Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Game Review – PHI 37, LAR 20

Posted November 28th, 2024 | 1 Comment »

I was curious to see how the Eagles would play on Sunday night. They were coming off a good showing on a Thursday night game. That led to a lot of praise and made me wonder if the players would ease up be ripe for a letdown game. They had to travel to LA, which can be challenging. There was also the talk of Sean McVay facing Vic Fangio and how that was a big test for McVay. He’s been focused on Fangio since a 15-6 loss back in 2018.

The Eagles showed up and took care of business. Saquon Barkley had the best game of his career, running for 255 yards and 2 TDs. Jalen Hurts made some key plays. Fangio’s defense had another strong performance, allowing only 20 points and 290 yards. They sacked Matthew Stafford 5 times and came up with one takeaway. Keep in mind that 68 yards and 6 points came on the final drive, when the game was over and the Eagles mixed in backups.

The Eagles showed they are on a completely different level than the Rams. LA has a lot of young talent and could develop into a title contender in the future, but they aren’t there now. The Eagles won the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Barkley was the best player in the game. AJ Brown was the best receiver in the game. The Eagles defense had playmakers on all three levels.

This game was on national TV and I think that has helped create buzz around the team. The Eagles have gone from being seen as a curiosity to being seen as a contender.

COACHING

Nick Sirianni had the Eagles focused and they played well. He used a challenge on the opening series to overturn a call and get the Eagles the ball. There was an odd sequence at the end of the half. Sirianni let some time run down without calling a timeout. I didn’t have an issue with that. Others didn’t like it. Sirianni didn’t want to risk losing time if the Eagles drive failed. The Eagles drive got near midfield and faced 4th & 7. There were seven seconds left. Sirianni went for it and the play didn’t work. The Rams got it back for one final play, but Stafford was sacked to end the half. The Eagles play was a QB run. I didn’t like the call, but replay showed that if Jordan Mailata made his block the play had a chance to get the Eagles into FG range.

There was an interesting moment in the second half. The Eagles got a third down stop with the Rams in FG range. A penalty was called and Sirianni initally accepted it, assuming the Rams would kick. When they left the offense on the field, he asked to accept the penalty and put them in 3rd & 13. The officials let him do that, which is highly questionable. Stafford was sacked and lost more yardage. The Rams then missed the FG. I don’t blame Sirianni for trying that. I do question if the officials should have let him do it.

Kellen Moore went run heavy. The Eagles had 45 runs to 22 passes. There were some scrambles, but this was still a ground game. The Eagles threw enough to move the ball and score points. Moore stayed creative with the run game. He used 11, 12 and 13 personnel. They used a fullback in some packages. There was a perfectly timed screen pass that went for a good gain. The Eagles were 2 for 5 in the red zone, but I felt like the play-calling was better. Hurts missed an open Goedert for a TD. They tried a shovel pass that would have worked for a TD if Lane Johnson blocked his guy.

Fangio’s defense gave up a lot of short passes. Cooper Kupp was 7-33 until he caught a 27-yard pass in garbage time. Nacua was more of a playmaker, but he still averaged 13 yards per catch. AJ Brown averaged 18.2 ypc. The Rams had some success with inside runs early, but couldn’t sustain that. They got the benefit of two questionable PI calls. The Eagles pressured Stafford all game long. Fangio had a good gameplan and his players executed it really well.

OFFENSE

Jalen Hurts was 15-22-179 with 1 TD. That was a good throw to AJ. The only notable issue was when Hurts missed a wide open Goedert in the end zone. The pass was just a bit overthrown. Hurts made good decisions and was very effective as a scrambler. The Rams young DL got upfield at times and left Hurts with easy running lanes. He finished 12-39 on the ground.

Saquon was sensational. You’ve seen the long TD runs a ton by now. As I re-watched the game, a lot of short and intermediate runs stood out to me. His combination of lateral agility, strength and burst makes him special. Think of this. He had TD runs of 70 and 72 yards. If you took them out, he still went 24-113. That’s a good game. The long runs made it a great game and put him squarely in the MVP race.

Barkley was 4-47 as a receiver. The biggest play was a screen that went for 31 yards. There was another screen that might have worked, but Barkley slipped. I think he did that to prove he’s human. His highlight catch came in the red zone.

