Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Better Prepared

Posted February 2nd, 2025 | Comments Off on Better Prepared

The Super Bowl is more than just a game. It is an experience. There are all the festivities that take place in the week leading up to the game. There is intense media scrutiny. The pregame festivities are one of a kind. Halftime is longer than usual.

The 2022 Eagles had some holdovers from Super Bowl LII, but the experience was a new one for many of the players and most of the coaches. Just think about Nick Sirianni crying during the anthem. The moment got to him and brought out his emotions. That didn’t cause the team to lose, but it shows you how a Super Bowl can affect those dealing with it for the first time.

Think about what AJ Brown said recently.

Sirianni isn’t new to the Super Bowl anymore. Vic Fangio has been before. This will be new to Kellen Moore. There are plenty of key players making a return trip. All of this will help the Eagles to be better prepared this time around. They know what to expect. It is one thing for a couple of people to offer advice on what to do, but it is very different when the bulk of the key people have lived it. They can explain things from the top down and make sure everyone is as ready as possible.

Beyond the pomp and circumstance of the game, the Eagles are better prepared in other ways. The 2022 team had an easy route through the playoffs. They had a bye and missed the wild card round. They blew out a mediocre Giants team 38-7 in the next round. Then the Eagles knocked Brock Purdy out of the title game and won that 31-7. Not one legitimate test. If you add in the regular season, the last good team the Eagles played was Dallas on Christmas Eve.

The Eagles played the Chiefs on Feb 12th. I think the lack of true tests hurt them. The Chiefs made the critical plays needed to win that game. The Eagles didn’t.

This year is different. The Eagles had to play three playoff games and they had challenging opponents with legit QBs. They weren’t beating Daniel Jones and Josh Johnson. This year it was Jordan Love, Matthew Stafford and Jayden Daniels. Those are very different scenarios.

Think about the challenge the offenses were for Fangio and his unit. Green Bay has one of the most creative run games in the league. Love is a mobile QB who likes to attack downfield with his strong arm. The Rams have a pocket passer who can make every throw in the book and a workhorse RB. Both teams use motion very effectively. The Commanders had a dynamic athlete at QB, a workhorse TE and ran more no-huddle than anyone else in the league.

The Chiefs have a great QB who can win with his legs or arm, a workhorse TE and some talented skill players. They also have a great coach. The Eagles got tested by the offense they faced and that should have them better prepared for Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes and the rest of the guys in red.

The Eagles offense didn’t have it easy. They faced a Packers defense that was 6th in points allowed and 5th in yards allowed. The Rams had an outstanding pass rush and their starting defense hadn’t allowed more than 9 points in a game since early December. Washington was the weakest defense, but they still had good playmakers and an aggressive scheme.

The Chiefs have one of the best defenses in the league and Steve Spagnuolo is one of the best defensive coordinators. He loves to blitz and attack. Facing those three defenses was a good way for the Eagles offense to get ready for KC.

Being better prepared doesn’t mean the Eagles will win, but it should help their chances.

*****

It feels like BG is going to be able to play next week. Things are certainly trending in the right direction.

BG could be a big help because of his ability to play on the edge or inside. And we certainly know BG can make a big play in the big game.

*****

I don’t know that “most” people have the Eagles winning, but it is great to see how good this defense is. That absolutely gives them a good chance to win next Sunday.

_

Game Review – NFC CG – PHI 55, WAS 23

Posted February 1st, 2025 | 3 Comments »

The upstart Washington Commanders were a feel good story for many. They were terrible in 2023, but a new owner, coach and slew of new players helped the team to get all the way to the NFC title game. Unfortunately they ran into the big, bad Eagles. Game over, season over.

The Eagles were the better team. They didn’t care about stories and destiny. They just went out and played good football. Nick Sirianni has preached all year about focusing on each game and tuning out any outside noise. His team certainly did that against Washington and it was great to see.

Washington oppened the game with an 18-play drive that covered 54 yards and just over seven minutes. That resulted in a FG. They converted a couple of third downs and a couple of fourth downs on that. You wondered if Daniels magic would continue to work. Then Barkley worked his magic and you could see a stark difference in the two teams. Washington has Daniels. The Eagles have the better team.

I wonder if things going so easy for the Commanders last week actually hurt them. That game was inside and against a team with a banged up defense. They also love to blitz, which Daniels just eats up. Detroit had several turnovers. Washington won 45-31 and was in control for most of the game. Things were completely different in Philly. The Eagles made big plays on offense and defense. They made Washington work for everything.

In the preview I talked about how getting stops would be critical for the Eagles defense. Washington had 11 possessions and scored 2 TDs. The Eagles forced one punt, had 3 takeaways and came up 2 fourth down stops. They also forced Washington to settle for FGs on three possessions. The Eagles did give up 350 yards, but only allowed 4.5 yards per play and they made key plays throughout the game.

The offense played one of their best games of the year. Jalen Hurts was sharp. His skill players came up big. The OL mostly controlled the LOS. The Eagles got big plays. They also went 7 for 7 in the red zone. That’s insanely good.

This game wasn’t a case of everything going right for the Eagles.  Cam Jurgens back wasn’t ideal so the team had him active, but he didn’t start. Landon Dickerson played center in the first half. Dickerson hurt his knee and was really struggling to move around. Jurgens took over in the second half and battled his way through the rest of the game. Jake Elliott missed a FG. The Eagles allowed WAS to execute a fake punt for a 23-yard gain. WAS had 4 fourth down conversions.

The Eagles didn’t panic when things went wrong. They moved on to the next play and focused on that. That mindset helped them to keep control of the game and win in a blowout.

COACHING

Nick Sirianni had the right message for his team. They were focused and tough from start to finish. They didn’t get overly emotional, as they did in the loss to WAS. Sirianni had his guys locked in. There weren’t a lot of key decisions for Sirianni. No plays to challenge. He did make one key call. The Eagles were up 14-12 with 2:14 left in the first half. The Eagles faced 4th & 5 from the WAS 45. Sirianni went for it.    Read the rest of this entry »