Game Review – PHI 17, IND 16

Adversity can be a good thing. When life is too easy, you can go into cruise control mode and develop some bad habits. Adversity can be a slap in the face, something to get you going. The Eagles got their first taste of adversity in the loss to Washington. Then there were injuries.

And then there were the Colts.

Indy came into the game at 4-5-1. They had played multiple QBs. The OL has been shuffled and re-shuffled all year long. RB Jonathan Taylor led the NFL in rushing in 2021. This year he’s been hurt and has missed multiple games. He didn’t have a breakout game until Week 10 against the Raiders. At times they have looked awful. On the flip side, if a couple of plays went different, they would have a winning record.

The Eagles played the good version of the Colts. I think this has more to do with Taylor getting healthy than Jeff Saturday replacing Frank Reich. Taylor gives them a run game and that opens up the passing game for Matt Ryan. The defense has played well all year. The Colts just need a functional offense and they become a tough opponent. We saw that on Sunday.

It wasn’t fun to sit through, but the Colts pushing the Eagles should help them. You need to be tested during the season to be ready for the playoffs. Things are not smooth or easy in January. When the Eagles were down 13-3 heading into the fourth quarter, I was more than a little frustrated. Imagine reaching into the fridge for the final PBR and instead seeing a White Claw. The horror, the horror. That’s how I felt.

I told Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts through the TV “Just find a way to win this game.” They listened.

The Eagles scored a TD to cut the lead to 13-10. The defense came up big on a goal line series and held Indy to a FG, making it 16-10. There was 4:37 left. Could Hurts lead the Eagles down the field for the winning TD?

Yes!

Eagles 17
Colts  16

It was a weird drive to be sure. The Eagles threw 2 passes, got a long pass interference penalty on another play and then ran the ball for the rest of the drive. I don’t think any of us expected that. Hurts won this game with his legs and brain more than his arm.

The Eagles actually scored too fast. They left 1:20 on the clock. Indy needed to drive about 40 yards to be in FG range and that’s all they needed. I was not a happy camper. The defense had played well, but I’ve watched too many late game drives work well against the Eagles to be anything but nervous. The DL pressured well and the DBs covered well. Indy had one good play, but Brandon Graham came up with a key sack and the Eagles had their comeback win.

The Super Bowl team of 2017 had some ugly wins. I think that helped them get through a tight Falcons game and then the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl itself. I recently heard a soccer coach describe this as being comfortable with being uncomfortable. You can’t panic when things go wrong.

The Eagles didn’t and found a way to win. That should serve them well going forward.

COACHING

Nick Sirianni had an odd game. He kept his team focused through a tough game and helped them to win. Sirianni had an emotional edge due to the firing of Frank Reich. This game meant a lot to him. It did not bring out the best in his game management skills.

He did challenge one play and got the call reversed. That was good.

Sirianni had the Eagles go for it on 4th/10 when they were in FG range. They were down 13-3 at the time. Kick the FG and make it a one-possession game. That was a curious choice. The final drive was odd. The long PI penalty moved the team down the field faster than expected. They were at the IND 28 with 3:38 left. At that point, you want to score, but also burn time. The Eagles did run the ball and work the clock, but it felt like they could have done better.

The most curious moment came when Sirianni tried to draw Indy offside on 4th/2. When they didn’t bite, he called timeout. I get the strategy, but it would have made a lot more sense to do that on 4th/1. The Eagles were trying to sell a QB sneak. Two yards made that seem unlikely so the Colts stayed put.

The offensive staff called an odd game. With Dallas Goedert out, I didn’t expect there to be many 3-TE sets. They got used in the 1st half and weren’t good. The RPO game was odd. Indy played it well, but there were plays where Hurts handed the ball and you wondered if he was truly reading or told to hand it off. There were some 3rd and short calls that were questionable. The Eagles got stuffed on several of those. Indy has a good run D. Running right at them when they expect it was less than ideal.

I would love to know what the thinking was on a couple of plays. Miles Sanders was blocking a DE on a deep ball. That led to a strip sack. Ugh. There was another play where the DE was unblocked and Hurts rolled out to his side. The DE disrupted the play. It looked confusing. Maybe the Colts did things the Eagles coaches weren’t expecting.

