Game Review – PHI 29, HOU 17

The undefeated Eagles took on the one-win Texans. The world expected domination. Al Michaels wondered if the game would be over by the end of the first quarter. Vegas favored the Eagles by 13.5. Total mismatch.

But that’s why they play the games. The Eagles never had more than a seven-point lead until the fourth quarter. The Eagles ended up winning 29-17, but it was a sloppy performance. I’m sure the players and coaches were happy for the W, but not with how the team played.

First, let’s give some credit to the Texans. I always say that it isn’t just who you play, but also when and where you play them. The Eagles were on the road on a short week. More importantly, they played the Texans after a game in which Houston got physically dominated and somewhat embarrassed. I worried that might get the Texans fired up, wanting to show a national audience they were better than their record and the previous game.

Beyond getting Houston fired up, the bad loss got them to open their minds. QB Davis Mills had 7 runs in 9 games. He decided to use his legs more and ran 3 times against the Eagles. He scrambled and threw several other times. Houston was one of the least blitzing teams in the league, but Lovie Smith had his defense blitz on a regular basis against the Eagles.

The Texans did what they could, but the Eagles were the better team. They won the third down battle, were better in the red zone and were plus one in takeaways. Give the Eagles credit for not being at their best, but still making key plays and winning the game by 12 points.

COACHING

Nick Sirianni had one key strategic decision. His team had just scored to make it 27-17 in the early fourth quarter. Houston was offside on the extra point. Sirianni took the penalty and had the ball moved to the one-yard line. He decided to go for two. The play worked and that put the Eagles up 29-17, meaning Houston now needed two TDs to beat them. An 11-point lead would have meant a TD, 2-pt conversion and FG could tie. Sirianni took a small risk by going for two, but it was important. That put a lot more pressure on Houston.

He did challenge one play and got the call reversed.

I was a bit surprised by the Eagles gameplan. They were very balanced. I thought going up against the worst run defense in the league on a short week would call for a run-heavy attack. The coaches saw something they liked in regard to the passing game and attacked through the air.

Jonathan Gannon was more passive than I would have preferred. Houston is a running team, but the Eagles still played two high safeties on a regular basis. I get that on third downs, but not early down situations. Load the box. Play bullyball and make them beat you through the air. The Eagles plan worked (limiting points and coming up with takeaways), but it just feels like there are times to be more aggressive and develop a bit of a killer instinct.

OFFENSE

360 yards
5 of 10 on 3rd downs
2 of 2 on 4th downs
4 of 4 in the red zone
5 plays of 20 or more yards

Field position was an issue. The Eagles only had one drive start beyond their 25 (after an INT). They had to go the long field a lot. Two of the drives started at or inside the 10-yard line.

The Eagles now have consecutive games with improved 2nd half scoring. They had 14 points vs PIT and 15 vs HOU. That’s a good sign.

QB

Jalen Hurts had a good game. He was 21-27-243 with 2 TDs for a rating of 128.9. On non-kneeldowns, he was 7-25 as a runner. Hurts had to deal with more pressure  than usual. Part of that was the blitzing, but also having to deal with the best performance by DE Jerry Hughes in a long time. He had 2 sacks and 2 hits and was regularly disruptive. Hurts used his legs to buy time when needed.

One of his best throws came on the opening drive.

.@Eagles @JalenHurts the growth & development is real This opening drive 3-6 throw to @Mronesx_ is a clear example. #FlyEaglesFly #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/0OLlauNx3J

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) November 4, 2022

In the below clip you can see Hurts performance against pressure. He really has made great strides this year.

Jalen Hurts handling pressure w/ his arm was always an area that needed growth. Even @theqbschool said it – not sure we've ever seen him hit a hot before

I was blown away w/ some of the throws last night vs blitzers bearing down

This is the next phase of his QB development pic.twitter.com/VRMIsCPVlD

— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) November 4, 2022

A lot of the Eagles success on third downs is due to Hurts. He made good decisions and good throws. The TDs were a lot easier than last week. AJ came wide open for his and Hurts hit him. Goedert came free on a short play near the goal line and Hurts got him the ball.

