Battle of Birds- Better to be Lucky than Good- Eagles 20 Arizona 17

 

5-0.  For the third time ever by an Eagles team (1981, 2004). By the skin on their chinny, chin, chin, the Eagles did just enough to win.  Barely.  Good fortune added to the favorable decision:

The Good:

• The Eagles knew it’d be a long day at the office chasing around the ever elusive, athletic Kyler Murray, Arizona’s quarterback.  They did that by maintaining a disciplined (stay in their lane) controlled rush.  Murray did a great job getting the ball out quickly (tied for 4^th amongst NFL starting QB’s in getting the ball off from the pocket this week at 2.1 seconds).  The combination of a controlled rush and Murray’s quick release meant the Eagles got just 1 sack this week.  But the D-Line was there… 2.1 seconds is an excellent time by Murray releasing the ball (many attempts were actually under 2 seconds).  Regardless, typically an Eagle D-Lineman was forcing pressure at the time the ball was released, clearly a quick pass rush.
• The Eagles had only 8 possessions but scored on 4 of them (The Cardinals also had 8 possessions, scoring on 3).
• Again getting significant snaps (47) in relief (of Landon Dickerson), Sua Opeta played well at left guard (he’s more naturally a right guard, so this established flexibility is important).
• Jack Driscoll, the 3^rd string Left Tackle (behind Jordan Mialata and Andre Dillard) started and played OK.
• Non-starters were required at 3 of 5 spots on the O-Line for the Arizona game, and they played well.  In addition to Opeta and Driscoll, Cam Jurgens saw 3 snaps to relieve Jason Kelce at center.  This “next man up” mentality worked well for the Eagle O-Line per the guidance of super-position-coach Jeff Stoutland.  No other NFL team can play at this quality (or even competence) with Offensive Line depth players.
• Philly fans were out in force at State Farm stadium (Glen Dale Arizona).  It seemed the crowd was about 50/50 Eagle fans vs. Arizona fans, an amazing turnout by the Bird diehards out west.
• Jordan Davis had his best game as an Eagle, with his highest snap count (29).  Davis is a force against the run, and will likely play a critical role vs. the run heavy Cowboys this coming Sunday.
• Hassan Reddick got another sack this week vs. Arizona as he continues to earn his free agent $.  Per Brandon Thorn (trenchwarfare.substack.com) Reddick is tied with Micah Parsons in True Sack Rate at the top of the NFL.  The Eagles have 2 other players in the top 15 (Brandon Graham is 10^th and Josh Sweat is 14^th).  Unfortunately, 1 other team can claim more than 1 player in the top 15… The Cowboys are right on the Eagles heels as they also have 3 (Parsons tied with Reddick for 1^st, Dorance Armstrong is 12^th and DeMarcus Lawrence is 15^th).
• Dallas Goedert had an excellent game (8 catches for 95 yards), and added to his total of explosive pass plays (20+ yard receptions), where he is currently 7^th in the NFL amongst all receivers. He is on pace for 81 catches and 1139 yards, currently only trailing Travis Kelce (by 12 yards) and Mark Andrews (by 14 yards). Additionally, Goedert is 2^nd in the NFL in YAC (Yards After Catch), 7 behind Austin Eckler, and just ahead of Rams wr star Cooper Cupp.
• Josiah Scott, starting his second game in the slot in place of Avonte Maddox, played well, correcting errors he had made in his first start last week vs. the Jaguars.
• Cameron “Dicker the Kicker” was the ST player of the week.  That feels a bit overblown, but Dicker made all 4 of his kicks (2 XP and 2 FG) in his NFL regular season debut (replacing the injured Jake Elliott).  All the kicks were critical to get the win. 
• LADY LUCK: On their last drive, Kyler Murray slid for a 1^st down, but came up short (because the ball is marked from the start of a slide, not its completion) and thought he had a 1^st down (he was fooled by the stadium score board which incorrectly indicated a first down… he should have checked with the officials), so Murray spiked the ball to stop the clock assuming it was the first of what he (incorrectly) believed to be a new set of downs.  This combination of MULTIPLE MISTAKES in about 5 seconds by Murray forced a still makeable 4^th down 43-yard field goal attempt to tie.  But the Cardinals kicker, Matt Amendola (like the Eagles Cam Dicker, in for an injured Jake Elliot) was in for the injured Matt Prater, and shanked the kick horribly.  Win-Eagles.

