Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Eagles Dominate Patriots With Perfect Performance

Posted September 10th, 2023 | 2 Comments »

That’s what happened right? Unfortunately not even close. Sloppy play matched the sloppy weather and the Eagles had to hold on for dear life. They led the entire game, but never could put the Patriots away.

The Eagles jumped out to a 16-0 lead. It was easy. Too easy. Things settled down after that and New England took control of the game. They made it 16-14 at the half. The Eagles won the second half 9-6. They had a couple of chances to seal the game, but didn’t get that done until the final seconds.

This game wasn’t much fun outside the first few minutes. We wanted to see Jalen Hurts work his magic and lead the Eagles to big plays and points. Did not happen. Hurts struggled. I’ll get into why he struggled in a later post. This wasn’t one person or thing. It was a combination of factors. Hurts still did enough to lead the team to a win. He made some key plays.

There was a fumble late in the game that gave NE another chance. That could have been a killer, but the defense bailed him out.

Let’s make sure we give the Patriots a lot of credit. That was a Top 10 defense last year and they added impact rookies in CB Christian Gonzalez and DL Keion White. Bill Belichick then had the entire offseason to come up with a creative gameplan to slow down Hurts and the Eagles. You hate to give the hooded one credit, but he definitely deserved it today. Their scheme really affected Hurts.

Dallas Goedert only had one pass thrown his way and it wasn’t very close. The Pats did a good job on him at times and Hurts just missed seeing him at other times. Tony Romo showed a few plays where Goedert was wide open for huge plays. Hurts just missed him. The coaches should have done a better job of forcing the ball to him with screens or quick routes.

The Eagles defense gave up 382 yards, which isn’t ideal. They limited NE to 20 points. The defense did have 2 takeaways that led to 13 points. Big Play Slay had a pick-six that got things off to a great start. The defense came up with a couple of sacks on key plays that helped to stop the Pats. NE did a great job of getting the ball out quickly, which limited what the pass rush could do.

STs was a mixed bag. There were a few sloppy moments, but Jake Elliott did go 4 for 4 on FGs and that proved to be the difference in the game. He hit from 56 and 48 yards, which is especially impressive on a rainy day.

That’s one thing that does make me nervous. Christian Elliss replaced him and was up and down.

Josh Jobe had to replace James Bradberry late in the game. Jobe ended up pushing the WR out of bounds before he could get his second foot in on the Pats final play. It was great to see the backup come up big in a critical situation. That’s good team football.

The Eagles got a big win on the road. That’s good. There are a lot of issues to clean up. You’d rather learn tough lessons in a win than a loss. Nick Sirianni is a tough, critical coach so he’ll make sure all the problems are addressed. It may take more than a week to fix everything. The coaches now have game tape to study so they can figure out what’s going on and what needs to be done.

On Saturday I wrote about how the Eagles would be tested and that would be a good thing. This was a perfect example. A blowout would have been a lot more fun to watch, but having to fight and claw against the Pats will serve the team well in the long run.

The Eagles have a short week as they host the Vikings on Thursday. We’ll have to see how much they can get fixed before then.

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Gameday – PHI at NE

Posted September 10th, 2023 | Comments Off on Gameday – PHI at NE

The season is finally upon us. We’ve waited a long time to see this team in action. They’ll start the 2023 journey in rainy New England. You’d rather have pristine conditions when you’re the better team, but Nick Sirianni won’t let the weather be an excuse.

Expectations are sky high for this team (see my prediction here). It should be fun to see how they handle the challenge of a tough schedule. You know Bill Belichick will have some creative defensive ideas on how to handle Jalen Hurts and the offense. Hurts can burn him by making unexpected plays, but the Eagles staff can do their part by making good adjustments.

The Pats are honoring Tom Brady. That could give the team a bit of an emotional boost, but he hasn’t played with them in a few years so the roster isn’t full of his former teammates. There will be a lot of energy in the stadium.

A couple of surprises with the inactives.

I thought Penny would be active and part of the rushing attack. The coaches are going to lean on D’Andre Swift and Kenny Gainwell, with Boston Scott as the KOR and a role player.

Steen is inactive and Fred Johnson is active. Johnson could be the backup LT. I did not anticipate that.

Those aren’t huge moves, but are interesting.

The Pats OL will be missing multiple starters. The Eagles have a distinct advantage and should be able to get after Mac Jones. Expect a lot of quick throws by the Pats to try and negate the rush.

No matter what happens today, remember that the NFL season is a marathon, not a sprint. We’re in for a long ride. Load up on PBR and Funyuns and get ready for a fun season.

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