Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Game Review – PHI 24, BAL 19

Posted December 5th, 2024 | Comments Off on Game Review – PHI 24, BAL 19

The Eagles played their biggest game of the season last Sunday. They beat the Ravens, a possible Super Bowl team, 24-19. Beyond out-scoring them, the Eagles won the line of scrimmage and were the more physical team. That’s pretty impressive when facing the Ravens.

We thought this might be a shootout, with both teams having high-powered offenses. Instead the game was more of a defensive battle where field position played a key role. The Eagles played better defense. They also made more key plays and that proved to be the difference in the game.

Some people questioned how good the Eagles were because their schedule wasn’t full of tough teams. The Eagles can now say they beat the Packers in Brazil and the Ravens in Baltimore. Those are two of the top 10 teams in the NFL. That’s pretty impressive.

This game had a big game vibe. This is what playoff games feel like. It was great to see the Eagles handle the pressure, play well and win.

COACHING

Nick Sirianni had his team in the right mindset. They weren’t too amped up. This was business. He talked in his postgame press conference about how he told the team that fielding punts would be key in this game. That proved to be true. The Eagles downed two punts inside the 10-yard line. The defense got stops and set the offense up with good field position both times. The offense scored TDs on the ensuing drives. That’s old school football.

There weren’t a lot of key strategic decisions in the game. The Eagles went for it on a fourth down late in the game. That was the smart move. Sirianni passed on a 4th & 2 chance earlier. The Eagles had just gotten stuffed on 3rd & 1 so he decided to punt. That didn’t bother me. The Eagles fell behind 9-0 in the game, but there was no panic. They just kept grinding until they took control of the game.

Vic Fangio and his #1 defense took on the best offense in the league. Fangio put together a terrific gameplan and kept Baltimore under control all game long. The Eagles mixed up looks and packages. They blitzed a few times. The secondary covered well. Fangio had the right gameplan and his players executed it well.

The offense got off to another slow start. They started throwing to AJ in the second quarter and had success. They also mixed in RPOs and tempo. Both were successful. The Eagles went from down 9-0 to up 14-12. Kellen Moore was able to find solutions that worked. It also helped that the Eagles went 2 for 3 in the red zone. They didn’t settle for FGs.

OFFENSE

Jalen Hurts had an odd game. His stats were pedestrian, 11-19-118 with a TD. But Hurts played pretty well. He was 9-29-1 on the ground, with some key runs. He protected the ball and made good decisions in the RPO game. He did miss a couple of reads in the passing game, but Hurts made key plays and helped his team to win.

One moment I liked came when he scrambled to the sideline and threw the ball away. The play was an RPO and linemen went downfield, which drew a penalty. If Hurts just goes out of bounds, it is 2nd & 14. He threw and got the penalty. That made it 1st & 15. I don’t know if he did that intentionally. If so, smart. The Eagles ended up scoring a TD on that drive.

Hurts best throw came when he hit Dallas Goedert on a crossing route on third down. Hurts didn’t have a great angle, but made a perfect throw and hit DG in stride. DG got 9 yards on 3rd & 7. The Eagles scored a TD on the drive.

Saquon Barkley had another outstanding game. The Ravens had the best run D in the league going into the game and he still went 23-107-1. He also caught 2 passes for 10 yards. Barkley was solid in the first half. He almost broke a long run in the second half before he finally did get loose for a 25-yard TD.

Barkley gets wide and then flies downfield. He runs through one tackle attempt and works his way into the endzone. That combination of speed, burst and strength is what makes him special. Barkley had some key third down runs that moved the chains. He’s just a guy you want to feed the ball to.

Kenny Gainwell didn’t have any runs. Will Shipley was 1-4, with his touch coming on the opening drive. He and Barkley were in the game at the same time. I’m not sure why they wanted to get Shipley the ball, but it worked okay.

AJ Brown was the key receiver in this game, going 5-66. That’s almost half of Hurts completions. AJ got open a lot. If the Eagles wanted to feed him the ball all game, he could have put up big numbers. The Ravens struggled to cover him. Jahan Dotson was 1-7. Parris Campbell had one pass thrown his way. He made his impact as a blocker for Barkley. Campbell had a key block on the long TD run.

Dallas Goedert was 3-35-1. I already mentioned the key third down pass he caught. His TD was impressive as well.

I love the way he turned upfield so quickly and smoothly. Then DG kept his balance and didn’t step out of bounds. Great effort from him. Grant Calcaterra didn’t get any targets. He did play both TE and FB. He was okay as a blocker. CJ Uzomah blocked well.

