Jags Jacked by Birds- Eagles 29 Jacksonville 21

 

4-0.  Didn’t feel like that’d be the case early in the first quarter.  After a Jalen Hurts pick 6 via a rare out of character forced throw, and an early TD drive by the Jags, the Eagles put their big boy pants on.  The O-Line, despite 2 key injuries (Isaac Seumalo and Jordan Mailata) got relief performances from Sua Opeta and Jack Driscoll, and they dominated in the rain (Sirianni did not try to force the pass game in the torrential down pour).  Miles Sanders ran behind the big boys and contributed his best game as an Eagle (27-134-2 running along with a couple of key pass receptions). Sanders ran tough, and he ran hard, and though some Eagle fans have complained he “leaves too much meat on the bone on too many running plays” (ludicrous!!), there was no evidence of that last Sunday.  And in that pouring rain, Jalen Hurts, unlike his counterpoint on the Jags (Trevor Lawrence) was able to make the throws he needed to make, and the Birds ripped off 29 points.  

The defense had something to do with a host of unanswered points, forcing 4 fumbles and getting a pick of their own (a magnificent bait and switch by corner James Bradberry who showed great smarts, skill and athleticism to steal the ball from Lawrence and the Jags).  The Birds got 22 of their 29 points off those turnovers.  Lawrence was embarrassed, finishing 11-23 (47%) for 174 yards and in addition to his pick he lost 4 fumbles.  Hasson Reddick was a catalyst for Lawrence’s poor play, dominating with 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries a TFL and a defensive player of the week award.

So Jags coach Doug Pederson did not leave with the warm and cozy welcome feeling he received at games start.  The former Eagle Super Bowl winning coach remains a fan favorite, but no longer between the lines during an Eagles game.

Even after the initial 14-0 Jag run which included Hurts lone egregious mistake, the Birds reversed and more than doubled Jacksonville’s total, but things were not perfect… The Jags were able to make it a 1 score game by adding a final TD and getting the ball late.  There were some earlier blown coverages by the Eagle D.  Down 14-0, a misfire by Lawrence prevented a wide-open Jags receiver from making the score 21-0.  The Birds were only 7-20 on 3^rd/4^th down attempts. And although the defense ended it with multiple aggressive turnovers, there were Philadelphia injuries, which will certainly challenge the Eagles in their next game vs. Arizona. 

With 401 yards of offense Philadelphia is only the 4^th team since the 1970’s to start the year with four 400+ yard performances on offense.  In their 4 games they have two 200+ yard rushing performances and two 300+ yard passing performances.  Defenses are challenged to game plan this group.  Similarly, with multiple game changers on the defensive side of the ball, Philly’s defense has given up only an average of 9 points and <265 yards per game over the last 3 games. The team is coached well, has terrific skill position play on offense and defense, and dominates the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.  This last game showed off the team’s depth… In addition to the O-Line replacements, Avonte Maddox was a DNP per an injured ankle, and Darius Slay left the game early with a forearm injury.  Replacing the missing corners were Zech McPherson and Josiah Scott.  While their corner play was not exemplary, the were helped by the weather.  So 4-0.

There is even further “eye test” and statistical support for that 4-0.  3 straight defensive players of the week the last 3 weeks (Darius Slay, then Brandon Graham and this week Hassan Reddick).  A team first in the NFL in sacks (16), takeaways (10), three-and-outs (21), completion % against (56) and big plays (36).  Second in DVOA. Third in total yards per game (272).

And the coaching… per Tommy Lawlor at Iggles Blitz, “Nick Sirianni has an expert knowledge of the NFL passing game. Shane Steichen and Kevin Patullo as well. Jeff Stoutland is the run game guru. He coached in college and then learned a lot from Chip Kelly and Doug Pederson. He’s able to come up with all kinds of problematic run schemes for defenses. And QB coach Brian Johnson was in the college ranks just a couple of years ago. He brought some interesting ideas with him (College football is where a lot of great ideas come from, & the NFL then steals the good ones). (On defense), Jonathan Gannon has answered a lot of questions in the past month. He beat some good QBs and shut down the key weapons for the past 3 teams. Gannon is mixing up his fronts & coverages. He’s using his personnel wisely. And he’s used blitzing very effectively.”