Kenny Gainwell went 5-22, including a 13-yard TD run.

DeVonta Smith missed the game with a hamstring issue so that mean all the passes went to AJ. He finished 6-109-1. AJ did a great job of adding RAC yards and creating big plays. Jahan Dotson was 1-4, but that was an impressive snag on a quick screen. Johnny Wilson drew a pass interference call. Britain Covey didn’t get any throws. He did have a good block on the first long TD run.

Dallas Goedert was 4-19 in the passing game. CJ Uzomah, Goedert and even Grant Calcaterra all had good blocks, helping Barkley to pile up those 255 yards.

If Barkley was the star of the game, the OL was a close second.

The beauty of Fran’s videos is that you can see this isn’t just big guys brawling. The Eagles OL is athletic, smart and well-trained. They can beat up the guys across from them, but can also execute blocking schemes like a smaller, athletic line. It is crazy to think that you can take Jason Kelce out of the OL and somehow the group is playing even better this year. Howie has done a great job of acquiring players and Jeff Stoutland proves every year why he’s the best OL coach in the business.

Mekhi Becton had some highlight moments in the game.

Keep in mind that those are separate plays. You don’t see LBs getting put on their backside too often. Becton is one powerful man.

DEFENSE

The Rams were 10-70 on the ground in the first half. Stafford had a 15-yard scramble and Kyren Williams had a 27-yard run. The Rams were held to 8-22 in the second half. The lack of a consistent run game let the pass rushers attack and get to Stafford. He was sacked 5 times and the Eagles were credited with 11 QB hits.

Brandon Graham played his best game of the year. He had 2 TFLs, a sack and a PD. BG was disruptive beyond those plays. It is crushing to see him get hurt after a performance like that. Josh Sweat had a sack and was disruptive. Jalyx Hunt played 24 snaps and had some good moments. He’ll be called on to play more after BG’s injury.

Jalen Carter didn’t show much in the box score. He had 1 tackle and 1 FF. He drew double-teams on most pass plays and that freed up the other guys to make plays. Milton Williams had 2 sacks and 3 QB hits. That was his best game of the year. Williams used quickness and strength to make plays. He’s a really good athlete, but will also mix in power moves to keep blockers off balance. Moro Ojomo added a couple of tackles.

Nakobe Dean had one of his best games of the year. He led the team with 8 tackles. Dean had a sack, 2 TFLs and recovered a fumble. He was a strong, physical tackler, which you need against a team like the Rams. Their guys don’t go down easily. I loved the way he flowed to the ball aggressively, but also under control. Dean’s highlight was the sack. He ran over Kyren Williams on his way to sacking Stafford.

Zack Baun had a quiet game by his standards. He had 3 tackles. There was a third down PBU, but that got wiped out when the Eagles accepted a penalty. It was still an impressive play. Baun was walked up on the LOS quite a bit. That may have taken away tackle opportunities, but did affect the offense. I thought Oren Burks played well in garbage time.

CJGJ played one of his better games of the year. He had 5 tackles, a TFL and a FF. Reed Blankenship had 3 tackles. The Rams didn’t throw much down the field so that limited their chance to make plays.

Quinyon Mitchell gave up some short completions. He almost picked off a downfield pass when Stafford forced a ball into coverage. It wasn’t an easy play. Kupp caught a late TD with Mitchell as the closest defender. I don’t think that was man coverage. The best thing you can say is that the Rams didn’t throw Mitchell’s way too often.

Darius Slay played well until he suffered a concussion while making a tackle. He had a terrific PBU on a crossing route. Slay had to jump and extend to get a piece of the ball. He was called for one of the questionable PIs. Isaiah Rodgers replaced him after the injury. Rodgers gave up a short TD, but give the Rams credit for the play. Robinson ran a great route to get open. Rodgers was called for the other bad PI. He had 4 tackles and a FF. That came when he knocked the ball loose from the RB and likely prevented points.

Cooper DeJean had another outstanding game. You would not think he’s a rookie with the way he plays the nickel position. DeJean had 6 tackles and 2 PDs. He was good against Kupp when they were matched up.

As you can see he also was good against Nacua.

ST

Thankfully Jake Elliott remembered that he’s Jake Elliott. He hit all of his FGs and extra points.