The Bad:

• Shane Steichen has had the offense on quite a roll this year.  But this was, so far, ‘22’s most “unpleasant” effort.  Coming into Arizona, in 4 games, the Eagles offense had generated 400+ yards per game in each.  They fell below that magic threshold last Sunday, garnering a league average 357 yards (6 short of Arizona’s total).  They netted 218 yards passing & 139 yards rushing against a team that, while 5^th against the run going into the game, was only 28^th vs. the pass.  This was primarily because of way too many checkdown/hot read type wide receiver screens rather than throwing the ball downfield.  The catalyst for this approach was an aggressive blitz volume from the Arizona D, but the Eagles became too predictable, and Arizona was ready to blow up the short passes. At times Hurts could have considered holding the ball a bit longer to try some downfield throws, since the pocket was frequently intact to do so (Hurts had an admirably quick 2.3 second release this week, an NFL 9^th best in week 5, but sometimes got rid of the ball before a threat was truly apparent).
• AJ Brown’s usage was odd.  He was not on the field the first few plays, came in and got 3 consecutive targets, all completions (totaling 32 yards) then was used very little for the remainder of the game (no further catches). The emphasis on Goedert & Devonta Smith is fine, but a more balanced approach was likely warranted in this matchup. 
• The Eagles had only 20 carries entering the final drive.  Allowing their offensive line to attack more frequently via the run game might have been a wiser approach.  The last drive, a 17-play tour de force to the 5 was when the run game finally got used effectively, via an additional 13 attempts.  Miles Sanders had 8 of his 17 touches on this final drive (?!). And even though Boston Scott was again out (injured), Trey Sermon oddly got no carries the entire game after a good initial spot performance last week helping replace Scott.
• Darius Slay has been outstanding this year, but his coverage this week, where frequently his assignment was Marquis “Hollywood” Brown, was just average.  Brown got free for some key receptions from Murray.  

The Ugly:

• Per Ruben Frank, “Jalen Hurts has 68 official rushing attempts so far this year, the most in NFL history by a quarterback after five games.”  While there’s no denying the value here per his god given ability running the ball (2 rushing TD’s vs Arizona), the cumulative effect of the hits may be creating a law of diminishing returns.  The chances of injury via a single play or from the multiple collisions are equally concerning.
• Gannon called a passive game on defense.  His DB’s played loose, possibly to also account for the Cardinals elusive QB, although it appeared he also assigned Kyzir White as a “spy” on many plays to account for Kyler Murray. While not up to the Buddy Ryan bred Eagle fans appetite for aggression, it was satisfactory, holding Arizona to 17 points (although that should have been 20 if the Cards hit their final FG attempt).
• The Eagles had their lowest total of explosive plays on offense this season (3).  Scoring required lengthy drives down the field (where statistically speaking it is much more difficult to score a TD without explosive plays).  
• TJ Edwards had his worst game this year as an Eagle.  He did have 8 tackles, including one for a loss (TFL), but he whiffed on several tackles, out of character for Edwards. 
• Kyzir White also missed a couple tackles, although he finished with 6.
• Britain Covey, although he had a good 15-yard punt return, muffed his second punt in 5 games.  Not good.  On this particular play, he should have signaled for a fair catch since the defender was on him as the ball arrived.
• The Eagles got burned on a fake punt that yielded a first down on a 7-yard run. Unacceptable.  The Eagles next opponent, the Cowboys, have one of the NFL’s best Special Teams coaches, John Fassel.  He will take notice.

Eagle Lesson: A lot goes into an NFL season.  A team can do a lot of great things, but it is not only a good combination of front office genius, coaching, preparation, talent, toughness, leadership, perseverance, and ability that lead to the ultimate success.  Sometimes, it’s lady luck that provides the roll of the dice for a winner.