Game Review – PHI 34, NYG 29

I hoped the Eagles would flex their muscles on Sunday and beat down the lowly Giants. Didn’t happen. Not even close.

As so often happens with divisional games, the records went out the window and things went nuts. The Giants piled up 504 yards, far and away their highest total of the year. The Eagles blocked a punt, field goal and extra point, something that hadn’t been done in a game in more than 25 years. Like I said, throw out the records and let the mayhem ensue.

There must be something about the Meadowlands that makes things especially crazy. We all know about the miracles performed by Herm Edwards, Brian Westbrook and DeSean Jackson. Those are legendary. Even more miraculous might be Vince Young beating the Giants in 2011 or DeMarco Murray running for a 54-yard TD in 2015. Talk about miracles…

There is also something weird about the Eagles and Giants. You think of defenses when you think of those franchises, but there have been a lot of shootouts in NY.

2009 PHI 45, NYG 38
2010 PHI 38, NYG 31
2013 PHI 36, NYG 21
2014 PHI 34, NYG 26
2015 PHI 35, NYG 30
2017 PHI 34, NYG 29

Those scores can’t exactly make Chuck Bednarik and Sam Huff happy.

I’m not trying to excuse the Eagles poor play on defense, but let’s also keep this in perspective. Much as we may hate Eli Manning, he is a borderline Hall of Fame player. I don’t think he deserves to go in, but others do. He got hot on Sunday and the Giants offense moved the ball well. That wasn’t C.J. Beathard out there. You also have to note that the Giants scored 24 and 29 points on the Eagles. For some reason, that matchup worked well for them.

There is plenty of criticism to go around for the Eagles defense. There were problems with coverage, tackling and way too many penalties. Jim Schwartz said he felt the defense didn’t play with enough urgency until the Giants had scored their third TD and gone up 20-7.

3rd downs were a huge issue. The Giants were 7 for 11 in the 1st half. Things were better in the 2nd half, but the defense still gave up too many conversions. The Giants only punted three times in the game. They had five drives of 10 or more plays. They had seven drives of 50 or more yards.

The defense made a handful of key plays that helped them overcome the mistakes. Ronald Darby had an INT that might have been the play of the game. That completely changed the momentum and woke up the Eagles. Fletcher Cox sacked Eli on a 2-point conversion attempt. Brandon Graham disrupted a drive with a 9-yard TFL in the 4th quarter. That tackle moved them out of FG range. They got back in a couple of plays later, but the attempt was long and the Eagles were able to block it.

The big story on Sunday was the play of the offense and the STs. They carried the team to victory. The offense wasn’t great, but piled up 341 yards and 34 points. Nick Foles threw 4 TD passes. The STs prevent four points with the blocked FG and PAT, while also setting up a TD with the blocked punt. That’s an 11-point swing in three plays.

On a day when the defense struggled, it was critical for the offense and STs to make big plays.

The Eagles don’t win without them.

*****

Couple of misc. points.

The Eagles had an epidemic of going backwards in this game. Multiple players got the ball and went backward, trying to find space to run. They lost yards on every one of these plays. It was infuriating to see them do this over and over. I’m sure the coaches will point this out in the film sessions.

The Giants RT got away with some false starts in the game. He finally did one so blatantly bad at the end of the game that it drew a flag.

It almost felt as if the Giants wanted to lose this game. The 4th down throw on the next to last drive was a panic move by Eli. He wasn’t under heavy pressure and just threw the ball toward Engram. On the final drive, the Giants made a curious decision. They had the ball at their own 35 with :08 left. That’s enough time to throw a quick out and get 8 to 10 yards. That puts you near midfield and gives you a Hail Mary chance. Instead, the Giants lined up for a trick play. They had a snapper surrounded by skill players and were going to go with a series of laterals. I like the idea of removing the O-linemen for that play. Good twist. I just don’t see the need to go for a desperation play with :08 left.

Losing a close game is actually ideal. Steve Spagnuolo can show that he got the players to play hard and really compete. The players feel good about playing well. But the team still moves closer to a higher pick.

