Eagles Win Wild OT Game
Posted October 1st, 2023 | 3 Comments »The Eagles won. Let’s start with that fact. The win needs a lot of context to be sure, but winning should never be taken for granted. The Eagles are now 4-0 for the second straight season. The only other team that remains undefeated is SF.
Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts both described the Eagles win as “clutch”. That’s true. You could also describe the team’s performance as sloppy. Washington lost by 37 points last week. They led the Eagles 17-7 in the first half. The Commanders came an inch away from getting close to field goal range in overtime. Thankfully Terry McLaurin landed on Reed Blankenship’s forearm and couldn’t keep his foot inbounds. That forced them to punt and the Eagles were able to drive for the winning FG.
https://twitter.com/kylepaganCB/status/1708588111880442022
Washington came out firing. They scored on three of their first four drives and led 17-7 late in the first half. The Eagles had consecutive punts before their final drive of the half. Hurts hit DeVonta Smith for 37 yards and that put the team in FG range. They made it 17-10 at the half.
The switch officially flipped at halftime. The Eagles dominated the third quarter, out-gaining Washington 162 to 18 and out-scoring them 11-0. That made it 21-17 and you started to feel the Eagles taking control. They extended the lead to 24-17, but Washington wouldn’t go away. They tied the game at 24.
Hurts hit AJ Brown for a 28-yard TD with 1:43 left. It felt like that would seal the game. Sadly, no. After scoring, Brown set the ball down by the CB and was called for taunting. That moved the kickoff back 15 yards. Washington was able to start their drive at the 36-yard line. They overcame 3rd/17 and 4th/2. Sam Howell hit Jahan Dotson for a TD on the final play of regulation. Riverboat Ron passed on going for 2 and chose OT.
The Eagles got a stop and then marched down to the WAS 36.
4 the WIN!!!!@jake_elliott22 | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/ug9x5il2rN
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 1, 2023
FOX scared me for a minute. They switched camera angles mid-kick and that threw me off. I didn’t see the ball go through, but the crowd told me all I needed to know.
- Eagles coming back from down 10 – good
- Eagles dominating the 3rd quarter – good
- Eagles scoring 13 points in 4th/OT – good
- Eagles coming up with a stop in OT – good
That’s a lot to be happy about.
- Eagles trailing a mediocre team by 10 – bad
- Eagles allowing WAS to go 4 for 5 in the red zone – terrible
- Eagles blowing a TD lead with less than 2 minutes to go – terrible
- Eagles allowing WAS to convert after having them 3rd/17 – terrible
There is plenty that needs to be addressed, but let’s give Washington some credit for sure. They were embarrassed a week ago. They came out and played with real purpose in Philly. But the Eagles helped them out way too much. Washington also got the benefit of some bad calls in the first half. And they got lucky. The Eagles dropped an INT that would have stopped a TD drive. Washington fumbled twice and recovered both, including one in the end zone.
Most of the frustration lies with the Eagles defense. They were going against a young QB and a bad OL. It was beyond frustrating to see them give up 17 points in the first half. Even worse was them letting WAS score the tying TD in the final minute. What’s the point of building a stud DL if they can’t come up big with the game on the line?
Pass coverage was an issue. WAS was able to get players open in a lot of key situations. They would flood a zone and one would come open. That is going to happen, but they had guys wide open too many times. The Eagles have had injuries to the back seven, but they must communicate better and do a much better job with their assignments. Sean Desai has plenty to work on.
He can be happy that his unit made some key plays. Nick Morrow had 11 tackles, 3 sacks and a FF. Those sacks were key plays. Blankenship’s coverage on the 3rd down pass to McLaurin in OT was huge. There were times when the defense was really good. They just came up short in some key situations.
Hurts and the offense looked outstanding at times. He finished 25-37-319 with 2 TDs. Brown was the key receiver, going 9-175-2. The deep passing game came alive. There were completions of:
59
37
28
28
22
Not everyone was happy with the Eagles throwing a TD pass late in the game. There was some thought that they should work the clock. I have no problem with the team going for the TD. There are no guarantees they would have scored if they ran the ball and kicked a FG or tried to move the sticks with short throws. Give me the points.
Sirianni was counting on his defense to make a stop. They didn’t get that done in regulation, but did do it in OT.
The Eagles made enough key plays to win this game. Don’t overlook that when you are thinking about what went wrong. The Eagles had a similar game with Washington last October and lost 32-21. This year they protected the ball (no turnovers) and made enough clutch plays to win. That’s important.
_