Win and Lose in Windy City

 

When Jim Brown would get up from a tackle, he said, “each time I’d get up slow, deliberate, so no one knew if I was hurt… It gives you an advantage, because they don’t know if you’re hurt.  You conserve energy and you camouflage everything.” Jalen Hurts sprained his shoulder against the Bears in a toughly fought 25-20 win last Sunday, and when Jordan Mailata approached his QB, who had remained on the ground, and said “Are you OK,” Jalen’s response was “Pick me the F up!”  Hurts performance after that was exemplary, sprained shoulder and all.  Hurts is one tough guy, and perhaps moving forward should take a page from Hall-Of-Famer Jim Brown’s book, because he can play with pain and injury, yet will likely want to hide that from the opposition.  For this week, at least, the Hurts injury means that although bthe Birds won the game, they’ll lose their QB for a week or two. 

When the Eagles coaching staff did not dress Dallas Goedert last Sunday vs. the Bears, they claimed they loved the Eagles wide Receivers matched up against the Bears defensive backs.  So, at least partially, this was an ode to Quez Watkins.  Perhaps not bringing back Goedert was a response to what appears to have been an early return from injury by Jordan Davis (Davis has not played poorly since then, but he has had minimal snaps and his play has not been where it was at the time he got hurt.  Whether it was Goedert requiring another week or a desire to emphasize Watkins as the tertiary target, the decision didn’t work.  Quez was responsible for Jalen’s 2nd (of 2) INT based on the imprecise way he ran out his pattern.  And on 6 targets, Quez had 4 catches for 6 yards, plus the INT.  He is a tertiary deep threat on this team, a good one with fine straight line speed.  He is not a gadget guy that can catch a short pass and create YAC.  The game plan was inappropriate Sunday vs. the Bears, as was the “benching” of Goedert in favor of Watkins. The Eagles finally broke one of those short passes to the wide receiver for a good gain, but it was Devonta Smith, not Quez, who had the skills to make it happen.

Where was Miles Sanders last Sunday?  3 touches in the first half?! REALLY?  Part of this was due to the Bears constantly maintains 7-8 players in the box, setting up 1:1 situations for AJ, Devonta and Quez.  The former 2 were eventually able to take advantage, but the Eagles became too single minded, not engaging Miles and their O-Line to do what they perhaps do best, loaded box or not. 

Eagle Sack Party continued vs. the Bears, even against a scary mobile Justin Fields.  The Eagles now lead the NFL with 55 sacks, 7 from their franchise best (1989 under Buddy Ryan).  Hargrave, Reddick and Sweat, the teams leaders, each got 2 more.

K’von Wallace had the best game of his 4 year Eagle career.  Interestingly, Gannon did something he previously said he would not do, playing Avonte Maddox at Safety in standard formations, but shifting Maddox to slot corner in nickel scenarios and bringing K’von on the field then.  This worked well for Wallace, whose read/react vs. the scrambling Fields was just what was needed. 

Dak Prescott is playing “OK” this year, at a QB 12-18 level, but he is not 5 higher than that which was the bottom of where he had been.  Is this due to prior injuries?  Has he lost a little mobility?  See Carson Wentz!  The Eagles need to be aware of this and “protect” Jalen more than they do.., at least 3 games this season of 17+ carry’s? An NFL QB has rushed 17+ times only 25 times in NFL history.  Jalen’s done it 6 of those times.  It would be wise for the Birds to consider a few more passes and a few more Miles Sanders carries on their RPOR (Run Miles OR Pass OR run Jalen Options) plays.

Questions existed about Hurts, of course, before the season.  Accuracy, Decision making, ability to truly be “the straw that stirs the drink” for this offense.  He’s answered all those this year as an Eagle.  He answered another yesterday.  Arm Strength.  In the Windy City, where the home town field goal kicker said no when asked if he could kick a 48 yard field goal (due to wind), Jalen Hurts repeatedly threw deep into the wind.  More often than not under difficult conditions his throws were not only straight and true, but they arced with dramatic precision to both AJ and Devonta.  Hurts answered the question about his arm strength yesterday… Vociferously!

The Eagles had 8 players make the Pro Bowl yesterday.  Nine others were designated Pro Bowl alternates.  Some of the 9 alternates should be actual Pro Bowlers on merit, not alternates, but one gets the feeling the NFL was trying to “spread the wealth” rather than give too much honor to a single team (Example- Javon Hargrave is an alternate after leading all DT’s this year in sacks and disrupting opposing pass games).  Additionally, not amongst those 17 were 3 players deserving of Pro Bowl status- TJ Edwards as a LB is 1^st in completion % allowed (58.8), 1^st in passer rating allowed (67.9 with 0 TD’s given up), 1^st in pass breakups (6), 2^nd in pass rush win rate (31.8%) and 3^rd in overall (PFF) grade- 84.9, 3^rd in passes defended, and 8^th in total tackles (124).  Definition of a Pro Bowler!  Anyone who watched Dallas Goedert and CJ Gardner Johnson play knows the “rule” regarding players on IR not being eligible for the Pro Bowl is a joke and needs to be removed.  They were both clear Pro Bowlers at their respective positions (TE, safety respectively) with Goedert being the best TE in the NFC, and Johnson being the NFL’s interception leader when he went down.  So the Eagles have TWENTY players on the roster that are Pro Bowl or Pro Bowl alternate level, effectively top 10% of their respective positions in the conference.  On top of that, other players that are clearly talented and key contributors include Ndamukong Su, Linvale Joseph, Jordan Davis, Kyzir White, Jake Elliott and Marcus Epps, all who contribute as well above average players in their respective positions. That kind of personnel excellence is virtually unthinkable in the modern NFL.  Kudos to Howie Roseman, who is a must for NFL executive of the year!

Jalen Hurts has been ruled out vs. Dallas.  Gardner Minshew can solidify his position as a very desirable free agent QB in 2023, one of the many players that will be too expensive for the Eagles to bring back to this superlative roster!  Unfortunately, Minshew’s success will contribute to the narrative that Jalen is not worthy of the MVP award because the team around the QB is THAT GOOD.