The coaches did play more 11 personnel in the 2nd half and that helped the offense. I did like the use of designed runs for Hurts. Those were very effective. And give the coaches credit for the game-winning play. That was a great call. They showed a look that was on tape and then made an adjustment where Hurts didn’t follow Kelce, but instead went up the middle. Easy TD.

Jonathan Gannon and the D got off to a shaky start. Indy ran for 49 yards on the opening drive and scored a TD. They ran for 50 yards the rest of the game and the Eagles held them to 9 more points.

Gannon mixed in his new personnel wisely and called a good game. He used blitzes, even on the final drive of the game. That surprised me.

OFFENSE

314 yards
5 of 12 on 3rd downs
1 of 2 on 4th downs
1 of 2 in the red zone
4 plays of 20 or more yards

Field position was an issue. The Eagles only had one drive start beyond their 25 in the first three quarters. They had to go the long field a lot. All three of the Eagles scoring drives started at the 40-yd line or better.

The Colts defense is good. I came away really impressed with them. They don’t have stud pass rushers, but they play the run well and can cover. Former Eagle Rodney McLeod was outstanding. I was blown away by how good he looked. He might have been the best defender on the field for either team. Playing against his former team really brought out the best in Rodney. That is the best he’s looked in a long time.

QB

Jalen Hurts did not have his best game. He was 18-25-190 with a TD. He ran well, going 16-86-1. The highlight moment for him came on 4th/2 on the last drive. Hurts had to read his blocks and then get outside and up the field for the first down. Indy’s DL was in the gap he was supposed to go to so Hurts went wide. Good read on his part and then he had the strength to make sure he got the first. The game-winning TD was so well executed that he just jogged into the end zone.

The best pass play was the TD throw to Quez. Hurts hit him on a crossing route for a 22-yard score. Quez had told him he was open when they ran that play previously. Hurts listened, saw his guy and got him the ball. Key moment in the game.

So what were the issues? Hurts didn’t look comfortable or confident at times. He was playing without Goedert, who is a key part of the offense. AJ Brown still doesn’t look 100 percent. And Indy does have a good D. At his best, Hurts is decisive and then makes accurate throws. He seemed hesitant in this game and the throws weren’t ideal.

There was a 3rd down where Hurts took a sack and that knocked team out of FG range. You simply can’t do that. There were multiple plays where he had a good pocket and seemed to bail early. I know the coaches are good with him running to see if that helps someone to come open, but this just felt different. He did not have a good pocket presence in this game. The worst part is that he did have good blocking. Weird.

My guess is that he was pressing. Last week the team lost and the offense struggled. I think Hurts wanted to make big plays and get back on track. That just wasn’t happening. The oddest moment came when Hurts ran 0ut of bounds on 4th down. He didn’t have anyone really open, but I’m surprised he didn’t take a chance.

The final drive started with an incomplete pass and then an 8-yd throw to AJ. The Eagles faced 3rd/2. Hurts dropped back and had a clean pocket. He was looking downfield and didn’t see anyone he liked. Sanders was all alone to the right and Hurts seemed to look his way, but then went back to the middle. He started to run and then looked back for Sanders, who had taken off downfield and was wide open. Hurts threw for him, but the ball was underthrown. Sanders stopped to play the ball and a LB ran into him giving the Eagles 39 yards due to PI. Huge moment. I do not know why Hurts didn’t throw to Sanders quicker. That was odd.

The Eagles ran the ball the rest of the way. Some have questioned if the Eagles coaches trusted Hurts to throw the ball. Indy had just rushed the passer hard for three downs and then run 40 yards down the field. Running at that time makes sense. Plus, you want to work the clock. If you score too quickly, Indy can have a ball-control drive. You want them to feel pressured to throw.

I do give Hurts a lot of credit for making plays with his legs. If all you can do is run, you’re in trouble. Hurts has proven he can throw and lead a good passing game. He’s smart to use whatever weapons are working that day.

RB

Miles Sanders was 13-47 on the ground. He caught one pass for one yard. The Colts kept him bottled up. He did a great job on the long PI play. Sanders was along the far sideline and stayed put initially. Then he released down the field. When he saw the ball was going to be short, he trusted his coaching and played the ball as he’d been taught to. That drew the flag. He made sure to tell Sirianni after the game “I better be on the teach tape for how I played the ball.” Sirianni loved that. It showed that coaching from the summer had paid off in a crucial moment.

