Day After – Running Wild

The Eagles ran for 363 yards against the Packers. That is a staggering number. You normally get excited when your team runs for 200 yards. If they go for 250…wow. Running for 363 yards is just insane.

According to noted hack Bo Wulf, that is the 8th most rushing yards in a game in the Super Bowl era. In the previous three games, the Packers gave up a total of 364 rushing yards. The Eagles had that total matched until the kneel-down at the end of the game dropped them down to 363.

Back in 2005, the Eagles didn’t hit 363 yards rushing until the first half of…Game 7! How is that for another crazy stat?

The Packers came into the game 25th in rushing yards allowed. They are now 31st. The Eagles averaged 7.4 yards per carry. That is an insane stat for a team that ran the ball 49 times. You normally have a figure like that when one long run skews the numbers.

I don’t want to harp on 363 yards too much, but I hope you appreciate what a staggering number that is.

*****

I mentioned last night that the OL had a really good game. They got movement on a regular basis. They sealed well, giving the runners defined running lanes. The OL got out in space and mashed on defenders at the second level.

TE Jack Stoll deserves praise for his performance. He blocked well. Sometimes that meant sealing the back side. Sometimes that meant sealing the front side. Other times he was on the move.

The Eagles mixed in Cam Jurgens to give a 6 OL look to the Packers. That worked well.

We also have to give credit to the receivers. AJ Brown stood out on a couple of downfield runs. You love to see star players willing to do some dirty work.

*****

No update on CJ Gardner-Johnson. Nick Sirianni, whose team ran for 363 yards on Sunday night, wouldn’t say if CGJ will go on IR or just miss a couple of games. With a rib injury, the biggest issue is usually pain. That’s not good for a safety who is supposed to be involved in a lot of collisions.

If CGJ does miss times, Reed Blankenship might prove to be a good replacement. He played very well on Sunday night, making plays as a tackler and in coverage. He read plays well and played decisive, downhill football. When he saw something, he attacked it.

Before we get too fired up about Blankenship, I must caution you that NFL history is littered with one-game wonders. I remember Artis Hicks playing LG against the Giants in 2003 and looking like a revelation. He proved to be a functional starter, but never was as good as that game. LB Ray Farmer looked like the next Seth Joyner in a win over the Giants in 1996. He never came close to that level again. Ryan Moats ran for 114 yards and 2 TDs against the Giants in 2005. Maybe there is just something about the Giants???

More recently, we saw Travis Fulgham look dominant for a month in the 2020 season. He’s basically been AWOL since then. That one still confuses me. He looked so good.

Blankenship showed the ability to be a good NFL safety. The hard part is playing like that consistently. Hopefully he can do that. Bo has some good stuff on Blankenship in the link above.

These comments from Slay are hilarious.

https://twitter.com/JeffKerrCBS/status/1597104609021263872

*****

Eagles – 500 total yards of offense
Packers – 349 total yards of offense

When you add in return yards…

Eagles – 591 yards on 83 touches
Packers – 521 yards on 54 touches

Yikes. That shows you the impact that STs can have.

Nick Sirianni has said a lot of good things about Coach Mike Clay. He wasn’t saying them on Monday. Sirianni took the blame for the failings, but you can tell he’s frustrated with STs being a problem all year.

It will be interesting to see how the Eagles address the issue.

*****

Landon Dickerson got hurt on Sunday night and was replaced by Andre Dillard. This shocked some people. Not me. The Eagles put Dillard at LG a few weeks back late in a game. They have obviously cross-trained him in practice and wanted to see how he’d do. He’s done enough to make Jeff Stoutland trust him so Dillard got the call last night.

The Eagles prefer to have eight OL in games. There are the five starters. Jurgens is the backup center and can play guard if needed. Jack Driscoll can play LT, RT or G.

When Dillard was hurt, Sua Opeta got the nod. He’s pretty much a pure OG. Dillard can play G or T so the Eagles would rather have him for gamedays. I wonder if he and Driscoll are backups by side. Dillard fills in at LG and LT while Driscoll plays RG and RT.

Opeta has proven to be a functional OL. I think the Eagles just prefer Dillard’s versatility.

*****

Miles Sanders ran for a career high 143 yards on Sunday night. That gives him 900 yards for the season, also a career high. He’s got 8 TDs, another career high. Sanders is averaging 5.1 ypc.

I’m not saying Sanders is now a great RB, but it is impressive to see how well he’s playing this year. He’s running more physically than in the past. Sanders is trusting his blocks better now, rather than bouncing plays out wide way too often. He’s done a good job of protecting the ball. He’s moving the chains well. I’m really impressed with his vision and decision-making.

Sanders is blocking better than ever and he’s got a career-high catch percentage (although with fewer targets).

He made critical plays each of the past two weeks. In Indy, he got open deep and drew a PI call that set up the winning TD. Against Green Bay he converted a third down at the end of the game to seal the win.

It feels like Sanders has bought in to what the coaches want from him. That’s helped him to play at a high level.

*****

Give the Packers some credit. They were down 13-0 and then led 14-13. They fell behind 34-20 and kicked a FG. Aaron Rodgers was hurt on that drive, but the offense didn’t give up. They scored 10 more points. The defense had no answers, but the team sure felt it had multiple chances to quit. The Eagles didn’t put them away until the last minute of the game.

_