Game Review – Saints 20, Eagles 10

Let’s start with the obvious…the Eagles played their worst game of the year. They had a very winnable game that would have given them the freedom to rest players in Week 18. Unfortunately, the Eagles played poorly and lost.

The biggest reason for the loss is the play of Gardner Minshew. He played well in Dallas so expectations were high on Sunday. Based on the way he played, Minshew might have been high himself. That was a stinker and it hurt the Eagles present and his future. Now the Eagles are in a must-win situation against the Giants. No relaxing or resting players. Win and you get it all (division title, #1 seed). Lose and you are a wild card team and the #5 seed.

Minshew hoped to land a starting job in 2023, or at least a chance to compete for one. I think that is gone now. Not only did he play poorly, he showed serious limitations. You aren’t getting an athletic guy who can make plays. You aren’t getting a veteran QB with great poise and pocket presence. You aren’t getting a QB with a strong arm who can drive the ball downfield and really stretch a defense.

Minshew is a game-manager type who needs a good supporting cast around him. He doesn’t handle pressure as well as you’d like, in terms of pass rush or critical game situations. Minshew is a solid backup, but the idea of a team seeing him as “the starter” just isn’t going to happen. Heck, that performance made me wonder if the Eagles would want him to be their backup in the future.

The loss wasn’t entirely on him. Minshew didn’t get the kind of support a backup QB needs. The OL was sloppier than usual. The coaches leaned more on Minshew than they should have, hoping to run after building a lead. The best running play of the day was a 28-yard TD and it was negated by a bad holding call.

The defense was up and down. They only allowed 13 points. They had 7 sacks and a takeaway. That sounds good, but it needs context. The defense gave up 13 points in the first half. They struggled to get stops. The offense spent most of the game down by two possessions. That puts a lot of pressure on you when the backup QB is in the game. You feel like you’ve got to be perfect and to make plays. That’s when sloppiness can set in.

The Eagles have played good complementary football all year. They sure didn’t do that on Sunday and it cost them.

COACHING

Nick Sirianni said he didn’t sense anything was wrong with the team before the game. He figured out pretty quickly that they didn’t have their A-game. Unfortunately, he and the staff didn’t adjust as quickly as they needed. The biggest strategic decision was going for it on 4^th and 1 xxx. Sirianni did that, as he should have. They ran a QB sneak and it got stuffed. Give the Saints credit for a wrinkle. They had their LBs push the DL from behind instead of jumping over the top. Still, that should have been converted.

Sirianni accepted a penalty that turned 3^rd and 6 into 2^nd and 11. He was hoping the defense would come up with a stop to force 3^rd and long. Instead, the Saints ran for 8 yards on 2^nd down and then converted on 3^rd down. There wasn’t a clearly right or wrong decision, but I was in favor of declining the penalty. 3^rd and 6 favors the defense. Don’t give them the extra down.

The offensive staff did not have a good day. No matter what they called, it wasn’t working. I have no idea why the coaches were so reluctant to run the ball in the 1st half. I understand you throw to score and then run later. That’s smart football. But throwing wasn’t working. When that happens, feed your RBs. I’m surprised the Eagles didn’t mix in a trick play. If you’re trying to jump start the offense, that can be a smart way to go.

Jonathan Gannon and the defense had a good overall game. The problem was their performance in the 1st half. They only gave up one TD, but the Saints crossed midfield on every drive. The Eagles didn’t force a single 3 & out when the offense desperately needed help. It is also troubling that Andy Dalton finished the game 18 for 22 and Teysom Hill was 2 for 2. When a team completes 83 percent of their passes against you, there is a problem with the defense. The Saints didn’t have an incompletion until the final minutes of the 1st half. Not good.

The final numbers are fine, but the defense let the Saints take control of the game and build a solid lead. They shut the Saints out in the 2nd half, but that doesn’t undo the damage of the 1st half. I also need to point out that the defense took over when the starting RT got hurt. If he stays in the game, who knows what happens.

OFFENSE

313 yards

3 of 12 on 3rd downs

0 of 2 on 4th downs

0 of 0 in the red zone…not a single play in the RZ

4 plays of 20 or more yards

Field position was an issue for the Eagles.