COACHING

Doug Pederson had a mixed performance on Sunday. He was aggressive with his play-calling, which was good. The players needed to know that expectations were the same, Wentz or no Wentz. He challenged a “catch” on the sideline that he shouldn’t have. It was close, but there wasn’t proof that Torrey Smith cleanly caught the ball inbounds. Pederson went for it on 4th/1, which I liked. He ran Blount up the middle, which I didn’t like. It was a long yard so I understand not going with the QB sneak, but the Giants had the line stacked and running Blount into it wasn’t a good choice. Late in the game, Pederson kicked a FG to extend the lead to 5. I thought this was smart. Going for the TD on 4th down could have sealed the game, but failing would have left the Giants only needing a FG to win.  

The offensive gameplan was a bit odd, but by design. Pederson had Foles throw a lot of passes. The Giants were 31st in run defense. With a backup at LG and a backup QB, it would have made some sense to feed the RBs. Pederson wanted to get the rust off Foles and let him work on his timing with the receivers. The Eagles only have a couple of games to get ready for the playoffs and Foles has been sitting for three months. Throwing the ball was probably a smart plan.

Jim Schwartz tried a little bit of everything and the results weren’t good. The problem wasn’t the gameplan so much as the execution. It also hurt that Patrick Robinson got hurt and the Eagles had to adjust on the fly. 

PLAYERS

Nick Foles had a good game. He was 24-38-237 with 4 TDs and no picks. No turnovers at all.

I felt better about Foles game watching it live than I did on review. The results were good, but his decision-making wasn’t ideal. There were some times when he seemed to be forcing the action. In his defense, he was a bit rusty, having not started a game in a year. Foles made the key plays, especially in the Red Zone. There is plenty of reason to be encouraged. He hung tough in the pocket. He made some really accurate throws in key situations. Foles looked natural running the offense. Timing and chemistry will get better the more he plays with these receivers.

Highlight play of the game came on the opening drive. JPP came free off the edge. As Foles put it, he “Channeled his inner Carson” and got up and under JPP. Should have been an easy sack, but instead Foles moved to his right and tried to hit Smith downfield. The throw was off-target, but the CB panicked and made early contact, drawing a PI call. From loss to big gain. Showed great patience on the first TD pass. Sat in the pocket and waited for someone to come open. That was AJ at the back of the end zone. Foles threw a perfect pass, away from the defender and where AJ could snag it.

Showed real toughness on 2nd Qtr throw. Held the ball as long as he could and hit Ertz over the middle, right as Vernon hit him. Hit Ertz for TD over the middle. Made the throw before Ertz had even finished his route. Trusted that Ertz would cross the face of the DB and be there for the TD. Hit Burton for easy TD pass. Play design was outstanding and Burton was wide open. Those throws can be tough at times because they are so easy, but Foles put it right on him. Loved the TD to Agholor. Gave his guy a chance to make a play. Again, that shows trust.

Shot 6 – Nick Foles can't run RPOs? Nick Foles can't make throws on the run? Didn't take long to squash that. Again – not saying he's Wentz – but he can make the throws needed in this offense #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/oXNWK3Ilcg

— Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) December 18, 2017

There were some not so good moments as well. Had a bad sequence to end the 1st Qtr and begin the 2nd. Held the ball a long time and was strip-sacked by Vernon. Barner recovered so it wasn’t a disaster. On the next play, a 3rd down, Foles got rid of the ball quickly. Unfortunately he made a terrible decision and threw the ball into double-coverage. Wasn’t picked off, but easily could have been a pick-six. Off-target on throw to Agholor in the early 2nd. Would have been a solid gain. Forced a pass to AJ in the end zone on play-action pass after the Darby INT. That was a risky throw. Not a good decision. Had Agholor open for TD over the middle in the early 3rd, but forced the ball to Jeffery and it was incomplete. They weren’t on the same page on that play.

Struggled when he double-pumped on his throws. Only did that a couple of times, but it is something to work on. Had Ertz open on 3rd down in the late 3rd and the pass was off target. Should have been a 1st down.

There were several plays where the clock was at zero or about to hit that when the ball was snapped. There was one delay of game penalty and another situation where they had to burn a timeout. I don’t know if that was on Foles, Pederson or a combination of the two. The Eagles need to work on that.

RB

LeGarrette Blount was 7-21, all tough yards. Had a good run in the early 2nd. Went for 7 yards up the middle. Really fought for every yard. Got 3 carries at the end of the game. Didn’t have a lot of room on those and couldn’t get that final 1st down.

