Bearing Down

Posted: November 3rd, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 1 Comment »

The Eagles beat the Bears, 22-14, on Sunday. That’s the indisputable truth.

Assessing the win is more complicated.

The Eagles never trailed. They scored on the opening drive and only allowed the Bears 9 yards in the first half. You don’t see that often…9 yards. Wow. When the Bears did cut into the lead, the Eagles put together a long FG drive and converted several key third downs. They came up huge in some clutch situations and put the game away. The Eagles offense gained 373 yards against one of the best defenses in the league. The Eagles defense gave up just 164 yards and 14 points.

That all sounds great. But…

The Eagles defense did this against Mitch Trubisky, who is struggling in a big way. The Eagles blew two coverages and that led to pass plays of 53 and 30 yards. Both led to TDs. The Eagles offense benefited from a lot of penalties on the Chicago D. Eagles receivers dropped some key passes. The offense was only 2 of 4 in the Red Zone.

You can see where this game is a bit confusing.

It is important that the Eagles found a way to win. They are now 5-4 and get a week off to rest up and get healthier. The next two games are against two of the best teams in the NFL so you did not want to go into that stretch under .500.

The defense did play well. The Bears were 18-62 on the ground, but 17 of those yards came on one play. Trubisky dropped back to pass 26 times. He threw 11 incompletions and was sacked 3 times. In a way, it’s amazing the Bears scored 14 points. They made those RZ trips count.

Brandon Graham had a sack and continued  his strong season. Josh Sweat got a sack, but that was a gift from Fletcher Cox and Derek Barnett, who both played really well. The young DTs had some good moments. New DE Genard Avery played as a stand-up rusher. He made a couple of plays, including getting half of a sack.

The offense was all about the RBs and Zach Ertz. Jordan Howard was 19-82-1 on the ground against his former team. Miles Sanders was 10-42 as a runner and 3-31 as a receiver. He had a huge catch and run late in the game to convert on a key third down. Sanders speed and pass-catching ability has made him an important weapon for the offense.

Ertz had a great game, going 9-103-1. He seemed to catch everything that came his way. He was a weapon on third down, fourth down and in the RZ.

The biggest disappointment was Alshon Jeffery. He was targeted 8 times, but only caught 4 passes. There were multiple drops and they came in important situations. Jeffery isn’t expected to be perfect, but that isn’t good enough. He must play better. AJ did make a catch on third down on the final drive. Maybe that will help him going into the next game.

DeSean Jackson played early, but then left. He went into the locker room for a bit. DeSean came back out and rode the exercise bike, but never got back on the field. He will be tested on Monday morning to see if anything new happened or what is going on.

Andre Dillard started at LT and seemed to play pretty well. Leonard Floyd beat him for a sack. I didn’t see Khalil Mack get the best of him.

Doug Pederson put together a strong gameplan to deal with the Bears pass rush. The Eagles ran the ball and threw a lot to the TEs. They used screens effectively. They moved Carson Wentz to the outside on some throws.

The Eagles won a tough game. They won an important game. They could have played better to be sure, but a lot more went right than went wrong.

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One Comment on “Bearing Down”

  1. 1 The Linc - Andre Dillard survives the Khalil Mack test - Philly's Top Five said at 7:00 AM on November 4th, 2019:

    […] Bearing Down – Iggles BlitzThe biggest disappointment was Alshon Jeffery. He was targeted 8 times, but only caught 4 passes. There were multiple drops and they came in important situations. Jeffery isn’t expected to be perfect, but that isn’t good enough. He must play better. AJ did make a catch on third down on the final drive. Maybe that will help him going into the next game. DeSean Jackson played early, but then left. He went into the locker room for a bit. DeSean came back out and rode the exercise bike, but never got back on the field. He will be tested on Monday morning to see if anything new happened or what is going on. […]