#Saints Punter Blake Gillikin played a huge role in their upset over the #Eagles yesterday

Forced Eagles to start drives at the 10, 14, 4, 14, and 9. Only 1 punt was returnable. Final punt ensure game-sealing pick 6 was returned for a TD

Great case for NFC STPoW

— Puntalytics (@ThePuntRunts) January 2, 2023

QB

Gardner Minshew made his second start of the season. I wish he hadn’t. Rough, rough day. His numbers look okay, but they are misleading. He was 18-32-274, with a TD and an INT.

The tape showed a QB who didn’t read the field well, who made bad decisions and who made some bad throws. The low point of the game was Minshew’s pick-six. He didn’t read the defense correctly and threw a gimme to the CB, who then had a short run to the end zone. The coaches have tried to take blame for the play, but that’s on Minshew. Making matters worse, a few plays earlier, Lattimore jumped a pass to Quez and almost picked it off. Minshew’s radar should have been telling him to be careful when going to that side. Alas, it did not.

Here is a long article for those who want more details on his bad day.

This isn't the first time we've seen Gardner Minshew look jittery in the pocket. The Saints have his number.

Both Minshew and the Eagles offense have to make some adjustments if they plan on sending him out against the Giants. Let's dive into it ⤵️⤵️⤵️https://t.co/TD5WCW64Gr

— Laurie Fitzpatrick (@LaurieFitzptrck) January 4, 2023

RB

Miles Sanders had just 12 carries for 61 yards. He ran the ball well. The coaches simply didn’t use him enough. He came close to breaking a pair of runs for big gains, but DBs made good tackles. Sanders missed a block on the opening play and LB got the sack. He’s improved his blocking, but not on that play.

Kenny Gainwell had the 28-yard TD run that was wiped out. That was an impressive run and would have made the score 13-7. Who knows what might have happened after that. Two series later the Eagles scored a TD. If they had gotten a 14-13 lead, the Saints might have started to feel some pressure. Gainwell was 2-17 as a receiver, both coming on 3rd and long situations.

Boston Scott had 2 carries for 6 yards. He had a good block on the TD pass to AJ.

WR

DeVonta Smith had another outstanding game, going 9-115. He had to make a couple of tough catches. 57 of his yards came after the catch, including a good screen. Smith is showing just how good he can be.

AJ Brown was 4-97. The highlight was his 78-yard catch and run for a TD. That was the only real offensive highlight of the game. Brown was also involved in the low-point of the game. Minshew tried to hit him on a slant when the Eagles were backed up. Brown could see the defense knew what was coming so he assumed Minshew saw that as well. Brown didn’t run a hard route and Marshawn Lattimore picked the pass and had a short run for the end zone.

TE

Goedert was targeted 6 times, but only caught 3 passes for 36 yards. Some of that is on the defense, some of it on Minshew. Almost made a big catch late in the half. Minshew took a chance and forced the ball his way and Goedert almost caught it. Would have put the team in FG range.

OL

The Eagles only ran for 67 yards and the QB was sacked 6 times. That’s sounds like a bad day by the OL, but that’s not the case. Run blocking was good. The coaches just didn’t stick with it enough.

The OL could have been better in pass pro, but some of those sacks are on Minshew. There were times that he held the ball too long. Throw it away if nothing is there. The OL did hurt him with penalties. There were 4 false starts. Those mistakes were tough on a team that was already struggling. Jason Kelce got a penalty for being downfield. That wiped out a 20-yard pass play. He was engaged with a defender and then got shaken loose just before the ball was thrown. Ugh.

Jack Driscoll got bull-rushed late in the half and gave up a sack. Jordan just manhandled him on that play. For the most part, Driscoll was solid.

Landon Dickerson had a pretty good game, aside from his false start.

Kelce doin' Kelce stuff pic.twitter.com/bbXqT2ob9c

— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) January 4, 2023

DEFENSE

313 yards

7 of 16 on 3rd downs

1 of 1 on 4th downs

1 of 3 in the red zone

2 plays of 20 or more yards

1 takeaway

7 sacks,  8 QB hits

9 TFLs

The Saints can be challenging with Taysom Hill and all the stuff they can do with him. The Eagles did a good job of limiting Hill. He was 14-46-1 as a runner and 2-2-24 as a passer. The Saints tried a trick play with Hill and it turned into a sack.