Sneaks were once again a key tactic. The Eagles lined up for a sneak and then Hurts went off tackle to the left. They are giving teams more and more to look at. They used a QB sneak on fourth down late in the game. They also used a sneak for the 2-point conversion. All of them worked. The Eagles mixed things up so they all looked a bit different.

Hurts did have two fumbles, losing one. That was his first lost fumble of the year.

RB

Miles Sanders was 21-93. I thought this was his best game, in terms of making reads and running tough. Sanders used his speed to get upfield and then finished off his runs by being physical.

Miles Sanders just bullied the rookie #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/cTqaB2SnJK

— JAKIB Sports (@JAKIBSports) November 4, 2022

That is beautiful.

There was a good play when he didn’t have the ball. Hurts took off running and had a defender chasing him. Sanders ran that way and got in the way so the guy couldn’t hit Hurts. Sanders made sure to pull up so it wasn’t a blind side block and penalty. All you have to do is get in the way. Smart, and good to protect the QB.

Kenny Gainwell had a solid showing, going 4-22 on the ground and 3-16 in the air. He ran for a short TD and had to fight to get into the end zone.

WR

AJ Brown led the way with 4-59-1. He had a 31-yard catch and run. A defender tripped him or that might have been a long TD. He did catch a 17-yard TD pass. The call worked perfectly and Brown was wide open going across the field. You love it when the design works perfectly.

DeVonta Smith had a quiet game, going 2-22. He was open early in the game for what could have been a long TD, but Hurts didn’t go his way. Smith was open for another possible TD, but pressure didn’t give Hurts time to see him.

Quez Watkins was 2-25. He had the 23-yard catch and run on the opening drive. After that, he caught a screen. Quez took that wide. Looked like he should have gone to the inside.

Zach Pascal was 1-8. He caught a quick screen and did go inside for a solid gain.

TE

Dallas Goedert had a great game. He was targeted 9 times and went 8-100-1. There were some key catches. He had a 16-yard grab that put the Eagles inside the 5 and set up their first TD. That came on third down. He had a 15-yard catch on the next TD drive. Goedert caught a 21-yard pass late in the half that put the team in FG range.

He really came up big after Houston hit a FG to make the game 21-17. It was the late third quarter and the Eagles needed to go score and take control of the game. Goedert caught 5 passes, including the TD.

Dallas Goedert had his fourth 100-yard performance last week against Houston. He's such a weapon in the passing game for this #Eagles offense with his ability to defeat both man and zone coverage #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/bIALzi7u67

— Fran Duffy (@EaglesXOs) November 7, 2022

Jack Stoll was 1-13. He’s getting more involved in the passing game.

OL

Not the best game for the Eagles OL. Hurts was sacked 4 times. Houston was credited with 5 QB hits. There were also some near misses. Part of this is on the short week. Part is on Houston blitzing more than expected. Part is on the OL just not blocking as well as they normally do.

Both Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson struggled with Jerry Hughes. He is quick off the ball and gets very low. That made it especially tough on Mailata. There was a series where Mailata gave up 2 sacks. Sirianni said after the game those were his fault, not Jordan’s. It felt like some of that was the coach defending his player.

Jason Kelce had the OL highlight, hustling upfield on a run and recovering a Hurts fumble.

The run blocking was good. Sanders had some good holes to run through and took advantage of them.

DEFENSE

303 yards
2 of 9 on 3rd downs
0 of 0 on 4th downs
2 of 4 in the red zone
4 plays of 20 or more yards
2 takeaways
3 sacks, 4 QB hits

The defense did give up 168 yards rushing. Dameon Pierce ran for 139 yards and averaged 5.1 ypc. His long run went for 36 yards.

The Eagles allowed the two longest plays in the game (36 yd run, 34 yd pass). For a defense focused on stopping big plays and facing a bad offense, that’s not good.

