Game Review – PHI 29, JAX 21

The Eagles faced their toughest opponent on Sunday. The Jaguars came in at 2-1 and were highly rated by everybody, on offense and defense. Facing them wasn’t going to be easy. Then you add in rain, wind and injuries. Tough day.

Late in the first quarter the Eagles found themselves down 14-0. The tough day just got even tougher.

The Eagles didn’t flinch. There weren’t any pep talks. No “come to Jesus” moments, as Jalen Hurts put it. The team just kept grinding and slowly took control of the game, going on a 29-0 run. Not too shabby.

This game was won in the trenches. The Eagles were facing the #1 run defense in the league. Jacksonville hadn’t allowed more than 85 yards in a game prior to playing the Eagles. Jason Kelce and the rest of the OL were great. They paved the way for the Eagles to run for 210 yards. And this wasn’t due to trick plays or a bunch of Hurts scrambles. Eagles RBs ran 34 times for 172 yards and 3 TDs. Miles Sanders led the way, going 27-134-2.

The DL held the Jags to just 71 yards on the ground, their lowest total of the year. The DL sacked Trevor Lawrence 3 times, forced 3 fumbles and recovered 4. Haason Reddick was the star of the day, but the whole group did their part in controlling the line of scrimmage.

This game showed how much the Eagles have grown since last year. When facing a good team, you have to make plays and the Eagles did just that. Reddick’s two strip sacks were huge, the second one sealing the game. AJ Brown made big catches to keep drives alive. James Bradberry had a huge pick that ended a Jacksonville drive in the red zone.

When you make plays and avoid mistakes, good things are going to happen. The Eagles didn’t have any fumbles, despite tough conditions. The Jags fumbled the ball five times and lost four of them. Nick Sirianni and his staff preach ball security. That message paid off.

The Eagles are 4-0 and undefeated. They had to deal with a lot of issues, but overcame them all. That tells you this is a good team. A really good team.

One quick note for the future. The last time the Jags came to town (2014), the Eagles fell behind 17-0 before rallying to win. This time it was 14-0. In case I have too many PBRs and forget, someone warn the 2026 Eagles when they host the Jags. Try not to fall behind by multiple TDs.

COACHING

The Eagles big advantage coming into the game was their receivers vs the Jags secondary. That was negated by the weather. Sirianni and his coaches could have been stubborn, but then decided to lean on the run game. That was an obvious move, but coaches outsmart themselves at times. Luckily the Eagles coaches didn’t do that.

There weren’t a lot of key moments. The Eagles did go for it on 4th down five times. I was fine with all of them. The last one came at the 2:00 mark in the game. The Eagles could have tried a 39-yard FG, but Sirianni chose to go for it. This was the side where Jake Elliott had missed the extra point. And Elliott had gotten hurt as well so Sirianni decided to go for it. I also wonder if the fear of a blocked kick was an issue. The Eagles had a FG blocked in the Vikings game and have allowed pressure off the edges even since then. There was risk with the FG. The Eagles did not convert on 4th down, but it didn’t end up hurting them.

The smartest moment by Sirianni was calling timeout late in the third quarter so the team could kick a FG on the preferred side of the field. Some coaches would have held onto the timeout for fear of needing it later. Sirianni felt it was worth taking to get his team three points. Good decision.

Give the Eagles assistants a ton of credit for having backup players ready to go. The Eagles faced one of the best defenses in the league and had a backup LT for most of the game. They still gained 401 yards and scored 29 points. Backups were important on STs and D as well.

* OFFENSE *

401 yards
4 of 15 on 3rd downs
3 of 5 on 4th downs
4 of 6 in the red zone
6 plays of 20 or more yards

The Eagles had a 29-21 lead when they took over the ball with 7:19 left in the game. They went on an 11-play, 54 yard drive that ate up 5:25 in game clock. That ended in a failed 4th down attempt, but it was fun to watch them move the ball and eat up all that time. Reminded me of the long drive at the end of the Chargers game in 2017. The Eagles ate up the final 6:44 of a two-point game to close out the win. That was a true thing of beauty.

The Eagles did control the ball for 39:51 in this game. That stat can be overrated, but the ball control limited JAX to just 46 snaps.

Jags LB Devin Lloyd looked like the Def ROY after the first three weeks. The Eagles threw RPOs and misdirection plays at him and had the rookie unsure of what to do on several plays. Welcome to the NFL.

The Eagles continued to be kings of the 2nd quarter. They outscored JAX 20-0.

The Eagles did end a 2-game streak of not scoring in the 2nd half. They scored 9 points on Sunday.