Jay Ajayi had a good game, going 12-49 on the ground and 2-40 as a receiver. Caught a pass on 3rd/8 in the RZ. Turned upfield and just did get the 1st down. Huge play to keep TD drive alive. Made poor block attempt on blitzer in the early 3rd. Let the rusher get to the inside and pressure Foles. If he just plays that inside-out, Foles has plenty of time. Had a great showing on 3rd Qtr drive. Ran left for 22 yards on 1st down. Almost broke that for a TD. On the next play, caught a screen and went 32 yards. Set up a TD.

Corey Clement was somewhat quiet. 4-17 as a runner, 1-1 as a receiver. Long run was for 10 yards on a toss play. I love those runs and wish the Eagles used them more often. Had a key block in pass pro on 3rd down in the 4th Qtr. Kept Foles clean and let him get good throw off.

Kenjon Barner made a couple of nice plays. Had an 18-yard run late in the 1st Qtr. Had good blocking and showed speed on the play. Ran outside left on the next play and got 3 yds on that. Made a huge play right after that when he recovered a Foles fumble.

WR

Alshon Jeffery was 4-49-1. Not gaudy numbers, but made some key catches. Had an impressive TD catch. Started to cross the field. Saw DB had good position so he pivoted and went the other way, as the play is designed. Didn’t step out of the back of the end zone. Extended for the ball, snagged it and made sure to get both feet down. Hauled in 15-yd catch over the middle to open the 3rd. Had to really extend and snatch that ball. Tough grab. A couple of plays later caught a WR screen and used good blocks to get 19 yards on the play. Good block on screen to Ajayi that was a big gainer.

Torrey Smith had a huge game a week ago, but came back to Earth. Caught 2 passes for 17 yards. Highlight was drawing a PI call on the opening drive. Had a good block on Ajayi’s long run. Caught 3rd down pass near the GL late, but was flat-footed and couldn’t fight his way into the end zone.

Nelson Agholor had a big game, going 7-59-1. Had to double-catch a 1st Qtr pass. Got hit as ball got there and it popped up, but Agholor grabbed it and held on. Good gain on WR screen. Made an impressive TD catch in the mid-3rd. CB had his back to Foles. Agholor jumped up and reached over the guy to snag the ball. Tough, athletic play. Dropped a pass in the 4th Qtr that would have gone for 15 yards. That set up a key 3rd/8. Agholor got open over the middle and made a tough grab to move the chains. Took a big hit after catching pass inside the 10-yd line late in the game. Held on.

Mack Hollins had a deep ball come his way, but the Giants had him pretty well covered and the pass was a bit off-target.

TE

Zach Ertz had a good game, going 6-56-1. Actually lost yards on second play of the game. Made me a bit nervous seeing Foles complete a pass and lose yards. Failed to catch a 3rd down pass in the early 2nd. Wasn’t a great throw, but still should have been caught. Had blocker in front and should have moved the chains. Caught pass over the middle for good gain in the early 2nd, but then went backwards a few yds looking for space. Dumb. Still a good gain, but don’t give up yds. Caught a TD in the mid-2nd. Went upfield and basically boxed out the DB, giving Foles a good target. Caught the ball and extended it over the GL for the score. Made a critical play in the 4th Qtr. Caught short pass on 3rd down. Fought through a block and turned that into a gain of 15. That got the Eagles into FG range. Key moment. Blocked well, even on runs to his side. Helped open big hole for Ajayi in the mid-3rd. Bad block on 4th/1 run by Blount.

Brent Celek had a really good block of DL on inside run by Blount. Good job on Clement’s toss play. Helped Warmack seal the DE, then released and blocked someone downfield. Blocked well throughout the game. Wasn’t targeted in the passing game.

Trey Burton played well. 2-15-1. Caught a TD late in the half. Play worked perfectly and he was wide open. Easy pitch and catch. Burton did his part to see the route and that helped to get him open. Other catch also came in the RZ, but was a short gain.

OL

Lane Johnson kept JPP under control most of the game. JPP had 3 tackles and didn’t get any big hits on Foles. Johnson was outstanding with his pass pro. Run blocking was more up and down. Got pushed back on 4th/1 attempt. Had a weird moment on run in the early 3rd. Dragged a RB forward. Didn’t get much, but you rarely see that. Got blown up by JPP on run to his side late in the game. Ajayi lost 4 yards.