QB Davis Mills was 8-9-90 with 2 TDs in the first half. The Eagles clamped down after halftime, holding him to 5-13-64 with 2 INTs.

DL

Javon Hargrave was outstanding. He led the team with 7 tackles and had 3 sacks. He had some big QB hits. Hargrave gave the C and LG fits, using a variety of moves to beat them. He was very disruptive in the 2nd half.

One thing that always stands out to me about Javon Hargrave? His *plan* as a pass rusher!

Sets up his moves so well and mixes up his get-off. Doesn't just win with his first step … but his second step as well!

Watch @Jay_MostWanted go to work and enjoy! #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/D0v15cBVrk

— Fran Duffy (@EaglesXOs) November 7, 2022

Josh Sweat played well. He had 5 tackles and a TFL. He used inside moves and his length to be disruptive on multiple run plays. He got good pressure on a red zone pass play and the ball was off-target.

Fletcher Cox and Marlon Tuipulotu had quiet games. Tui got some looks at NT and didn’t stand out.

Marvin Wilson played 19 snaps in his season debut. He got NT snaps. I thought he played pretty well. He was in on 4 tackles. He got some push on pass plays. He played hard, really chasing the ball.

Brandon Graham had a weird game. He was completely fooled on a bootleg, not even glancing at the QB. Ugh. He had a free run at the QB in the 2nd half and whiffed, but that play resulted in an INT so that was actually a lucky break. He did have a TFL on a run play.

Robert Quinn didn’t play much at all. He set the edge on a play where the Eagles held Pierce to no gain. Quinn just missed a sack when Mills was out of the pocket.

LB

Haason Reddick only had 2 tackles, but he did have some notable plays. He dropped into coverage on the TE in the red zone and made a really impressive pass break-up. He reached and deflected the ball without drawing a flag. Reddick had a TFL on a run play. Just fired upfield and blew the thing up. He also had a big hit on Mills.

TJ Edwards had 7 tackles and a TFL. Fran has his highlights below.

Love watching TJ Edwards play football

Excels at playing through contact in all areas. Watch how well he defeats these blocks. And every game he shows up in coverage! #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/WzI2DYdPuX

— Fran Duffy (@EaglesXOs) November 7, 2022

Kyzir White had 7 tackles. He blew up a TE screen by reading the play and staying with the TE. Mills had to throw the ball into the ground. White had good coverage in the end zone and Mills had to throw that ball off-target. White blew up a run with penetration. He was called for PI on a 2nd half drive. Legit call.

SAF

Stop me if you’ve heard this before. CJ Gardner-Johnson had a crucial INT. Mills put a ball over the middle and CGJ made a diving pick and then got it down to the 17-yard line to set up a short TD drive. Huge moment in the game. He had 3 tackles. He tried to hit Pierce once without really giving it his all. That didn’t go well.

Marcus Epps played his worst game of the year. That stat sheet shows 5 total tackles, but he made more mistakes than plays. Ugh. He was still-armed by a TE after a catch and gave up extra yards. He whiffed on Pierce’s long run. Epps was in position, but missed badly. He missed other tackles. He didn’t always take good angles to the ball. And he gave up a TD in coverage. There was a push-off, but it looked like he had enough time to recover and just got there late.

CB

James Bradberry had an up and down game. He was beaten by Phillip Dorsett for a 34-yard gain on the opening drive. He gave up a couple of shorter completions as well. Bradberry picked off a pass inside the 5-yard line to end a potential scoring drive.

Darius Slay had 4 tackles, including a good tackle on a screen.

ST

Jake Elliott hit all his XPs, but missed a 54-yard FG at the end of the half.

Arryn Siposs averaged 49.7 per punt. No touchbacks. His gross average was 50.3 so that tells you there was outstanding coverage. Good game for the punting unit. Zech McPhearson was the standout in coverage.

Britain Covey had a long PR of 8 yards and a long KOR of 16 yards.

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