My thoughts on the Eagles' thrilling 27-24 victory over the New York Giants...
*The Giants had a great game plan, using the no-huddle offense thru-out the game. Eli Manning was accurate with his quick-drop short passes. Not only were Eagle defenders playing too soft on the New York receivers, Manning didn't hold the ball long enough for the Philly pass rush to sack the NY quarterback.. Later in the game, when the Giants needed to get the ball down field more, Vinny Curry and others put the heat on Eli.
* Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz never did adjust to the Giants' game plan. I guess he thought his secondary could not handle the New York passing game one-on-one. He played zone all day and hardly blitzed. True, the Eagle secondary was banged up. But the Giants exploited the seams in the Philly defense all day. Schwartz got ultra-conservative with the lead in the 4th quarter. He got away with it yesterday, but Schwartz scares me with the way he coaches defense in the future.
* Same thing about Coach Doug Pederson. He made a really stupid call late in the 1st half, going for a 4th-and- eight near mid-field, instead of punting and pinning the G-men back near the end of the half. First, it was a crazy move. It's different when you only have a yard to go. Carson Wentz converted two fourth-and-inches tries earlier. But the Birds needed eight yards! You give the struggling Giants great field position if you do not convert.
The attempt predictably failed. The Giants got the ball and drove it down to the Philadelphia goal line. There, New York went brain-dead with only three inches for a touchdown ( the NY coach McAdoo may be even a worse play-caller than Pederson). So, Doug escaped a brutal call ( How big would a Giant field goal been then?).
Pederson scares me. Hopefully he learns form the awful decision. But that's why Pederson is going to give Eagles fans angina all season. You just never know when he will do something goofy. I don't trust him. He is admittedly learning on the job. I don't have much faith on the coach and still think he will cost the team sometime this season.
Note" Hardly anyone agreed with Pederson's terrible decision. Pederson later said he consulted his analytics guy in the booth for that decision. First, why even consult a nerdy, geeky guy like that? Use basic common sense! One doesn't have to be a head football coach or even a stupid analytics guy ( was Matt Klentak in the booth?) to know it was a bad play-call. Listen to the fans!
Some young guy form Bleeding Green Nation who was on the WIP Morning Show today agreed with Pederson. Typical millennial who thinks analytics are cool.
* LaGarrette Blount run like man on fire yesterday, not only scoring twice on short runs near the goal, but slashing the Giants' defense in the first half. He looked like a man on a mission. Strange, he doesn't touch the ball last week in Kansas City but is the featured runner yesterday against the Giants?
Hopefully Pederson gets the idea and continues to use the ground game. It opens up the pass game, controls the clock and gives the defense a pest, especially on a brutally hot afternoon like Sunday.
* The Philly offense, despite scoring 27 points, still isn't clicking on all cylinders. Not much down the field. The dink-and -dunk West Coast offense. Sometimes you gotta takes shots over the top to keep the opposing defense honest.
Zach Ertz remains a mystery. He caught an easy touchdown pass, but also dropped one and had a crucial fumble in the second half which helped the new York comeback.
Ertz will hopefully have a break-out season, a Pro Bowl year. He seems to be Wentz' favorite target, his security blanket over the middle and in the slot. I won't kill Ertz. Everyone fumbles now and then, even in big situations. I have more faith in Ertz than I do in Pederson.
* What the hell is wrong with Odell Beckham Jr.? He's a great player and caught two incredible touchdown passes yesterday. But Beckham Jr. lived up to his reputation as an immature punk when, after scoring his first TD, he crawled on the ground at the back of the end zone, lifted his right leg and pretended to pee like a dog.
Who even plans something as classless and vulgar as that? He got an unsportsmanlike penalty for the act; hopefully he gets fined by the league as well.
I would love him to catch passes for the Eagles. He's got incredible talent, speed and makes circus catches like no other receiver. But Beckham Jr. has got to be an embarrassment for an otherwise classy Giants organization.
* So much went into Jake Elliot's last-second 51-yard field goal to win the game. It was the longest field goal ever at the steamy Linc. It was the longest field goal in Eagles history period. And it won a division home game vs your arch-rival.