Halapoulivaati Vaitai had a pretty good game. Was beaten by Vernon in the late 1st Qtr for strip-sack. Got lucky that Barner recovered the fumble. Big V got his hands knocked down on the play. Can’t let rushers do that to him. Veteran move by Vernon. Had a great block on toss play. Pulled and hit DB. Stuck on him the whole play and gave Clement room to run. Had an outstanding block on WR screen. Flew outside and blocked CB, giving AJ lots of room. Generally good in pass pro, but Vernon did give him some problems, especially with knocking his hands down.

Jason Kelce had a great game. Got wide on run by Barner and actually blocked 2 defenders. Short gain, but good blocking. Just demolished a defender on WR screen in the 3rd. Flew upfield and put the guy on the ground, hard. Did a great job on Ajayi run in the mid-3rd. Pulled left and blocked a LB. Got past him and blocked someone else. Ajayi got 22 yds on the play. Got downfield and blocked defender on screen pass that went for 32 yds. Had a great block of Snacks Harrison on 4th Qtr run. Had to reach to get to him and then got under his pads. Gave Ajayi a path up the field for 6-yd gain. Did good work in pass pro all game long.

Shot 10 – Closing out with a handful of plays from Jason Kelce who was just RIDICULOUS in this game vs the Giants. Look at some of these blocks from this game and you can see the impact he has on the #Eagles offense. #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/sTJJ9KexSp

— Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) December 18, 2017

Stefen Wisniewski missed the game due to an ankle injury and Chance Warmack got the start. Brian Dawkins gave him a pep talk in the tunnel prior to the game and that must be what made the difference as Warmack played his best game of the year. Okay, the bar is set pretty low for that, but still. Warmack wasn’t great or anything close to that. I still can’t stand the way he uses his hands to grab on a regular basis, but he did play pretty well overall. Pulled and sealed defender with good block on run by Barner for good gain. Effective in space, but still awkward. Mainly managed to get out wide and get a hand on defender. Did help in some big gains. Pass pro was effective, but not pretty. At his best vs big guys. Warmack used his hands to get a shot and keep the rusher away. Still too grabby.

Brandon Brooks played well. Great anchor in pass pro. Most of his run blocking was good as well. Got pushed back on 4th/1 attempt. Pulled and had a good block for Ajayi late in the half. Made a great pickup of JPP on loop on key 3rd down late in the game. That gave Foles time to get the pass off and move the chains.

Isaac Seumalo came in as extra TE on 3rd/1 run in the early 3rd. Good block of Vernon gave Blount room to run.

*****

Bad performance by the D, to put it mildly.

• Giants had 504 yards
• They only punted 3 times
• Giants were 10 of 18 on 3rd down
• Giants ran 81 plays
• Eli dropped back 58 times and only got sacked once

DL

Vinny Curry had the best game of the guys up front. Used a hard inside move and drew a holding call on the LT on the opening drive. Used a spin move to beat the LT and sack Eli on 3rd down in the RZ. Was wiped out by penalty on Mills. Drove the LT back into Eli, causing an errant throw. Flew off the edge to tackle RB for short gain in the early 3rd. On the next play he drove the LT right back into Eli’s lap and forced an incompletion. Pushed the LT back to Eli a few times. Power rush was effective. Finished with 3 tackles.

Fletcher Cox wasn’t as dominant as usual. Had some strong moments, but the Giants kept  him under control for the most part. Got real good pressure on pass play where Eli rolled out wide. Cox closed in a hurry and almost forced an INT. Got a sack of Eli on the 2-point conversion attempt. Important to prevent points there.

Brandon Graham had a solid game. 4 tackles, sack, TFL. The Giants tried to block him with a TE in the late 2nd. BG just blew by the guy and sacked Eli. I don’t understand teams using a TE to block a good pass rusher. Got a hand in Eli’s face on 3rd/4 throw that ended up incomplete. Made a huge play in the 4th Qtr. The Giants were driving and down to the 33. Graham flew upfield, fighting through the RT’s “block”. Graham got the RB down for a 9-yd loss. The Giants got back into FG position, but that TFL forced it to be a long kick. That’s the FG that got blocked.