Covey was back at PR. The Rams covered well so he only had one return for 8 yards.

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The Howie Game

Posted November 26th, 2024 | 1 Comment »

Sunday night’s win over the Rams got the world talking about Saquon Barkley and the Eagles. There were a ton of articles and posts today discussing Barkley as an MVP candidate and the Eagles as a Super Bowl team. At the same time, I read about the Jets starting their search for a GM. I read about the Giants trying to figure out what to do with their coach and GM. I also read about Dallas, with a lot of people praising them playing hard and finding a way to break their 5-game losing streak. All that took was a miserable performance by the Commanders.

With all of that in mind, let’s give some love to Howie Roseman.

Howie signed Saquon Barkley back in March. Barkley was a star player, but not someone that all 32 teams coveted. The Giants couldn’t figure out a way to keep him and decided to replace Barkley with Devin Singletary and rookie Tyrone Tracy. Dallas desperately needed RB help, but didn’t make a move. Howie added Barkley and it looks like the best move of the offseason. Barkley is having a historic season and might be the MVP.

Think about the OL Barkley ran behind. LT Jordan Mailata was a 7th round pick back in 2018. Mailata had no football experience, but has become one of the best LTs in the league. Mekhi Becton was signed by Howie after the draft in April. Becton was signed to give the Eagles OT depth, but ended up winning the RG position. Becton had some dominant blocks against the Rams.

Howie traded for WR AJ Brown back on draft weekend of 2022. He was willing to give up a 1st round pick for an established star WR. The Titans have been 29th or 30th in passing yards since trading Brown.

QB Jalen Hurts was a surprise pick in 2021. No one saw that coming. The Eagles already had Carson Wentz, but decided Hurts could be a valuable addition for a few reasons so they took him. Hurts is now firmly entrenched as the franchise QB.

The leading tackler in the game was Nakobe Dean, who the Eagles took in the 3rd round back in 2022. He was expected to go before then, but kept sliding. Howie couldn’t pass up on him in the 3rd. Dean hadn’t done much coming into this year, but Howie went out of his way to praise Dean in the offseason and let everyone know the team still had high expectations. Dean is playing well and is part of why the Eagles have the #1 defense in the league.

The secondary features a pair of rookies. I was shocked that Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean fell to the Eagles picks in the 1st and 2nd round. I thought the Eagles would need luck to get Mitchell. For the Eagles to get both is a minor miracle. Howie was patient and played the draft board just right. He could have traded up, and that might have made some sense. He managed to get both without having to do anything crazy and the Eagles secondary should be good for years. Both DBs played well in the win over the Rams.

The defensive star of the game was Brandon Graham. Howie traded up and drafted him way back in 2010. Howie caught a lot of flak for passing on safety Earl Thomas and DE Jason Pierre-Paul, but BG proved to be a great pick. He is one of the most beloved Eagles of all time.

Jake Elliott made all of his kicks in the win. He was signed off the Bengals practice squad back in 2017 and is probably the best kicker in Eagles history.

Howie has used every resource possible to build the Eagles into what they are…one of the best teams in the league. Signings. Picks. Trades. Howie has been creative and aggressive in building this roster. He’s not perfect of course, but he’s hit on most of his key moves and that is why the Eagles are 9-2 and back near the top of the league.

*****

I didn’t mention Zack Baun above because he had somewhat of a quiet game against the Rams. Howie targeted Baun in the offseason to come to Philly as a backup OLB and STer. He talked to Vic Fangio about Baun. Fangio said he liked Baun, but saw him as an ILB. The Eagles signed Baun early (showing that he was a priority target for them) and put him at ILB.

Baun is having an amazing year. If he doesn’t make the Pro Bowl there should be an investigation.

*****

How do you replace Brandon Graham? You really don’t. He’s a special person and a key player. BG’s versatility gave him the ability to play LB, DE or even DT. You don’t find guys like that on aisle 6 at the grocery store.

The Eagles will have to be creative with replacing BG’s snaps. Milton Williams could see some of them. Jalyx Hunt will get more playing time. I think Tarron Jackson is the guy to watch. He had a good summer and has the kind of size/versatility that could help. He will get a chance to play some and show what he can do.

Fangio is a veteran coach so hopefully he’ll be able to figure out an effective solution.

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