Boston Scott was 3-8. Acted as a lead blocker on QB draw. Missed downfield block of DB or Hurts might have scored. Ugh. Came into the game on the final drive. Sanders had just run the deep pass play and had a couple of carries so the coaches put Scott in. That tells you how much they trust him. Had a couple of catches.

Kenny Gainwell was beaten by blitzing LB on 4th down. Totally blew up the play. Had one carry for no yards.

WR

AJ Brown still doesn’t look like himself, but he was 5-60. He had a catch and run for 29 yards. Also had a bad moment when he caught the ball in scoring territory and then had it knocked away from him. Ugh. That fumble led to a Colts FG.

DeVonta Smith played well, going 6-78. Smith ran good routes and got open. No real highlight moments. There was a 3rd down pass early that I thought he might have dropped, but the DB made a great play on the ball.

Quez Watkins was 2-31 with a TD. First catch came on 3rd down and moved the chains to keep a scoring drive alive. That came on a crossing route. His 22-yd TD also came on a crossing route.

Zach Pascal was 1-9.

TE

No Goedert meant chances for the other guys. No one really stepped up. Jack Stoll had one catch taken away by penalty. He finished 1-7. I thought he was okay running routes, but the D wasn’t worried about him at all. Solid job as a blocker. Had a good block on Sanders run in the late 3rd.

Grant Calcaterra drew a holding call that negated a 3rd down conversion. Got sloppy with his hands. No need to grab the defender. He just looks small compared to the other TEs.

Tyree Jackson made his season debut. He drew a bogus OPI call that negated a good catch and run for AJ. TV never showed the replay. Bad call. As Tyree gets into game shape, he could become important with DG out.

OL

Weird game. The Eagles ran for 141 yards, but most of that was on Hurts runs. The OL didn’t get a lot of push. Hurts was sacked 3 times, but I thought he mostly had excellent pass protection.

Jordan Mailata really did a good job in pass pro. He had a key block on Hurts 4th down run. The DE slanted to the inside and Mailata just caved him in, giving Hurts the edge.

Lane Johnson was good. He got called for holding, but that was due to Hurts going wide and Lane not knowing that.

Jason Kelce had a bad snap on 2nd/goal. Hurts got the ball, but lost several yards. Bad moment. Aside from that, Kelce was outstanding. He really blocked well on the final drive.

Landon Dickerson had some key blocks on the final drive.

Isaac Seumalo had an up and down game. Going against DT Grover Stewart was tough. He’s one of the better DTs in the league. Seumalo struggled with him at times.

DEFENSE

284 yards
5 of 15 on 3rd downs
0 of 1 on 4th downs
1 of 3 in the red zone
3 plays of 20 or more yards
1 takeaway
4 sacks, 8 QB hits
7 TFLs

Matt Ryan made a concerted effort to get the ball out quickly. The Eagles still got regular pressure on him.

DL

Javon Hargrave had another good game. He only had one tackle, but was disruptive. Drove Nelson straight back into Ryan and knocked him down, but the ball was already out.

Josh Sweat had 3 tackles and played well. He used his length and speed to chase plays from behind. Beat the RG on a pass play and got into Ryan’s face quickly. Dropped into coverage on a pass play and missed tackle of TE out in space. Used a hard inside move to beat the LT on a 3rd down and force an incompletion. Beat the LT around the edge and just missed a sack.

Linval Joseph played NT and looked right at home. Stout. Able to engage the C and hold his ground. Able to shed the C and get the RB. Got by the C in the mid-3rd and shared a sack with Suh. Finished with 4 tackles. Really helped the run defense.

Ndamukong Suh played behind Cox. Best moment came on 1st/goal late in the game. Shed the RG and got the RB for no gain. On 2nd/goal, got by the RG and forced Ryan to move and make bad throw. Had 3 tackles.

Milton Williams played his best game of the year. He moved around, playing LDT, RDT and even DE. Disruptive. Won more reps vs Quentin Nelson than I expected. Was both stout and athletic. Drew a holding call on the LT on a run play. Got a hustle sack in the mid-3rd. Had to fight to get by Nelson. Used a quick move to get into the backfield for a TFL in the early 4th. Credited with 4 tackles, a sack and 2 TFLs.