Tim Jernigan was somewhat quiet. Jumped offside on opening drive. Hustled to tackle RB on screen pass and not give up a 1st down. Blew up run play to end 3rd Qtr. Got pressure on Eli on late drive, but he was still able to get the ball off.

Derek Barnett was also quiet. Jumped offside on opening drive. Got into the backfield and tackled RB for minimal gain. Flew down the LOS to blow up a run and keep it from gaining any yardage. Didn’t get much pressure.

Chris Long used a spin move to beat the RT and hit Eli half a second after the ball was out on the 67-yd TD pass. Half a friggin second. Let Engram get by him on end around run in early 2nd.

Beau Allen stuffed a run on opening series. Stood up his blocker and moved laterally to make the tackle for minimal gain. Got in Eli’s face on pass play late in the half. Used a club move to get to the inside of the LG and pressure Eli on late drive.

Destiny Vaeao was in on one tackle. Didn’t get much pressure.

LB

Mychal Kendricks was up and down. Had 9 tackles (8 solo). Didn’t make any splash plays. Wasn’t at his best on GL runs on opening drive. Let blockers get to him a couple of yards down the field. Failed to stuff RB on run that came right at him. Still made the tackle, but gave up an extra few yards on that play. Missed tackle of RB out in space on late pass play. Let him get 1st down and out of bounds. Stuffed key run play late i the game. Wrapped up the RB and slammed him down. No gain. Did a great job on bootleg late in the game. Didn’t bite on fake and was in Eli’s face, forcing a quick throw.

Nigel Bradham had a good game. Could have been great if he had any hands. Finished with 11 tackles, TFL and 2 PDs. Broke up short pass to WR over the middle on the opening drive. Got solid shot on RB trying to catch a pass and made sure that was incomplete. Got held by LG late in the half on 3rd/2 run. Play went for 17 yds. Bradham had a chance to stuff it. Did a very good job of tackling RBs in space after catches. Got TFL on run play to end the 3rd Qtr. Made poor tackle attempt when he hit RB from the side and didn’t even try to wrap-up. Must use your arms. Made a great play late in the game…almost. Got into the passing lane when Eli tried to throw a slant and the ball came right to him. Bradham dropped it. Would have been an easy pick-six and sealed the game. Ugh. Gotta make that play.

Najee Goode played MLB. Wasn’t able to make tackle on early TD run.

S

Malcolm Jenkins was up and down. Had 7 total tackles. Knifed into the backfield to get a RB down for minimal gain. Generally tackled well on passes near him. Had to take over the slot after Robinson’s injury and had some struggles in there. Played off on 3rd/3 and gave up easy completion over the middle for 1st down. Just seemed to lose his WR on play late in the game. Shepard got 13 yards on that and put the ball inside the 10. MJ did get a TFL on the final play, putting a bow on this turd of a game.

Rodney McLeod had another up and down game. Had perfect coverage of Engram on GL pass play and Eli had to throw the ball out of bounds. Made a huge mistake in the early 2nd. WR got free on the sideline. All McLeod had to do was get him out of bounds. Move him 1 yard to the left. Failed to do that and the guy went for 67-yd TD. McLeod made contact, but not enough to move him. Ugh. On the next series, came up and put a big hit on RB on 3rd down to make sure he wasn’t going anywhere. Really floored the guy. Made a strong tackle of RB after short catch over the middle. Had chance for INT late in the half. Would have been tough catch, but did get his hands on the ball. Couldn’t make the grab. Would have prevented points. Wasn’t able to tackle King after he got loose behind Darby in the late 3rd. McLeod hustled to make the play, but got to him right by the GL. Finished with 11 tackles and 1 TFL.

Corey Graham had his best game of the year. Had 8 total tackles and did a good job with that throughout the game. Flew to the ball and put guys down forcefully. Broke up a pass in the early 2nd Qtr. Came around the receiver to knock the ball down. Came up and made a strong tackle of RB after good gain on swing pass. Kept him from getting the 1st down. Had great coverage on 4th down play late in the game. Was in perfect position. Engram initiated contact. Graham pushed his hand off. Giants saw that and wanted a flag. None came. Graham was in such good position that Eli had to throw the ball way up high. Engram had no chance.

