Christmas Comes Early

Carson Wentz played in the biggest game of his young career. He was missing his RT. He was missing his top three receivers. His star TE got hurt and missed time during the game. It would have been easy for Wentz to be overwhelmed by the situation.

Instead, it brought out the best in him.

Wentz went 31-40 for 319 yards and a TD. He didn’t turn the ball over. Wentz ran 6 times for 22 yards. He made some great throws and smart decisions. He made the players around him better. Wentz more than lived up to the moment.

Imagine throwing for 319 yards with a pair of rookie RBs, a banged up TE and WRs named Greg Ward, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside and Robert Davis. That really is mind blowing.

Please appreciate how good Wentz is right now. He is playing like a star QB.

We have to give a lot of credit to the Eagles defense. They kept Dallas out of the end zone. That’s big time defense in a big time game.

I wondered if Dallas had things too easy last week and that would give them a false sense of security. I don’t know if that’s what happened, but it certainly is a possibility. The Cowboys did not play with a sense of urgency.

Dallas was able to run the ball with ease against the Rams. That wasn’t the case on Sunday. Jim Schwartz loaded the box and had his guys focus on stopping the run. Gang Green held Zeke to 13 carries for 47 yards. Last week Dallas had 45 rushing plays. The Eagles held them to 54 rushing yards. Slight difference.

The Dallas stars did not rise to the occasion. Dak Prescott missed on some easy throws. Multiple receivers dropped passes. Zeke wasn’t able to make plays. DeMarcus Lawrence faced a backup and wasn’t much of a factor. Jaylen Smith had a quiet game.

Compare that to the Eagles. You had a lot of guys step up and get the job done. The nondescript WR corps was 7-116 and they made some big plays. The RBs delivered as runners and receivers. Dallas Goedert might have played the best game of his career. DT Anthony Rush had some good moments in the game. Sidney Jones made the biggest play of his career when he broke up a fourth down pass in the end zone.

You could absolutely see the difference that coaches make. The Eagles were prepared, schematically and emotionally. The Eagles were the aggressor. They played to win.

I think homefield advantage can be wildly overrated, but the fans really were terrific on Sunday. That was a great atmosphere and it brought out the best in the players.

2019 has been one long, tough, frustrating season. There have been some crazy highs and lows. Maybe all that insanity made Sunday’s win all the sweeter. There aren’t many regular season wins that have made me this happy.

Christmas came early.

The work isn’t over yet. This win puts the Eagles in first place, but doesn’t give them the division. The Eagles must beat the Giants next Sunday at 4:25 p.m. to clinch the division. Or Dallas could lose to the Skins. That game is also at 4:25 so the Eagles can’t rely on the Skins to help them out.

One more big game.

The Eagles can celebrate tonight and then try to get some rest. This is a banged up football team.

It is also a first place team and one that is coming through at the right time of the season.

How bout them Eagles!!!

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