Fletcher Cox had a couple of tackles and played the run well. Blew up a run play with penetration. In the mid-3rd, drew a holding call on a run play. Quiet as a pass rusher unti Indy’s final play. Got penetration and forced Ryan to scramble and throw a checkdown.

Brandon Graham was good. Set a physical edge on run plays. Shed the TE and stuffed RB on a 4th qtr run. Almost got a sack on goal line series late. Hustled to chase Ryan from behind, but blocker got in BG’s way at the last second. Graham came up with a sack on third down on the Colts final drive. That basically sealed the game for the Eagles. Josh Sweat was the RDE for the first four plays of the drive. Sweat used his speed to get around the rookie LT. He couldn’t quite get to Ryan, but his speed was an issue. BG noticed that and decided he would try to bull rush. His thinking was that the LT would sell out to stop a speed rush. That’s what happened and BG was able to drive him right back into Matt Ryan and get the sack.

Robert Quinn looked better than I expected. He lost contain on a run to his side that went for 11 yards. Shot inside to make a play and left the outside exposed. Played on both left and right sides. Came unblocked off the edge on 3rd down, but Ryan got the ball out before Quinn could get to him. Got good pressure on another pass play, but Ryan got the ball out. Looped inside on a pass play and got pressure up the middle. No sacks, but did get some pressure.

LB

Haason Reddick 3 tackles and a critical sack. Had impact play on 3rd/goal late in the game. Used inside move to get by the LT and sacked Ryan for big loss. That took away any thought of going for it on 4th down. Kept it a one-possession game. Got good pressure off the edge. Played the run well. Hustled out wide to tackle WR on screen. One of the things I appreciate about Reddick is that he’s fast/quick and plays hard, but stays under control. He doesn’t make that stop on the screen if he’s flying off the edge wildly and running behind the QB like some edge rushers do.

TJ Edwards had another strong outing. He was in on 10 tackles and had 2 TFLs. Also recovered a fumble. The TFLs came on pass plays where Edwards made good reads and flew to the ball. He was really good in the 2nd half. Fought through blocks and got to the ball. Really hustled to get to the ball on passes that went outside. Stout vs inside runs.

Kyzir White had a solid game. He was in on 6 tackles. Lost TE on a pass play and let the TE get open behind him. Used his speed to cover a lot of ground and chase plays out wide. Tackled well.

SAF

CJ Gardner-Johnson didn’t have an INT. Cut the slacker. Did lead the team with 11 tackles. Hit slot receiver hard after a short catch. Love seeing physical tackles like that. Shot into the backfield in the mid-3rd and got a TFL. Solid in coverage.

Marcus Epps was in on 5 tackles and had a FF. He was aggressive vs the run. Stripped the ball away from Taylor in the early 4th.

Reed Blankenship played on defense. He was in for 2 snaps. K’Von Wallace only played on STs. Interesting.

CB

James Bradberry had an up and down game. He barely got a hand on Taylor on the 28-yd run. Bradberry was unblocked and right there to make the play. Combination of bad effort and bad technique. Much better effort on goal line run by Taylor. Wasn’t able to prevent the TD, but he got his hands on the RB and really tried to keep him out. Made good tackle of WR out in space on 3rd down. Held him to minimal gain. Covered well.

Darius Slay had 4 tackles. Had a couple of completions come his way. Beaten to the inside by Campbell. Just missed getting the ball on one play. Had a chance for an INT late, but the ball was thrown short.

Josiah Scott was up and down. He had 2 tackles and 2 PDs. Broke up a 3rd down pass. Acted like he would go down the field, but stayed in the flat and was there when the ball arrived. Broke up a 3rd down pass. Had to be challenged by Sirianni since the refs called it complete initially. Played the run well. Got burned on a big pass play late in the game. I’m not sure if he hesitated or was looking at the QB, but allowed WR to get behind him and wide open. That put the ball inside the 10-yd line.

ST

Jake Elliott hit his only FG of the game.

Arryn Siposs averaged 41.8 yards per punt, hardly ideal. Only had a 42-yard punt when the team was backed up deep. That gave the Colts good field position. He did put one inside the 20. No touchbacks.

Britain Covey had a long PR of 13 yards.

Boston Scott was the KOR, but they were all touchbacks.

Andre Chachere got good pressure on FG that was missed. He got good pressure on the final FG as well, but that was a short kick and was good. Don’t know for sure if he affected the miss, but great effort.

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