Two indisputable facts:
No. 1: The Eagles have a lot of work to do.
No. 2: The Eagles are 1-0.
The Eagles built a 17-point lead in the third quarter, then hung on for dear life for a 38-35 win over the Lions in the season opener at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday.
The Eagles didn’t secure this one until Jalen Hurts – barely – gained a yard on 4th-and-1 at the Lions 40-yard line with 66 seconds left.
Yeah.
Here are our 10 snapshot observations of a spooky afternoon in Michigan.
1. Nick Sirianni has been talking all summer about how adversity is inevitable, what’s important is how you handle it. Little did he know the Eagles would face it 33 seconds into the season. That’s when D’Andre Swift rushed for 51 yards on the second play of the game to set up a Lions touchdown. It was the longest scrimmage streak against the Eagles on Opening Day since Tiki Barber had a 72 yard run for the Giants in 2004. The Lions led 7-0 after just 4½ minutes of play, then the Eagles gave the Lions good ground. position when they couldn’t convert 4th and 5th. Want adversity? Here is. And you must like the reaction of the Eagles. Over the next 19 minutes, the Eagles beat the Lions 223-22 and outscored them 21-7 to come back in a game that couldn’t have started worse. It didn’t all go well for the Eagles after that, but they showed a lot of character and resilience as they bounced back from what was truly a disastrous start and held on in the fourth quarter when the thing was on the not to walk away from them.
2. I’ve been blown away all summer by AJ Brown, but seeing him make those same plays in his first game in an Eagles uniform just goes to show how incredibly talented this kid is. And how crazy is it that the Eagles got him for a mid-1st round pick and a 3rd-round pick. This 18 meters that he hung about an inch from the ground, it was a work of art. And the 54 yards before halftime while Will Harris grabbed his jersey? It was a masterpiece. Brown was 6 for 128 at halftime and finished 10 for 155, breaking Donte’ Stallworth’s club record of 141 for most yards by a receiver in his Eagles debut. I don’t want to get too excited after a game, but it’s scary how good he is. And he just turned 25. And he’s here until at least 2025. And that was only the beginning.
3. We talked about a lot of things that could go wrong for the Eagles this year, but no one ever thought run defense was one of them. The Eagles were 9th in the NFL against the run last year and that was without Jordan Davis, Brandon Graham, Kyzir White and all the other newcomers. For the Lions, ramming it down the Eagles throat on the ground is a huge concern. And it wasn’t just Swift’s 51 yards. The Lions — 19th in the NFL with the ball last year — ran for 181 yards on Sunday, and even slow-footed Goff converted a key third with a 10-yard run on a 3rd-and-7 to set the Lions up. third TD, and that just can’t happen. The Eagles’ revamped secondary did a great job of coverage — Goff was a punchless 21-for-37 for 215 yards — but the run defense was embarrassing. Too many guys out of position, too many guys smelling tackles, too many guys not finishing. This needs to be corrected immediately.
4. My biggest concern with the defense was whether they had the manpower to generate consistent passing pressure even after Haason Reddick was added, and while I thought they sometimes had decent pressure in the first half , there was nothing in the second half when the Lions started. to retaliate. Jonathan Gannon certainly blitzed more than we saw last year – and that created some early pressure – but the defensive front didn’t have a sack and only had two runs against a quarterback he fired six times last year. And against a smashed Detroit line. With the addition of Reddick, returning Brandon Graham and Josh Sweat coming off a big second half, you would have hoped that would no longer be an issue. But at least in the first game it was for sure.
5. I was curious to see how much Chauncey Gardner-Johnson could contribute just 12 days after the Eagles acquired him, and, wow, he looked like a guy who’s been here all summer. CJGJ made an impact on the Lions’ 3rd straight down in the second quarter, first with lightning pressure and then coverage on Amon-Ra St. Brown on a third down. Anthony Harris is a class player, but CJGJ made more plays on Sunday than Harris made all of last year. He is right around the ball, quick, athletic and active. Was called for a false DPI in the fourth quarter. But what a huge addition less than two weeks before opening.
6. It wasn’t a statistical masterpiece by Jalen Hurts, but he had 31 points, won his second straight opener, made no glaring errors, was sharp on third down, did a lot of plays with his legs and had a nice job recovery after that 0 for 5 start. Finished 18 for 32 for 243 passing yards with 90 rushing yards so he was 18 for 27 after starting 0 in 5. Fourteen carries is way too much, but I thought the o line was shaky at first, forcing him to break out of the pocket and run more than he wanted to. But the attack eventually picked up a pace, he threw with precision and ran less as the game progressed. Hurts didn’t throw a touchdown pass, but I don’t care. In a noisy stadium, on the road, at the 20th start of his career, he was doing very well.
seven. I loved how Shane Steichen used his back, mixing up Miles Sanders and Kenny Gainwell and getting good production from both, then going to Boston Scott in the third quarter on the goal line. Gainwell got the first set of the third quarter, and we didn’t see Sanders for a minute, then on his first return to the field since the second quarter – rested, fresh legs – he explodes for 24 yards . Three plays later, Gainwell scores. Sanders looked quick, strong and explosive — 13 for 96 and his first touchdown since Week 16 of 2020. And that 24 yards for a huge first down late in the fourth quarter was huge. And Gainwell added 20 yards on five carries. Including their receptions, the backs combined for 147 scrimmage yards and three touchdowns on 26 touches. Including Hurts’ TD, it was the first time in 61 years that four different Eagles had a rushing touchdown in the same game. On October 22, 1961, in a 43-7 victory over the Cowboys in the Cotton Bowl, Clarence Peaks had two and Billy Ray Barnes, Ted Dean and Theron Sapp had one each. Tremendous efficiency and production.
8. This James Bradberry-6 pick was such a big play for several reasons. It came with the Eagles still battling for a bit after a slow start and gave the Eagles a 14-point lead. And it was also the product of two guys playing in their first games as the Eagles, two big parts of Howie Roseman’s roster revamp. It was Kyzir White who deflected it to Bradberry – then added a key block for good measure. But it was the kind of game that this team had been missing for a while. They’ve been among the worst in the NFL at forcing turnovers over the past four years, and to not only get a takeaway at a pivotal moment in the game, but to turn it into seven points was encouraging.
9. Lots of really sloppy play by the Eagles – two false starts, one offensive and one defensive outfit, one neutral zone offense, two 12-man downfield, two game delays, pass interference. They were lucky to get over that stuff, but Sirianni and Gannon need to clean that up now because you’re not going to win a lot of games by committing 10 penalties.
ten. Final Word on Sanders: What a terrific second effort on that 24-yard run on a 3rd-and-2 with 2:21 remaining that essentially put the game away. Lions linebacker Derrick Barnes had his arms around Sanders and was about to stuff him for a loss, but Sanders showed tenacity and courage as he pulled away from Barnes and rushed onto the field for the one of the biggest games of the day. Sanders, who missed most of training camp, finished 13 for 96 with a few catches for nine yards and a scrimmage for 105 yards. And most importantly… he wasn’t hurt. If Sanders plays like that, that new contract is going to happen.
11. OK, bonus observation: Bradberry became the first Eagle with a pick-6 in his first game as an Eagle since Don Looney had a 31-yarder against Packers QB Cecil Isbell on Opening Day 1940 at the old Green Bay City Stadium. And he became the first Eagle cornerback with a pick-6 on the road since Dimitri Patterson knocked out Donovan McNabb at FedEx Field in that game 59-28 in 2010.
#Roobs #Obs #sloppy #defense #brown #balls