Eagle Fan Diary

  The Eagles lost a close game to the Cowboys last Sunday.   The loss was painful… an incomplete pass at the 20 as the game ended was the difference between victory and defeat.   A poor game by the back 7 whilst the D-Line was excellent with both their run defense and pass rush suggests some Eagle defenders may have peaked against the Giants a couple weeks back. But there is time to turn that around.   Finally though, injuries to Jordan Davis (concussion), Avonte Maddox (toe) and Lane Johnson (abdominal tear) were most problematic.   The Eagles went toe-to-toe with the Cowboys for 4 quarters starting their backup quarterback.   While the offense generated 27 points (an additional 7 Eagle points were garnered on a great pick 6 by Josh Sweat vs. Dak Prescott), 4 miscues were effectively the difference in the game.   While Boston Scott and Miles Sanders both fumbled, the QB to RB exchange appeared ascue.   This has been overlooked in relation to th...

  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...

  There is something so special, so satisfying in slaughtering a heated rival.   The Eagles dismantled the Giants yesterday at MetLife stadium.   Up 21-0 in the first half, the remainder of the game became “garbage time.” The 27-22 exchange that followed the 21-0 beat down was about the New York Giants attempting and failing to trade blows with a Philly “Giant” that had frankly just chuckled and lost interest. Eagle fans should not temper their joy, but they should view reality through an appropriate prism.   A talent deficient New York started the season 6-1 through a combination of magnificent coaching by Brian Daboll and Wink Martindale, extraordinarily bad management by the teams on the other side of the field, and that % of luck/good fortune the football gods occasionally provide.   It could not last.   And it has not.   Daboll and Martindale have tried to maintain their house of cards with an ever-depreciating talent base, as injuries further r...

  Thoughts as we cross the season’s 2/3 mark… Is Christian Ellis the (ST) man?  An undrafted former 49er, his dad Luther was (twice) a Pro Bowl defensive tackle with Detroit.  Christian’s younger brother Noah was an interesting Rookie Free Agent Howie Roseman acquisition, a 350 pound possibility to back up Jordan Davis at the nose till he had to be IR’d during training camp (hopefully we’ll see him back next year). Christian was an Eagle practice squader game-day elevation who looked like he belonged from the first snap, finishing with 3 ST tackles across frankly outstanding special teams play vs. Tennessee.  He also got 10 reps at the end of the Eagles’ win over the Titans and looked like he belonged with three additional (defensive) tackles. Britain Covey had the 2nd most punt return yds in an NFL game this year after being a magnet for derision by Eagle fans hunting for flaws on an 11-1 team.  Covey’s success in this game is being largely attributed to th...

In Indianapolis, the Eagles came back from a multi-score deficit in week 11 to beat the Colts 17-16 with two 4 th quarter scores, then came home and with a multi-score lead had to fight off the Packers in a 40-33 victory.  What is the current state of the team as they anticipate a tough week 13 matchup at home vs. Tennessee? The Good : 363 yards- That’s a lot of rushing yards vs. Green Bay (16 th all time vs. the Packers, 2 nd highest yardage for an Eagle running game, only bested back in 1948).  Is it play calling, the O-line, Hurts, the D?  Well, it’s all those, but the most credit needs to go to Offensive Line Coach Jeff Stoutland, who mines the talent, invents the schemes to match it, teaches the young men how to execute and then coaches them to be the best they can be.  Tag your it- When asked how he accomplished his 157 vs Green Bay, Hurts was humble… “I ran, and they could not get me.”  Hurts is fast, but not that fast.  His running is also ...

 The Eagles played 3 opponents since my last entry late last month.  A good win versus the Steelers (35-13) on October 30 was an AJ Brown beat down (3 TDs).  The only statistical blemish was yielding 144 yards on the ground in 24 carries (6.4 ypc), but given the score, this was acceptable damage.  What was NOT acceptable damage was an injury to outstanding rookie Jordan Davis, as subsequent games would attest.  A subsequent Thursday night (Amazon) prime time competition versus the 1-5-1 Houston Texans was a WwW (Win with Warts).  The Eagles won 29-17 but did not take the lead till the 3 rd quarter.  Rookie Damion Pierce gashed the Birds for 139 yards on 27 carries (over 5.1 YPC), and a run D minus their best run defender (Jordan Davis) looked quite vulnerable to one of the NFL’s worst teams.  Dallas Goedert was the offensive star (8-100-1).  The effort got the Eagles to 8-0 approaching the midpoint, but it was an “ugly win” for a 7-0 footb...