarter and were lucky the defense kept the game close. The Eagles didn’t go 3 & out even once and that helped them win the field position battle. It also helped them win the time of possession battle. Eli and Saquon did more watching than playing in the second half.

It is good that this wasn’t a miracle kind of game. Those games aren’t sustainable, as we most recently learned in 2010.

The good moments from Sunday can carry over. Adams proved to be a workhorse runner. Corey Clement had his best game of the season, showing burst we haven’t seen since the Super Bowl. Carson Wentz came through in the clutch and that should help him the next time the Eagles play in a close game. The offensive line did an excellent job of run blocking. That had to get those guys fired up.

The young DBs did some good things. Cre’Von LeBlanc got away with some holding on a critical play, but he’s hardly the only DB to do that. He covered well enough that they didn’t throw a flag. I’ll need to watch the All-22, but it certainly felt like the LBs played much better this week. Kamu Grugier-Hill flew around the field and led the team in tackles. Michael Bennett had a sack, a key TFL and was disruptive on a regular basis.

Even STs played a part in this. Jake Elliott hit the winning FG, just as he did a year ago against the Giants. Cameron Johnston had an outstanding game, averaging 50.3 yards per punt and pinning the Giants deep on a couple of kicks.

The Eagles kept their season alive with this comeback. We’ll get more into that angle later in the week. For now, be happy. When you’re under .500 in late November, you’re basically in NCAA Tournament mode…survive and advance. The Eagles won their first game, ugly as it was. W’s are more important than style points right now.

*****

After the 51-yard TD run by Saquon Barkley (Eagles were caught in a check on the play), Malcolm Jenkins and a couple vets asked Jim Schwartz to simplify defense for inexperienced secondary. He did, and the defense stabilized.

— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) November 25, 2018

Chris Long says defense was pissed off after first half

Eagles young secondary had trouble getting lined up and changing their calls because Giants were going with tempo

So second half defense simplified it and held Giants to 16 rushing yards and 56 total yards pic.twitter.com/yUYt9CQTyf

— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) November 25, 2018

Hopefully we’ll find out more about this when Schwartz talks to the media on Tuesday.

*****

Zach Ertz has 84 catches, 895 yards and six touchdowns this season. Those number have been reached just four times before in #Eagles history. There’s still five games left.

— Dave Zangaro (@DZangaroNBCS) November 26, 2018

Ertz really is having an amazing season.

_