DL

Josh Sweat got hurt early in the game and was carted off. He came flying down the LOS and hit the fullback from the side. Sweat’s head/neck made the initial contact and he laid on the ground after the hit. He was taken to the hospital, but luckily there was no serious damage. Scary moment.

Fletcher Cox had 4 tackles, 2 QB hits and a sack. I thought he got good push on a regular basis.

Milton Williams had 3 tackles and a sack. Highlight play came when he got penetration on a goal line play and blew up the run. The sack came due to hustle. The play was a flea-flicker so there was extra time to get to the QB. MW hustled to get back there and made the play.

Javon Hargrave had 8 tackles and a sack. That is an active game for a DT. He struggled vs double teams in the run game, but was active and disruptive when he was single-blocked. He chased the ball to the sideline on multiple plays.

Jordan Davis played 18 snaps and got in on a couple of tackles. He got regular work as the backup NT.

Brandon Graham had 3 tackles, 2 sacks and 2 QB hits. Sirianni robbed him of another sack by accepting a penalty. Graham hustled to get the first sack (penetration forced Dalton to move). The other sack came when BG cleanly beat the LT. That was impressive. Failed to keep contain on one run. Every week he’s good for one play that drives me crazy. When you’re outside, keep things to your inside. Don’t get too nosy.

Linval Joseph played 21 snaps and was in on a couple of tackles. Got by the center a couple of times. No real highlights.

Ndamukong Suh was in on one tackle, but was disruptive on multiple plays. He just missed a sack on the play where Williams got to the QB.

#Eagles became the first team in NFL history to have 4 players hit double digits in the sack column with this @brandongraham55 play (#WPMOYChallenge )

Thought the coverage on the back-end was TIGHT all game; some great man coverage concepts from #FlyEaglesFly on these 2 reps pic.twitter.com/oKv8yYQ2nB

— Fran Duffy (@EaglesXOs) January 2, 2023

LB

Haason Reddick had another strong showing, with 5 tackles, 2 sacks and 2 QB hits. He played the run well. Showed off a really good spin move in his pass rush repertoire.

TJ Edwards also had a good game. He led the team with 11 tackles and added 2 TFLs. Fran has some good highlights for you.

TJ Edwards stands out against the run and the pass on a weekly basis for the #Eagles defense. Has taken a huge jump in Year 2 in this scheme – defeats blocks extremely well, sound tackler and executes their zone schemes at a high level #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/3y8Ug3sTTy

— Fran Duffy (@EaglesXOs) January 2, 2023

Kyzir White was in on 7 tackles. He made a couple of nice run stops. I thought he was solid in man coverage, but not as effective in zone. I don’t know if the coaches don’t do a good enough job or if Kyzir doesn’t get to the right spots. Always looks a bit off to me.

SAF

Reed Blankenship was in on 8 tackles. Marcus Epps had 7 solo tackles and 8 overall. The two of them did some good things in coverage. You can see that in the clips from Fran. It seemed like either Epps or Wallace should have rotated over on the deep ball where Bradberry got burned. Epps seemed to get targeted on a few pass plays. I’m not sure if that’s the Saints just throwing to the right side or intentionally going after him.

K’Vonn Wallace had a good pass breakup.

Wasn't just man coverage … look at the execution here in zone coverage as well#Eagles defense one of the top 'Quarters' teams in football. Outstanding job from a number of players here on the back end leading to sacks up front

Pressure / Coverage constantly working together! pic.twitter.com/nEHPMmluQN

— Fran Duffy (@EaglesXOs) January 2, 2023

CB

James Bradberry was in on 3 tackles. He gave up a 58-yard catch that led to a FG. The WR just outran him. Tough matchup for Bradberry.

Darius Slay didn’t play his best game. He had 5 solo tackles, but gave up 2 completions to Chris Olave.

Josiah Scott was targeted several times and gave up several completions. He did have an INT when Dalton forced a ball into coverage. Nice catch by Scott. He also had 4 tackles.

ST

Brett Kern averaged 41.8 yards per punt. He did have one go 53 yards, but not his best day.

Jake Elliott hit a 56-yard FG.

Boston Scott only had one KOR and that went for just 15 yards.

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