Game Review – PHI 31, BUF 13

Huge win for the Eagles. They were coming off a 2-game losing streak and both were blowouts. There was a lot of noise around the team. The coaches and players needed a strong performance and a win to give some life to the season. That’s exactly what they got.

The offense ran for 218 yards. They converted 8 of 15 third downs. They were 3 for 4 in the Red Zone. They handled the weather well and made the most of scoring opportunities.

The defense only allowed 253 yards. They came up with a huge takeaway and some key stops. The young players stepped up.

The highlight of the game was The Drive. The Eagles got the ball in the early fourth quarter, up 24-13. The offense went on a 14-play, 83-yard drive that ate up 8:17 and resulted in a TD. That put the game away for good. There would be no Tennessee or Carolina meltdown like we had in 2018.

Beautiful.

One of the best things about this game is the way the Eagles played as a team. The defense came up with a takeaway late in the half and the offense turned that into a TD. In the 2nd half, the offense scored to put the team up 24-13. The defense came out and stopped BUF in 3 plays. They punted and Boston Scott fumbled. BUF had the ball right back. The Eagles D then stopped the Bills on 4 downs to get the ball back to the offense.

When the offense and defense work well together, you win by 18. Total team football.

COACHING

Doug Pederson had a couple of interesting decisions. Up 9-7 after scoring a TD, Pederson decided not to kick and went for 2. That worked and put the Eagles up 11-7. The Eagles scored another TD in that end zone later and Jake Elliott missed the PAT. Pederson had to adjust his play-calls to which way the Eagles offense was going. With the wind, mix in some throws. Against the wind, keep it conservative.

I thought the offensive coaches had a good gameplan. They used screens very effectively, to WRs, TEs and RBs. There were fakes off screens. They finally gave Nelson Agholor the ball on a run. They’ve been faking that for a while. They had to mix in a run. The first one worked great. Unfortunately they went back to it a couple of times and those failed. The coaches used Jordan Howard and Miles Sanders together and got a big play out of it.

Good job in getting creative and dealing with Mother Nature as well.

Jim Schwartz and his staff did a good job of getting the young DTs ready and getting the most out of the young LBs. The Eagles played a lot of different players. The defense played with a lot of energy and functioned well as a group. Very encouraging.

QB

Carson Wentz played well. He was 17-24-172 as a passer, with one TD and no picks. He made some huge plays with his legs. Wentz was 5-39 on the ground (if you take out kneel-downs). On a windy, nasty day, that was huge. You have to do anything you can to move the chains.

There were some key throws. Wentz’s TD was a nice play-call and then Wentz had to throw around a defender. After the Bills cut the lead to 17-13, Wentz hit Jeffery for a gain of 38. That throw was on the money and jump-started a TD drive. Late in the game, Wentz hit Ertz with a throw on third down that put the Eagles inside the 5-yd line. Wentz didn’t throw a lot, but he made them count.

Two of the runs came on third down on The Drive. The game was still up in the air so it was critical to move the chains. One of the plays was supposed to be a WR screen, but a defender got in the throwing lane so Wentz just took off. Smart and athletic.

There was one terrible decision. Late in the game Wentz forced a screen pass into traffic. He got lucky the pass was incomplete. There were some throws that were off-target, but it was a windy day and you don’t know how much that played a factor.

RB

Jordan Howard played his best game as an Eagle. He was 23-96 on the ground and just kept moving the chains. He took a pounding from the Buffalo defense, but kept coming back for more. He caught one pass for 15 yards. One of Howard’s highlights was blocking for Sanders on his long TD run.

Miles Sanders played his best game. He was 3-44 as a receiver and 3-74 as a runner. Talk about making your touches count! The highlight play was a 65-yard TD run in the early 3rd. The play was well-blocked and Sanders just exploded up the field. That speed was something the team lacked all year in 2018. Sanders left the game with a bum shoulder, but he’s okay now.

WR

Alshon Jeffery was 4-64. His highlight play was a double-move that turned into a 38-yd gain. The CB broke up a short play early in the game so the Eagles turned that into a double-move and it got AJ wide open.

