Game Review – WAS 36, PHI 33

The most frustrating game of the year. The loss to Atlanta was painful because of the dropped pass at the end, but the Eagles didn’t do anything great in that game. The Bucs game was just a bad performance. This was a game with a lot of good stuff. It looked like an easy win early on. It looked like the Eagles had the win secured multiple times.

They lost.

The injury to Jalen Hurts changed everything. Washington began loading the box and attacking up the field aggressively. The Eagles struggled to sustain drives. The coaches didn’t handle the situation well enough. Kenny Pickett was up and down, as you might expect from a backup QB. The skill players made some key mistakes. And the OL was sloppy.

The Eagles led 21-7, 27-14, 30-28 and 33-28. I thought the Eagles defense would be able to get the stop needed to secure the win since they played with the lead so much. Didn’t happen. The defense chose the wrong week to quit playing good D.

This truly was a team loss, with problems on offense, defense and special teams. What makes this game so frustrating is that there were so many chances to win the game. The DeVonta drop wasn’t the only moment that the Eagles would like to have back.

As frustrating as this game was, I don’t think it was a harbinger of things to come. Jayden Daniels did some special things. The Eagles will learn from this. The offense should be fine when Hurts returns. STs was greatly affected by the weather. They have a lot to learn from Sunday’s struggles.

If Nick Sirianni and his coaches can do a good job of identifying the problems and finding solutions for them, the Eagles should be fine.

COACHING

The biggest beef someone could have with Sirianni is the way he handled the final possession of the first half. He wanted to be aggressive, but also careful not to give the ball back to WAS with time left. In trying to work that balance, the Eagles had to settle for a long FG attempt that came up short. There is logic in what he did, but he was probably too careful and didn’t save enough time to run another play or two.

The Eagles went for it 3 times on fourth down, all with Pickett as the QB. Sirianni was more cautious with the backup QB in, but he certainly didn’t lose his nerve to take some chances.

Kellen Moore had a terrific plan early on and the Eagles scored 21 first quarter points. The offense failed to adjust enough with Hurts out. Hurts is a key part of the run game, whether as a runner or just a threat. It felt like the offens should have spread things out and let Pickett make some quick throws. They used a lot of 12 and 13 personnel and went with condensed formations. That let WAS really load the box and made things tough.

The defense started great and then faded as Daniels got red hot. My biggest issue with Fangio is that he never seemed to have an answer for Daniels. Why not have someone spy him? The players were in position to succeed most of the time, but they just couldn’t stop Daniels.

OFFENSE

Jalen Hurts got slammed into the ground early and left with a concussion. Kenny Pickett took over on the second drive and helped the team score a TD. It felt like things were going to be good at that point. Unfortunately Pickett was up and down after that series. He finished the game 14-24-143. He was only 6 of 13 in the second half. To be fair, there were a couple of bad drops in that.

Pickett showed that he’s got a solid arm. His accuracy was pretty good when he set his feet. You saw that when he threw outside to AJ and DeVonta. There was a deep crossing route to AJ that was a bit off. Pickett didn’t set his feet on that one. Pickett threw an INT, but give LB Frankie Luvu credit on that. He made a great play.

The biggest issue for Pickett was mental stuff. He was slow to make decisions on some plays. He took a big sack on a third down when he held the ball too long. He almost fumbled the ball away on another play when he tried to throw as he was going down. Just take the sack there. There was another play when the Eagles had an empty set and there was a free blitzer. Pickett didn’t account for the blitzer and got sacked. That guy came from the front side. Pickett has to see him.

I think a week of practice and preparation will make a big difference if Pickett has to start against Dallas. I do hope the coaches use his mobility better than they did last week. Pickett is mobile. Take advantage of that.

Saquon Barkley’s numbers look good – 29-150-2. The problem is that he was 7-109-2 in the first quarter. WAS shut him down after that. The blocking was a big part of that. I felt like Barkley also danced more than he should have. To be fair to him, sometimes that happened because there was a defender in the backfield and he had to. Barkley dropped a pass in the fourth quarter. His long TD run was the highlight of the game.