The New York punter, Brad Wing, shanked a punt just before the last drive. The 24-yard punt gave Wentz and the offense a chance to even get close enough to try a long, miracle FG. A normal punt and it never happens.
The Philly clock operator gave the Birds one second to try the winning field goal Twice the Linc clock operator gave the Birds a break. Home field advantage!
The kick itself...Elliot had made and missed long field goals earlier in the game. For Pederson to say in his press conference that he "knew" Elliot would make that kick was ridiculous.
Like the movie "Rudy", Elliot was mobbed and carried off the field by Eagle players. You gotta think the rest of the season will tell Elliot's fate with the team. Caleb Sturgis is an OK kicker, but if he loses his job, Wally Pip-like by injury, I wouldn't be too depressed. Sturgis is no Morton Andersen. So, Elliot will either stay with the team and become a David Akers guy for the next 10 years, or he will fade into Eagles' history, always remembered, the answer to a great trivia question down the road.
Beckham Jr. was lurking in the end zone, hoping for a chance to run back the short field goal attempt. I wonder what he was thinking as the ball went over the crossbar with a few feet to spare? Beckham Jr. can jump- did he have a chance to knock the ball away?.
* The thrilling victory may have come with a steep price: at least 3 Eagles came out of the hot, sweaty game with significant injuries. RB Darren Sproles reported has a broken right arm. More details due today, but count him out for maybe 6-8 weeks; DT Fletcher Cox torn a calf muscle. Will he be week-to-week/ And LB Jordan Hicks suffered some sort of unspecified leg injury. All would be costly if lost any amount of time.
* So, what's the bottom line/ Give the Eagles credit for coming back twice in the 4th quarter. yes, they blew a big lead when they dominated all day and seemed to have the Giants down and out. but they did come back, and Wentz did engineer a game-winning drive at tithe end, something rare.
The Birds are 2-1. winning their home opener in front of a crazed crowd. They are 2-0 in the NFC East, which is big. If they had to win 2 out of the first 3 games, winning the pair of division games was the way to go.
They travel to Los Angeles next Sunday to face the 0-3 Chargers. Could it be a trap game? Philly coming off of n emotional win? Travelling across the country to play a struggling Charger team that can score points, led by the always- dangerous QB Phillip Rivers. Don't the Chargers have to finally win in LA sooner or later?
Meanwhile, the Giants, despite playing hard, are 0-3 and have to be emotionally drained The have games with Tampa Bay, Seattle and Denver on the horizon. Stick a fork in 'em, they are cooked.
Elsewhere....
* They must've shown that stupid Hynda commercial where a driver sings Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" at least 5 times during the game. I hate it with a passion, so pre-conceived and not real. Typical of most car ads and commercials in general. However, a clever and funny ad was the Geiko one ( their commercials are generally funny) where the guy was playing a "triangle solo" in an orchestra, withering on the floor like Chuck Berry doing a guitar solo.
* I finally got a chanc eto catch Tony Romo doing the Green Bay- Cincinnati game on CBS, and, as much as I hate to admit it, he was really good. Talks to much, but he has a lot of information and seems refreshingly enthusiastic about what he is watching.
For instance, He pointed out that if a team in a two-minute drill has time-outs to use, always use one around the one minute mark. It comes down to math, Romo explained, and how many plays you can get off in a minute. You never want to not have enough time, he reasoned. And he's right.
I thought another Dallas quarterback,Troy Aiken, was a good color guy, but after listening to Romo, I have to begrudgingly say that he may be the best analyst out there right now.
* I barely survived another week in Glen Macnow's Last Fan Standing football pool, as the Packers escaped at home over a feisty Bengals team. It was a week of upsets, with teams like the Bears, redskins, Jets and Titans all winning ( I did predict the Washington and Chicago victories), so the players should be weeded out a bit. The upsets could've been even bigger if the Patriots didn't survive in New England at the end vs the Texans.
My complete NFL week 3 wrap-up will appear in the blog tomorrow. Tonight it's the Cowboys visiting the Cardinals in Monday Night football. I say Arizona wins, leaving the Eagles tied for the lead in NFC East with Washington, both at 2-1. Technically, the Birds would be ahead, having already beaten the 'Skins.
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