Nelson Agholor caught a 7-yard pass on the initial third down and moved the chains. He caught 3 more passes and they led to…0 yards. Yikes. Agholor had a 16-yard run and then lost 9 yards on his next two runs. Weird game.

Mack Hollins did not catch a pass. Shocker.

TE

Zach Ertz was quiet, only going 2-20 as a receiver.

Dallas Goedert was 3-22-1 and also blocked well.

OL

Andre Dillard got another start at LT and played well. He still struggles with power rushes, but is getting better. He seems more comfortable on the field. The Eagles didn’t throw a lot so the Bills couldn’t attack Dillard as much as they might have wanted to.

Isaac Seumalo had some good blocks. He had a very good seal on Sanders long TD run. Seumalo got out on screens and did a good job. Encouraging.

Brandon Brooks had another strong game.

A lot of people talked about the OL being dominant on The Drive. Not really. A couple of long runs by Wentz were key. The line didn’t really get going until the ball was at midfield. Then they did start to get some movement.

Carson Wentz was sacked 3 times, once by a blitzing CB.

DL

Fletcher Cox had another strong game. He had 1.5 sacks and a FF. Schwartz said Cox could have had 3.5 sacks if Josh Allen wasn’t so tough to get down. Cox played the run well. He also read a screen and forced Allen to throw the ball into the ground. Cox is starting to play like the stud DT we all know and love. 

Brandon Graham played really well, at both DE and DT. He tied for the team lead with 6 tackles. He also had a sack, 2 TFLs, a FF and FR. Beyond that, Graham flew all over the field.

Derek Barnett had 0.5 sacks and a FF. He was disruptive, but left a lot of meat on the bone, as Schwartz likes to say. Barnett had chances to make more plays, but Allen escaped him a few times.

Josh Sweat was quiet. There was one play that bugged me. On third and goal, Sweat fired upfield and got behind Allen. Allen took off running. Sweat essentially took himself out of the play. You can’t go behind a running QB. Must play with better discipline.

Vinny Curry had one tackle and got pressure on a couple of plays.

Bruce Hector started and played a decent amount. He had some good moments, but didn’t make any plays.

Anthony Rush is a big man. He showed good power on some plays. Rush has potential, but must get in better shape.

Albert Huggins played hard and showed some potential. He was credited with a tackle and QB hit.

LB

Nate Gerry played his best game as an Eagle. Gerry had 6 tackles, tied for the team lead. He was credited with a sack and TFL. The Bills tried to get the ball to their RBs in the flat several times. Gerry was all over those plays. He was fast and decisive. He did have one bad play. Allen scrambled on third and goal. Gerry broke from his receiver too early and Allen was able to throw a TD pass.

Kamu Grugier-Hill is starting to come around. He played well in space, but also against inside runs. He was in on a couple of tackles.

Rookie TJ Edwards played well. Edwards got snaps at MLB and more than held his own. He was in on 4 tackles. Edwards showed good instincts. He took on blocks aggressively and played the run well. Very encouraging.

DB

Jalen Mills didn’t have a lot of throws come his way. He was in on 3 tackles.

It sure felt like the Bills went after Ronald Darby more. He made one huge play, breaking up a 4th down pass.

Rasul Douglas played some. He got away with holding/PI on one play. Still way too grabby. Douglas missed the tackle on Singletary’s TD. Bad moment.

Sidney Jones was up and down. He covered very well at times, but also had some bad plays. Beaten by Beasley on 3rd down when Jones missed with his jam.

Rodney McLeod was terrific. He had 4 solo tackles and made plays all over the field. McLeod was physical, but under control.

Malcolm Jenkins was up and down. He was in on 6 tackles, had a TFL and PD, but also made some mistakes. He slipped and left a TE wide open for a nice gain. MJ had a couple of penalties that hurt. He got faked out by Allen and let him get wide.

STs

Cameron Johnston averaged 46 yards per punt, but also had 2 touchbacks.

Elliott hit his only FG and was 2 of 3 on PATs.

Boston Scott was the PR and fumbled in the 3rd Qtr.

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