From good coaching comes good schemes.  The Eagles are out-talenting, outcoaching & out-scheming their opposition.  So the roughest part of this past game is the injury report, especially the 6 key players on the bottom of the list…

• RB Boston Scott, dealing with a rib issue, did not play.  He was relieved by Trey Sermon, who played well (2-19-0 in limited action when relieving Sanders).  Scott’s status is unknown for Sunday, but, although. he’s a capable 2^nd RB when filling in for Sanders, we saw good things from Trey Sermon vs. the Jags.
• Hasson Reddick’s backup is Patrick Johnson at SAM.  The young LB has played well in limited action spelling Reddick, but got concussed vs. Jacksonville and is not far enough along in the concussion protocol to play Sunday vs. Arizona.  He’ll also be missed on ST.
• Patrick Johnson’s backup and adjutant ST force is 6^th round rookie Kyron Johnson.  Also concussed vs. the Jags, He appears on track to suit up Sunday, and if so will be backing up Reddick at SAM.
• RG Issac Seumalo hurt his ankle in the 4^th quarter and was relieved by Sua Opeta.  Opeta played well, had a key block on Miles Sanders 2^nd TD run, and is a good developing young Guard, but Opeta is not Seumalo, a proven veteran.  Chances for Seumalo to return vs. Arizona appear better than 50/50. 
• We saw cornerback Darius Slay out early in the first quarter after a forearm injury.  Zech McPhearson has spelled Slay increasingly over the last 3 games (Slay had a back issue that started in the Viking game).  McPherson has played OK, but still remains a bit of an unknown quantity at CB.  Regardless of how good he is/will be, he’s unlikely to live up to the capabilities of the heralded Slay, a Pro Bowl corner for the Eagles (and the Lions before that), who recently caused star wr Justin Jefferson to have one of the worst games of his young career on MNF (Slay won NFC defensive player of the week).  But it does look like Slay will be ready to go vs. the Cardinals this Sunday. The back injury may nag, though.
• Pro Bowl Kicker Jake Elliot got hurt in the Week 4 win… It appeared to be his lower leg when hit on a roughing the kicker call. While the full extent of Elliott’s injury isn’t known, the Eagles signed FA (rookie) 22 year old kicker Cameron Dicker to their practice squad.  Dicker had a terrific college career at Texas (XP% > 98, FG% > 75, averaged > 46 yards as a punter), then played in the preseason for the Rams, making his 3 XP attempts and averaging almost 53 yards on 3 punts.  In a 2^nd preseason game for the Ravens after getting cut by the Rams, he made his only FG attempt (38), his 2 XP’s, and punted 6 times for a 47.2 yard average.  If Elliot can’t go this Sunday (and that appears to be the case), “Dicker the Kicker” will be ready for Practice squad activation.
• Nickel Avonte Maddox got hurt the Friday before the Jags game in practice, an apparent ankle injury.  He was in a walking boot as recently as this past Wednesday.  Maddox plays a critical role as the slot corner, and has played at a high level there for well over a year.  Josiah Scott filled in and was “up and down.” Jacksonville had their greatest success picking on him, including a 45-yard reception which appeared to be his fault and a big play to a Jags TE.  There were some “ups” too, but he is not Maddox, and appears likely to start this week vs. Arizona as Maddox continues to heal.
• LT Andre Dillard has been out since the end of the preseason when he broke his forearm, so has been on IR and returned to practice (but not the active roster) this week.  Dillard is an insurance policy for Left tackle Jordan Mailata, and the former 1^st round pick (Dillard) is considered not only the best backup Tackle in the NFL, but a player who’d likely start for at least half of the NFL’s squads. It’d be a surprise if Dillard’s available this week, but there may be some push on him since it does not appear Mialata will be ready… 
• LT Jordan Mialata fell on his shoulder trying to make a tackle on Hurts pick 6, and in Dillard’s absence Jack Driscoll was the LT3 who played in relief.  per Tommy Lawlor at Iggles Blitz, (Driscoll) “got the job done. He didn’t get beat to the inside. He forced Josh Allen to go wide and that always left Hurts room to step up or escape. Driscoll got pushed back a few times and usually was able to re-set. He did trip up Hurts on one play when he was pushed too far back. That led to a sack. Driscoll should come away from this game feeling good. He showed that he could be functional at LT.” Still, “functional LT” is certainly a step down from Andre Dillard, let alone out the high level of play the Eagles get from Mialata. NFL insider Mike Garafolo does not think we’ll see Mialata this Sunday, as although Mialata said his shoulder injury is not as bad as originally expected, it sounds like it’ll need time to heal for Dallas (and monster edge rusher Micah Parsons) week 6.

While Nick Sirianni stated all players on the injury report could be available this Sunday, that’s a smoke screen. Expect Mialata, Dillard, Maddox, Elliot and Patrick Johnson to be unavailable, and that will present problems.

Eagle Lesson: The 17 game NFL season demands depth/depth/depth as the roster gets spotted, marred and dented by injuries (We’ve already seen the 3^rd string LT in game 4).  The random nature of injuries and their subsequent impact appears the most likely challenge to hinder the Eagles successful run.  Howie has built a fairly deep roster capable of withstanding the losses, but replacing the wounded is already the biggest test this week.