Game Review – ATL 22, PHI 21

The Eagles lost on Monday night. Some might say the Falcons won, but no. The Eagles lost that game. They made blunders throughout the game that kept the Falcons close. And then the Eagles defense put up virtually no resistance as the Falcons flew down the field for the winning TD.

Embarrassing.

I’m behind schedule again this week so I’m not going to do a normal review. I want to cover some key areas that stood out to me when I re-watched the game.

JALEN HURTS

It kills me that Hurts threw the INT to close the game because he played so well prior to that. He threw for 183 yards and a TD. He ran for 85 yards and a TD. He played smart. He was clutch. He ran the ball better in this game than in a long while. Hurts didn’t struggle without his buddy and key target, AJ Brown. Hurts bailed to the right too much in the opener. He seemed concious of that in this game and didn’t do it nearly as much. I liked the way he spread the ball around.

I thought he made a mistake on the first trip to the red zone. Hurts scrambled left on third down. He had a shot to run for the first or get very close. Instead he threw a low percentage pass that was incomplete. He should have run.

The huge mistake was forcing the ball at the end. The Eagles were 15 to 20 yards from FG range. They had a timeout. Just throw the ball away. There are times when you have to play desperate. That wasn’t one of them. Be smart. He was reckless and it ended the game.

SOFT

The Falcons were the more physical team. Watching Dallas Goedert try to block? Pitiful. Watching Darius Slay try to tackle? Pitiful. The DL got stuck on blocks over and over. I did not like the vibe I got from the Eagles at all. They were a soft, entitled team last year. I do not want to go through that again. This team better find an edge and in a hurry.

ROLE PLAYERS

Britain Covey caught a career-high 6 passes. He didn’t pile up many yards, but proved to be a valuable checkdown option.

Thomas Booker only played a handful of snaps, but made his presence felt when he was in the game. He deserves more snaps.

Nolan Smith played the run well.

FLAWED BUT GOOD

The Eagles struggled on defense in a big way. The offense was a bit erratic. The team had 9 penalties. And yet they took control of the game in the fourth quarter. The Eagles should have won this game. If Saquon Barkley catches that third down pass, game over. Eagles win.

This is a talented roster. The team isn’t playing good, clean football right now, but they’re talented enough that they should be 2-0. Instead they are only 1-1.

HERO BALL

Sometimes talented players can try to do too much. Slay gave up the winning TD because it looked like he was watching the QB and hoping to try to make a play. Quinyon Mitchell got sloppy in coverage a few times. There were several plays where defenders overran the ball. There were plays when guys shot gaps and left an area unprotected. Blockers sometimes were too aggressive and missed their targets.

Nick Sirianni needs his players to just do their jobs. Quit going for the big play or highlight moment. Don’t force that stuff.

MISSED CHANCES

The Eagles did have chances to make plays. Quinyon had a shot at an INT and just couldn’t come up with the ball. There was a fumble on the ground and Zack Baun couldn’t get to it fast enough. Barkley could have sealed the game with his catch. Jalen Carter missed a chance for a sack. The Eagles need to make plays when those opportunities are there.

PHILLY PUSH

The Eagles did a good job of using and executing the Brotherly Shove in this game. This is a good play when used correctly. Calling it on the slick field in Brazil was a mistake. Running it in Philly was very different. It also helped that the offense had time to get used to each other.

MISC

I’m skipping the coaching decisions and play-calling stuff since that has already been discussed a ton.

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