Gameday – PHI at DET

The Eagles and the Lions do not have much of a rivalry, but they have played some interesting games over the years. For teams that don’t seem to play that often, they tend to make the most of the opportunities when they come along.

The headliner of course is the 1995 Wild Card game, with the Eagles winning 58-37. And the Eagles could have scored 70 that day if they wanted. They went ultra conservative in the fourth quarter. Back in 2007 a pedestrian Eagles team beat Detroit 56-21. WR Kevin Curtis played the game of his life while wearing arguably the worst uniform in NFL history.

The most recent game was a 27-24 loss to the Lions. The Eagles gave up a KOR and that proved to be the difference. There were some other weird moments in that game, most notably this with Miles Sanders.

https://twitter.com/goeckelespn/status/1175837887453114368

Somehow, the officials missed that.

There was a game back in 2016 that had some of the worst officiating we’ve ever seen. There were a couple of penalty calls that literally made no sense. The Lions sealed that win with a late Darius Slay INT.

There was a game back in 1996 where the Eagles won and held Barry Sanders to 49 yards on 16 carries. That was a huge day for WR Chris T. Jones.

Michael Vick helped the Eagles put up a 35-17 lead in a game in Detroit back in 2010. The Lions scored a pair of TDs in the final four minutes to make it 35-32 and scare the heck out of me. Vick played well enough in that game to be named the starter for the rest of the season.

Lots of weird moments.

Today we have the 2-5 Eagles at the 0-7 Lions. That would seem to be begging for some more weird moments.

This is an important game for the Eagles. I’m not so much talking about staying alive as I am the need to get a win. Nick Sirianni talked to his team about the flower theory this past week. The players have been told success will come. But players tend to be human beings and they need validation. A win here would get the team to 3-5 and Sirianni could point to the W as a sign that things are headed in the right direction.

A loss? Yikes. That would be ugly. Long term, that might be the best thing for the Eagles. Maybe a loss to 0-7 Detroit would actually make Jeff Lurie question Howie Roseman. I’m sure Howie would spin it as best he could, like the time my mom found my porn stash and I had to explain that. I found it in the woods and was going to throw it away, but just didn’t have a chance to yet. You know how jam-packed a kid’s schedule can be.

“Well you see, Jeffrey, I’ve been too busy to find us any good linebackers.”

This game is a good opportunity for Jalen Hurts. The Lions secondary is missing starters and hasn’t played well all year. Opposing QBs have a rating of 114.5 against them. That is…bad.

Hurts should have a chance to show he can sit in the pocket and get the ball to his wideouts. And they should be open. If Hurts can’t consistently work the intermediate game today, that won’t be a good sign.

It will be interesting to see how Sirianni wants to attack. Quick screens? Deep balls? Lots of play-action? I just hope he doesn’t RPO us to death.

Roster Moves: Eagles have activated S K’Von Wallace from Reserve/Injured and placed RB Miles Sanders on Reserve/Injured.

The team has also elevated RB Jordan Howard and TE Richard Rodgers from the practice squad to the active roster for #PHIvsDET. pic.twitter.com/kzZoFRP8C7

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 30, 2021

We’ll see the 2021 debut of Jordan Howard today. I would think Kenny Gainwell would get most of the RB snaps, but it is possible the coaches prefer him situationally and will mix in Howard more than expected. I don’t care who runs it, as long as the Eagles actually do run the ball.

I don’t know what to expect from the Eagles defense. Jonathan Gannon let a QB slice and dice his defense last week. He’s talked about changing things up. Today he’ll be facing Jared Goff, who hasn’t exactly looked great in Detroit. Goff has 8 TDs and 6 INTs this year. If the Eagles can’t slow down Goff and the Lions offense…I might have to go in search of that lost porn stash because I’ll sure as heck need something to cheer me up.

The Lions were very aggressive on STs last week. They had an onside kick and two fake punts. That’s crazy! That shows you how desperate Dan Campbell is go get a win for his guys. The Lions play hard. They compete. They just aren’t good right now. Campbell will do anything and everything to get a win for his guys.

I hate playing 0-7 teams. All the pressure is on the Eagles. If you lose, that’s embarrassing. If you win a close game, that’s embarrassing. If you win easily, that’s what you were supposed to do. The Lions can do anything they want. Being winless gives you a lot of freedom.

I hope for Sirianni’s sake, his team plays well today and gets the W. Nick looks worn down by all the losing. Give the man a win and let him feel good for at least an hour before we get back to ripping him.

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