For the first time all year, the Eagles benefited from good field position. Two TD drives started in JAX territory.

QB

Jalen Hurts had another good game. His stats weren’t great (16-25-204 with an INT), but this wasn’t a game where any QB was going to light it up. The INT was a bad play. Hurts forced the ball into coverage. He could have run for a short gain or thrown the ball away. Hurts didn’t let the mistake affect him beyond that. He made a couple of good throws to Brown that both moved the chains. Hurts was smart and safe in this game. He protected the ball well in the pocket and when he ran.

Hurts most impressive moments came with the Eagles down 14-0. They faced 3rd/goal from the 16-yard line. Hurts dropped back and saw the middle was wide open so he took off and ran for 13 yards. On 4th down, Hurts dropped back and didn’t see anyone open so he took off for the goal line and had to fight his way into the end zone. He took a big hit at the goal line, but was strong enough to get through it and stretch the ball for the score. Tough dude. Hurts was 16-38 on the ground, but that included a couple of QB sneaks and three kneel-downs.

RB

Miles Sanders had the best game of his career, going 27-134-2. As impressive as the numbers are, how he ran is just as important. The Eagles might have piled up rushing yards, but they didn’t come easy. Sanders had to fight for yardage on most of his runs. On several plays he got into a pile and then spun off contact and got extra yards. Sanders used cutbacks effectively a few times. His big run went for 35 yards. Sanders was 2-22 as a receiver. He caught one pass and used his speed to get wide and upfield for 16 yards. He tried a similar move on his second catch and almost broke it for a huge gain, but got tripped up. One of Sanders key moments came on a snap that Hurts wasn’t expecting. The ball was on the ground and Sanders got on it.

https://twitter.com/ThePhillyPod/status/1576974280700502016

Trey Sermon made his Eagles debut. He was 2-19 and had one impressive run for 14. That was a cutback where he showed good vision and burst.

Kenny Gainwell was 5-19-1. His highlight was a 10-yard TD run. He got great blocking and flew into the end zone.

WR

AJ. Brown had another big game, going 5-95. His long gain went for 31 yards. Brown had some good blocks on run and pass plays. Hurts tried to hit him on the final 4th down of the game. Brown probably should have made the catch, but couldn’t hold on. There was one frustrating moment. Hurts was picked off early in the game. Brown trailed the DB and never tried to tackle him. It looked bad. Brown claimed that he was going to try to knock the ball out, but never got the chance. Had the Eagles lost this game, he would be getting a ton of flak.

DeVonta had a quiet game, going 3-17. His key catch came on a 3rd down play on a TD drive in the 4th quarter. Had some good blocks.

Neither Pascal nor Watkins caught a pass.

TE

Dallas Goedert went 5-72 and had some key catches. He was very good on TE screens. He had some really good blocks. Goedert caved in Josh Allen on a Sanders TD run. He also had a key block on Gainwell’s TD run. Goedert was called for OPI on a TD pass to Brown. The timing got a bit off and Goedert made contact early even though it was not much.

Jack Stoll had some good blocks in the run game.

OL 

Sirianni said all the guys on the OL would be getting a game ball. And boy did they deserve it. What a great showing.

Lane Johnson had an outstanding game. He kept Hurts clean in the pass game and had some really good run blocks.

.@Eagles @LaneJohnson65 pitched a no hitter against the #1 pick in the #NFL draft. And #44 is going to be a really good player . But Lane looks like he wants his Belt Back for the best RT in the Biz. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/wvxQKxjwI2

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) October 3, 2022

Jason Kelce was also outstanding. He is as good as ever. Kelce had a pair of great blocks on an inside run that went for 13 yards. He had a kickout block to free Sanders for his first TD. Kelce locked onto #52 (NT) and just controlled him as Sanders flew through the hole for his 35-yard run. Stud.

Landon Dickerson had his best game of the season. He just overpowered the Jags DTs.

Landon Dickerson was dominant against the Jaguars and bullied 95. Can't say that much in the NFL, but that's what this was. pic.twitter.com/xec8hstrxn

— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) October 4, 2022

Jack Driscoll took over at LT after Jordan Mailata was injured on the INT on the first series. Driscoll hadn’t played LT in a game for the Eagles and hadn’t practiced there much due to the presence of Mailata and Andre Dillard. He had a solid showing. Driscoll wasn’t great or anything close, but he got the job done. He didn’t get beat to the inside. He forced Josh Allen to go wide and that always left Hurts room to step up or escape. Driscoll got pushed back a few times and usually was able to re-set. He did trip up Hurts on one play when he was pushed too far back. That led to a sack. Driscoll should come away from this game feeling good. He showed that he could be functional at LT. That adds to his value.