Joe Davis with another phenomenal call on another Saquon Barkley mega TD.

pic.twitter.com/lSUSsLOD6s

— SaquonMuse⚡️ (@MuseSaquon) December 27, 2024

Kenny Gainwell was 4-7 on the ground. He did have some good blocks in pass pro.

AJ Brown was 8-97-1. He also drew several PI calls. That yardage would put him up above 150 yards. AJ caught a 45-yard pass down the right sideline. The ball was underthrown and he made a terrific adjustment to catch it. He had a good catch and run on fourth down late in the game. DeVonta finished 6-51. Two of the catches came on fourth down. All anyone will remember is the drop at the end of the game that could have sealed the win.

The TEs weren’t targeted in the pass game. Grant Calcaterra was awful as a blocker. He was beaten for a sack. He was beaten for a TFL on a third down run. He had poor blocks all game long. If he’s not catching passes, Calcaterra just doesn’t have much value.

The OL was really good early and then very up and down. All five guys missed blocks that proved to be costly at one time or another. Sometimes it was as simple as Mekhi Bector going the wrong direction or Landon Dickerson failing to make clean contact on a blitzing LB.

DEFENSE

The DL was great against the WAS run game. Their RBs finished the game 15-32 on the ground and had a pair of fumbles. Jalen Carter had 3 tackles and a FF. Milton Williams had a TFL. The whole DL did an excellent job of both controlling the LOS and getting off blocks.

Josh Sweat got hurt and was limited in the second half. Nolan Smith played well. He had 3 tackles, a sack and also recovered a pair of fumbles. He got pressure on some other plays. Jalyx Hunt played 37 snaps. He was in on 3 tackles.

Zack Baun had another outstanding performance. He had 10 tackles, 2 TFLs and a FF.

Zack Baun is my everything pic.twitter.com/aXQUKdBSCm

— Philly Sports Sufferer (@mccrystal_alex) December 22, 2024

Baun was involved in the winning TD. He had the deep middle and carried the receiver, but then let him go, maybe a bit too early. The WR got open between the deep safeties and Daniels hit him for the TD. Ugh.

Nakobe Dean led the team with 12 tackles. He had a couple of misses against Daniels in space.

CJGJ had a tackle and an INT. That’s good. He was called for 2 unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and got ejected. That’s bad. CJGJ never laid a hand on anyone.

This… This was called an unsportsmanlike on CJGJ? Can someone explain? Wtf? pic.twitter.com/FiJkqwJ39t

— Josh Reynolds (@JoshReynolds24) December 22, 2024

He was flagged for words…for taunting. I think that is crazy based on the video. The second penalty was also taunting. We can hate those calls all night long, but after the first one, CJGJ has to shut his mouth. The officials have established they’re overzealous. You have to act accordingly. CJGJ didn’t do that and it hurt the Eagles.

Reed Blankenship had 5 tackles and an INT. My biggest complaint with him was the return after the pick. Blankenship gave up on that too early instead of using his blockers and fighting for every yard. The Eagles ended up settling for a FG after that. If he gets farther, maybe they’re able to score a TD.

The corners were up and down. Quinyon Mitchell gave up his first TD. He was playing the sticks and looking for an in-breaking route. The WR went deep and beat him for the score. He was credited with one PD. Darius Slay started off red hot. He finished the game with 7 tackles, a TFL and 3 PDs. He did give up a deep ball when WAS was backed up deep. There was a play where the Eagles had 12 guys on the field. Slay ran off to try to avoid the penalty. The DBs on the field left the WR open and he scored a TD. Sloppy job by the players and coaches.

Cooper DeJean played well. He had 4 tackles, a FF and a FR.

ST

Not the day Michael Clay wanted from his guys. It was cold and windy. That meant KOs were short all day (for both teams). The Eagles did a poor job in KO coverage. Six possessions started at least at the 35-yard line. Luke McCaffrey averaged 31 yards per KOR. Not good.

The Eagles averaged 23 yards per KOR.

Braden Mann pinned WAS deep twice with punts, putting them at the 4 and the 13. Amazingly, both drives ended in TDs.

Jake Elliott hit a 50-yard FG. Unfortunately he came up short on a 56-yard attempt.

_