Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

The Day After – Eagles Own PA

Posted October 31st, 2022 | 6 Comments »

The Battle of Pennsylvania wasn’t much of a battle. The Eagles got up 7-0 early and never trailed. The Steelers did tie the game at 7-7, but it was a boat race after that. The final score was 35-13 and it was only that close because the Eagles pulled their starters with nine minutes to go.

This isn’t a fierce rivalry since the teams usually only play every four years. This meeting came about because of the move to the 17-game season. Still, with the teams being at opposite sides of the state and having such rabid fan bases, it is a bit of a rivalry.

Pittsburgh hasn’t won in Philly since 1965. They did score their first TD at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday so they do have that going for them.

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Nick Sirianni would never admit it, but I think he approached this game with the short week in mind. I’m guessing his goal was to be aggressive, build a lead and then rest his starters as much as possible. And that’s exactly what happened.

Miles Sanders only had 9 carries. He’ll be fresh on Thursday night. Jalen Hurts only had 2 carries. They limited how much he was getting hit.

Veteran OL like Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson and Isaac Seumalo only had to play 46 snaps. Normally that number would be in the 60 to 70 range. The Steelers starting OL yesterday played 76 snaps each. Essentially the Eagles veterans took off the whole fourth quarter. Taking away that wear and tear on a short week can be a big help to their bodies and keeping them fresh.

The pass rushers really got rotated. Backup LB Patrick Johnson got 26 snaps. He got to play throughout the game, not just at the end. None of the Eagles key pass rushers played more than 48 snaps.

Sunday worked out really well with a short week coming up. The Eagles coaches had a good plan and the score let them maximize time off for key veterans.

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The Eagles offense is 3rd in both points and yards.

The defense is 4th in points allowed and 3rd in yards allowed.

The team remains 2nd in DVOA.

The Eagles aren’t 7-0 by accident. This is a really good team.

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A few people asked me about next year. Will the Eagles re-sign Bradberry or CGJ? If they can’t afford both, who should they keep?

First, let’s remember to enjoy this year and not get too caught up in the future.

If those players all want big deals, the Eagles won’t be able to afford them. Bradberry will be 30 next summer, but he plays a critical position and is playing really well right now. I could see him having a good market.

CGJ might be the more important guy to sign. He’s in the prime of his career and it feels like it is harder to find safeties than corners.

We do need to see how the season plays out. We’re not even halfway through 2022 so a lot can change between now and the offseason.

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It is crazy to see how good the NFC East is now after being so bad for the past few years. What a turnaround.

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The Eagles continue to dominate the second quarter. They outscored the Steelers 14-3 as they took control of the game yesterday.

The Eagles have scored more points in the second quarter this year than the Steelers have all season. Crazy stat.

The Eagles have scored more points in the second quarter this year than the Texans have all season. Ditto.

The Eagles are really good. And they play some bad teams.

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I wrote in my gameday piece on Sunday morning that I thought the Eagles might throw more deep balls. They sure did. Here is a good breakdown of what was happening on some of those plays.

Great plan from Shane Steichen and Nick Sirianni. Great execution by the players.

*****

The Eagles pass rush is better than some people think. There isn’t one great player to focus on so that makes them less compelling. They don’t blitz much so there isn’t that narrative to focus on.

But the Eagles are second in the league in sacks per game. They are fourth in the league in QB hits per game.

Haason Reddick leads the team in sacks. Josh Sweat leads the team in QB hits.

Fletcher Cox and Javon Hargrave give the Eagles a pair of DTs that each has 3 sacks.

Brandon Graham is good coming off the bench. He’s got 3 sacks and is tied for second in QB hits.

Robert Quinn just missed a sack yesterday.

The Eagles might not be as sexy as some other defenses, but they are getting regular pressure on opposing QBs.

*****

Hurts has led the offense to 400 or more yards in 5 of 7 games.

The team has scored 24 or more points in 6 of 7 games.

You love to see that kind of consistency. Another sign of just how good a team this is.

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Happy AJ Day

Posted October 30th, 2022 | 12 Comments »

The Eagles traded for AJ Brown back in April to give them a proven star at WR. They knew DeVonta Smith had a bright future, but hoped Brown would give them that big, strong guy that you can’t shut down even when you know the ball is coming his way. Brown has been great this year, but was at his best against the Steelers.

Brown went 6-156-3, catching TDs of 39, 27 and 29 yards. He was a stud.

Wow. If you’re old enough, you flashed back to TO. Brown is that level of receiver, a guy who can make tough catches and big plays on a regular basis. The Steelers had no answer for him. He would have posted even bigger numbers if the Eagles hadn’t sat their starters for the final nine minutes. It was that kind of game.

Jalen Hurts was fantastic. He went 19-28-285 with 4 TDs and no turnovers. The other TD was a 34-yarder to Zach Pascal. Hurts took advantage of a weak secondary by throwing the ball downfield. He threw some absolute dimes.

The Eagles offense was so explosive that they scored 35 points and only ran one play in the red zone. I’ve never heard of something like that. The offensive starters were only in the game for 43 snaps. That’s almost one point per play. Again, that’s insane. I can do that on SuperTecmo Bowl, but the Eagles doing it in a real game is beyond impressive.

Wow.

The Eagles defense had 6 sacks and 2 takeaways. They allowed 300 yards, but only 4.3 yards per play. The Steelers had to try to put together long drives. They did a couple of times. The Eagles held them to 1 of 12 on third downs. PIT did go 4 for 4 on fourth downs. Their lone TD came on fourth-and-goal.

There was one bit of bad news.

Ugh.

The good news is that Davis should be back this year. The Eagles can live without him for a while, but it would be great to have him back for the final month and then the postseason.

Javon Hargrave had 2 sacks and a FF against his old team. CJ Gardner-Johnson had 7 tackles, an INT and a sack. He has proven to be the kind of playmaking safety you need to be a top flight defense (Wes Hopkins, Brian Dawkins, Malcolm Jenkins). CB James Bradberry was the standout in coverage. Rookie Kenny Pickett wanted no part of Darius Slay so he threw at Bradberry several times. That led to a couple of penalties, but that’s about it.

New DE Robert Quinn did get a QB hit and got some pressure, but didn’t make any plays.

The Eagles led 21-10 at the half. We all wondered if the team would be able to solve the lack of second half scoring. The Eagles went 75 yards in 5 plays to open the third quarter and that grew the lead to 28-10. The game was basically over at that point. The Hargrave strip sack set up the final TD drive. That one was just two plays for 54 yards. Game over.

This wasn’t a perfect performance. There was some sloppy tackling at times. The Eagles allowed PIT to convert on a fake punt and that helped lead to a FG. Hurts took a couple of bad sacks. The Eagles gave up 144 yards on the ground (58 by QB/WRs). The RBs had some good runs on draw plays.

Some people might be critical of the Eagles for not running more than 20 times in a blowout. That was by design. The Eagles saw a chance to exploit the Steelers secondary when they went with one-high safety. When PIT did give two-high looks, the Eagles ran well. Miles Sanders was 9-78-1. The Eagles ran for 111 yards in the game.

If there were any questions about the Eagles being distracted by the bye, the Phillies, Halloween, the return of the McRib, etc., the team answered them definitively. They were locked in from the start. Nick Sirianni talks about dawg mentality. Today the Eagles played like the big dogs. You see some teams play down to the competition. The Eagles knew they were the better team and played accordingly.

They now have a short week with Thursday’s game against the Texans.

The Eagles are 7-0 for the first time since 2004. You may remember TO helping that team to get to the Super Bowl. AJ Brown could help this team to do the same. This feels like a special season.

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