Issac Seumalo had the key block on Hurts TD run. He had a key block on another of the TD runs. He hurt his ankle in the 4th and got replaced by Sua Opeta. I thought Opeta played well and had a good block on Sanders last TD run.

* DEFENSE *

219 yards
2 of 7 on 3rd downs
0 of 1 on 4th downs
2 of 3 in the red zone
3 plays of 20 or more yards
5 takeaways

We knew Lawrence likes to get the ball out quickly. The Eagles pass rush caused him to make some bad throws. There were plays when he threw the ball harder than it needed to be on short passes or was errant with his accuracy because he hurried. The Eagles didn’t get a bunch of hits on him, but the pass rush still had an effect.

DL

Fletcher Cox had a good game. The stat sheet doesn’t show much, but he was disruptive. The highlight is when he ran over Brandon Scherff and then flattened Lawrence with a big hit. Cox recovered a fumble on the 4th down play where Lawrence just lost the ball. That doesn’t happen without Cox chasing him out of the pocket. Great hustle. I was impressed with Cox hustling in pursuit throughout the game.

Jordan Davis had the best game of his career.

I thought Jordan Davis had his best game as an Eagle on Sunday

Disruptive vs the pass and the run, winning early and late – and look at the motor on @jordanxdavis99! #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/I2fcUciyes

— Fran Duffy (@EaglesXOs) October 4, 2022

Josh Sweat had a tough battle with the LT, but was in on 4 tackles and played the run well. Sweat got pressure, but couldn’t beat Reddick to the QB.

LB

Haason Reddick had his best game of the year. He had 4 solo tackles, 2 sacks, 2 FF, 2 FR and a TFL. The thing that really stood out to me is that he didn’t rely just on his speed. The field was wet and slick. Reddick used power on some key plays and was able to get the best of the RT. He also used inside moves effectively. Great showing by Reddick.

Haason Reddick was a man on fire on Sunday – and it wasn't just about the sacks

Here's where @Haason7Reddick made plays as a rusher, run defender … and in reverse! #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/Mf8SagyNEq

— Fran Duffy (@EaglesXOs) October 4, 2022

TJ Edwards led the team with 6 total tackles. He got a sack when he tracked down Lawrence out in space. Edwards had some strong, physical tackles on inside runs.

Kyzir White was in on 4 tackles and broke up a pass. His range was helpful on multiple plays, both in coverage and in pursuit of the ball. He flew out wide to shut down a pass play. He also flew out wide to chase down a RB.

SAF

Marcus Epps had one tackle and one PD. He had a good blitz that helped to force an incompletion. He played deep coverage a decent amount.

Chauncey Gardner-Johnson had an up and down game. He was slow to get wide on the first TD. He whiffed on a tackle attempt. He did have tackle the WR after a gain of 45. You want to keep him out of the end zone in hopes of limiting them to a FG. JAX scored anyway, but that was good by CGJ. He did have 2 tackles.

CB

Darius Slay left the game early and was replaced by Zech McPhearson. I thought McPhearson was mostly good in coverage. The biggest compliment you can give him is that the Jags didn’t throw at him very much. They did use a double-move on him and McPhearson bit hard. The WR got by him, but the ball was incomplete.

James Bradberry had an impact play when he picked off a pass in the red zone. He was in on a couple of tackles. Bradberry got run over by the LT on a screen pass. That didn’t look like much fun.

Josiah Scott played nickelback in place of the injured Avonte Maddox. It was very up and down. The Jags went after him a lot and got some good results. The long pass play looked like Scott’s fault. He gave up a big gain to the TE on another play. Scott did have some good coverage plays. It wasn’t like he got scorched. He was in on 3 tackles and broke up a pass.

* STs *

Jake Elliott hit his only FG and was 2 of 3 on extra points. His one miss was really pushed by the wind. The ball was headed between the uprights and then a gust of wind took it for a ride. Elliott got hit on  his plant foot on one of the kicks and toughed it out for the rest of the game.

Arryn Siposs had one punt downed inside the 20 and one touchback. Michael Clay wasn’t happy with the touchback.

Britain Covey was used as the KOR and PR. He averaged 23 yards on three KORs. He had good blocking and made good reads. Covey just doesn’t have much speed in the open field.

Andre Chachere was good in kick coverage.

Jordan Davis was used as a wing on place-kicks. His blocking needs work, but his size makes him tough to get around. He took the place of Grant Calcaterra.

_