Shot 7 – The #Eagles play a lot of zone coverage, and when they were in subpackage this week they got burned on a few plays where they were undisciplined on the back end. Everyone has to do their job on every play! pic.twitter.com/BJ2T4nrIYx

— Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) December 19, 2017

CB

Ronald Darby had a rough day. Gave up too many completions and had too many penalties. Beaten on 3rd/8 on opening drive. Darby had TE Engram covered well, but Eli made a great throw and Engram made a strong catch. Beaten on sluggo route for gain of 22. Made the play of the game in the mid-2nd. Lined up off on 3rd/10, but then jumped the route and picked off the pass and ran it back 37 yards. Had to really navigate his way through traffic. Impressive return. That play took momentum from the Giants and gave it to the Eagles. The Eagles outscored the Gmen 27-9 after that play. Got torched for 57-yd TD in the late 3rd. Got sloppy with his footwork and King got behind him. Darby couldn’t make the tackle and King went for the long TD. Played loose on 3rd/17 in the 4th and gave up 11-yd play. That put the Giants in FG range. Kick was blocked, but that was not ideal coverage on a key play. Bit on fake on late drive and drew a flag. Beaten by Lewis for gain of 25. Also drew a flag on that play. Ugh. Had excellent coverage on late play in the end zone. Went up for the ball and got his hands on it, but couldn’t make the grab. The Giants really went after him in the 2nd half and it worked well for them.

Patrick Robinson was up and down, but got hurt in the 2nd half and missed the rest of the game. Got picked on 3rd down pass play. TE hit him over the middle. Should have been easy OPI call, but no flag. Receiver was wide open and had a 67-yd TD on the play. Had excellent coverage of Engram late in the half and forced incompletion. Let WR get behind him in the late 3rd. Should have been a big gain, but the throw was a bit off and fell incomplete. Gave up completion on 3rd/2 throw for 1st down. Needed to stick tighter to the WR on the quick out. 4 tackles, 1 PD.

Jalen Mills had an up and down game. Lots of highs and lows. Broke up a downfield pass on the opening series. Was in perfect position on that play. Had a terrible holding penalty that wiped out 3rd down sack. Gave Giants 1st/GL and they scored a TD a few plays later. Gave up a TD on the 2nd series when he bit on sluggo route and left the WR wide open. Had help to the inside. Can’t bite on inside fake. Terrible decision. On the next drive, he was called for holding. Then he jumped a short route and broke up a pass. Very good break on the ball. Had perfect position on downfield throw in the early 2nd and the ball was incomplete. Wouldn’t let the WR get by or around him. Used sideline to help him. Made a quick tackle of Engram after short catch in the mid-3rd. Finished with 4 tackles.

*****

ST

KOR – Barner averaged 18.7 yds on KORs. Long went for 27 yards.

PR – No returns.

Donnie Jones – Crazy game. The stat sheet won’t show anything, but had a couple of near disasters. Caught a snap and then bobbled it before getting the punt off. Rusher was in position to block that and just missed. On his final punt of the game, kicked the ball with a weird, low angle. You feared that hitting the blockers in the back. No harm, no foul I guess, but wild day. Averaged 46.8 on his four punts.

Jake Elliott – Nailed both his FGs and all the extra points.

MISC –

Shot 2 – #Eagles came away with two other big blocks in this game. Derek Barnett and Malcolm Jenkins got the blocks, but give credit to Vinny Curry, Brandon Graham and Ronald Darby as well #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/qvgZ5D5SmS

— Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) December 19, 2017

Derek Barnett blocked the extra point on the first TD. Got skinny and was able to get between blockers and into the backfield cleanly.

The Eagles came up with a huge blocked punt late in the half. Bryan Braman occupied blockers while Kamu Grugier-Hill looped around and came unblocked up the middle. Block!!! Corey Clement recovered the ball. Set up a short TD that gave the Eagles the lead.

Najee Goode jumped offside as part of the punt return team on 4th/4. Giants got a free 1st down and scored a TD a few plays later. Disaster. Upon seeing the replay, you can see the LS move the ball before the snap. Should have been a penalty on the snapper, but the official didn’t see that. Just saw Goode.

The Eagles blocked a FG in the 4th Qtr. There was a brilliant move involved. Graham moved forward at the snap, but then immediately went backward. His blocker lunged for him and that created a crease, which Malcolm went flying through. He extended his arms and deflected the kick. Great design and execution.

Kamu Grugier-Hill made a great tackle in punt coverage late in the game.

***

GAMEBOOK

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