The OL had a strong game. They took on a good Ravens front and won the battle. Jordan Mailata pulled and had a key block on Barkley’s TD run. He was also good in pass pro.

Guys his size just aren’t supposed to move like that.

Mekhi Becton had a solid game.

DG got hurt late and Tyler Steen came in as a 6th OL.

Really impressive showing by the guys up front.

DEFENSE

Numbers need context. The Eagles gave up 372 yards and 19 points. That isn’t something to get excited about, but if you watched the game, you saw good defense. 70 of those yards and 7 points came on the final drive when the Eagles were playing more of a prevent look. They were willing to trade yards/points for time.

The Eagles front was terrific. Jalen Carter played a great game. He had 3 TFLs, 2 QB hits and a sack. He also got doubled a lot, which created chances for other players. Carter was a disruptive force.

Jackson is the most athletic QB in the league. Carter got out wide and kept him from getting up the field. That is great speed and great hustle. What a play.

Jordan Davis didn’t fill up the stat sheet. It only shows 2 tackles. But he was very good against the run. He also pushed the pocket a couple of times.

Milton Williams and Moro Ojomo both played well. Thomas Booker also got some reps. The Eagles got held more than a few times, but weren’t getting the calls. Williams got badly held on a long scramble by Jackson on the final drive. Carter got held multiple times. Crazy that he didn’t get any calls.

Josh Sweat had 5 tackles. He had a sack wiped out by a penalty on Maddox. Sweat got pressure on multiple plays and affected Jackson on a regular basis. Sweat might have had a couple of sacks against anyone other than Jackson. Nolan Smith had a good game. He was in on 8 tackles and had a sack. I loved his hustle against the run. He crashed down hard on Henry several times and got good shots on him. Jalyx Hunt played his best game and showed promise. He had 2 tackles and half a sack. He played the run well a few times.

Zack Baun had another monster game. He had 13 tackles, a sack, a TFL and a FF. He blitzed early and forced a quick throw. He blitzed after that and sacked Jackson, pushing a FG attempt further back. BAL missed the kick. Baun was physical against Henry. The TFL was impressive.

Nakobe Dean had 10 tackles and played well. He and Baun both helped out in coverage.

CJGJ was tough and physical in this game. He was only credited with 1 tackle, but got some big shots on a few plays. He landed a big hit on Henry. CJGJ spoke to the defense after the first couple of drives to let them know they needed to get their act together. Whatever he said, it worked.

Reed Blankenship did not have a good game. He just seemed off all game long. He blew a coverage early on that led to a 40-yard pass to Flowers. Blankenship didn’t tackle well. He had a play in the third quarter where he couldn’t decide whether to hit Andrews or go for the ball. He did neither and that was a 23-yard pass play. Blankenship was burned for a TD early on, but I don’t fault him for that. Good catch by Andrews. Tristin McCollum replaced Blankenship after a concussion. McCollum played well. He had 4 tackles and broke up a 4th down pass. He almost picked that off.

Isaiah Rodgers started with Slay out. Rodgers was up and down early. He blew a coverage on the first play, but luckily Jackson didn’t see the receiver. Rodgers had a couple of good stops and finished with 4 tackles. Quinyon Mitchell broke up one pass and had one tackle, an impressive tackle of Andrews in space. He missed a couple of tackles of Henry. Overall, another good showing by him. Cooper DeJean had 5 tackles and a PD. He had the defensive play of the game.

Wow. The rookie put the legend down like he was some nobody. What a great play.

Avonte Maddox played a few snaps. He was called for holding early on. Dumb. He had safety help. There was no need to help. Nelson Agholor got behind Maddox later and almost made a big catch. Thankfully Agholor remembered who he was and dropped it.

ST

Good game by the Eagles STs. Sydney Brown and Kelee Ringo did a good job of covering punts. Ringo did have a couple of early penalties, but he overcame them. He had a FF later on a punt, but the Eagles couldn’t get to the ball. Sirianni said their tight coverage of punts affected the returners. There were 2 punts that weren’t caught. One was downed at the 5, the other at the 1. Those plays led to TDs for the Eagles.

Braden Mann was chosen as NFC STs Player of the Week for his showing. He averaged 51 yards per punt and 5 of the 6 punts were downed inside the 20. Great game.

Isaiah Rodgers flew off the edge on multiple FGs and got pressure. Justin Tucker missed 2 of them. It is possible that he was affected by Rodgers pressure.

Britain Covey did field all 4 punts that came his way. He didn’t have long returns, but kept from losing yards by letting them bounce.

Jake Elliott hit his only FG.

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