It was looking iffy there for a while. Looked like the spirit of Joe Webb had transfused itself into Garrett Gilbert’s body and enhanced him with special powers. He had been given the gift of playing like Joe Montana against the Eagles on a Tuesday night at Lincoln Financial Field.

But alas, it was not to be. The Birds patched up their early mistakes and answered a late Washington score to take the Joe Webb narrative and squash it. They grounded and pounded a depleted Washington defense that lost a few more guys during the course of the game. It was old fashioned football in the second half, and it was nice to see the Birds bulldoze the nameless team owned by king (alleged) scumbag Daniel Snyder.

Believe it or not, the Eagles are 7-7 with three games to play. The Wild Card spot is there for the taking. That’s more than we could have asked for at the beginning of the year with a brand new coaching staff, so let’s enjoy it. It’s December 22nd and the Birds are still alive.

 

1) Hurts so good after cleaning it up

Same story with Jalen Hurts in his return to action. There was some really good and some bad, a mixed early bag from the starting QB, who didn’t seem 100% healthy coming back from the high ankle sprain. Maybe that’s just my observation, but he didn’t seem as nimble as he usually is.

It’ll go down on the box score as 20-26 for 296 yards, one touchdown, one fumble, and an interception that wasn’t his fault. Nick Sirianni was giving it to him after the turnover on the second drive:

“Jalen’s dad coached him hard and my dad coached me hard, so I think Jalen responds to tough coaching,” said Nick Sirianni of that exchange. “He likes tough coaching, and I wasn’t going to back down on him. I thought he was careless with the football, and I let him know that and we are just honest with each other. Sometimes it comes off as we’re just talking through it and sometimes I’ve got to deliver the message a little bit different.”

To his credit, Hurts really put it together after that. He hit a couple of nice intermediate throws and pounded in two quarterback sneaks for touchdowns. The Greg Ward TD pass was a pretty throw on the run, and Hurts continues to show QB1 glimpses as we head into the final three games here.

2) Missed targets and red zone issues

The only question about Hurts being a bona fide NFL QB1 is that there are still some passes you want to see him hit and some decisions that should be made differently. For all of the things he does really well, it just doesn’t seem like he’s always reading the field and/or identifying the best place to go with the ball.

Case in point:

Hurts had two guys open on this play, which was 3rd and goal effort where they went empty set/five wide. Dallas Goedert appeared to be open on the seam and Kenneth Gainwell on the slant, but he went to DeVonta Smith in double coverage instead.

There was another connection to Goedert where Jalen Reagor appeared to be open over the top as well. And on the red zone possession prior to the five-wide play, Hurts had a chance to get Reagor in the end zone on a screen but just couldn’t get the ball out to the flat fast enough.

It might come off as harsh or negative focusing on this stuff, but I promise that’s not the goal, to kill Hurts. We’re trying to evaluate him as a next-level NFL passer and so these are the kinds of things that are going to steer the bulk of the discourse. He was really good on Tuesday night, but we’re not trying to find out if he’s really good; we’re trying to find out if he’s a franchise quarterback.

3) ground and pound with Miles Sanders

131 yards for Miles Sanders, which is a career high. The Eagles now have seven-straight games with more than 175 yards, and this graphic has to make you feel pretty good on a Wednesday morning:

screengrab pulled by the Birds vs. Boys podcast

Credit to Sirianni for continuing to run the ball after going down 10-0. Week 2 Sirianni would have bottled it and tried to throw his way back into the game, but they finished overall with 238 yards on 41 carries split between Sanders, Hurts, and Jordan Howard, who carried it 15 times for 69 yards.

“All I could do is compliment my offensive line and (Jeff Stoutland),” Sanders said after the win. “They are doing a heck of a job each and every week. This is the (fifth) game in a row with over 200 yards rushing. That is a credit to the offensive line and they are making it very easy for the running backs to run behind them.”

4) Jason Kelce rumbling

Once per year, I try to pull a Jason Kelce clip and give him some love in this column. There’s always some ridiculous footage of him getting out in space and looking to pancake some poor schlub, and this one fits the bill:

The career highlight reel of him rumbling downhill and blocking in space is going to be something else. I might actually pay to see it in the IMAX theater. No joke. I would pay at least 15 bucks to watch a clip of his downhill and second level blocking, lumped together in one continuous reel, on a movie theater screen.

5) Zebra watch

The big officiating thing in this game was the early interception that bounced off Dallas Goedert’s foot:

The Eagles actually got lucky here because the play was blown dead. Landon Collins could have just run that into the end zone if it was a live ball and the refs were paying attention. Washington did score anyway, and this was a funky sequence, but luckily the zebras didn’t do anything to ruin the game.

6) Mistakes and breaks

Bit of a regression here after the bye week, as they showed some rust early:

Mistakes:

  • Dallas Goedert first series drop. He had daylight in front of him.
  • Hurts fumble in the pocket (of course it was the unvaccinated Montez Sweat, who returned for this game and forced the ball loose)
  • Sua Opeta holding on a screen
  • Jordan Mailata holding on that 4th down conversion (bear hugged him)
  • Mailata 2nd and 1 false start
  • Goedert 3rd and 6 drop on a play that could have gone for A LOT of yardage
  • Avonte Maddox 3rd down DPI
  • Kenneth Gainwell dropping a screen pass

On the Hurts fumble, gotta shout out Jalen Reagor for running down the ball carrier and jarring it loose. Birds almost fell it on there and that was a good hustle play from him.

Breaks:

  • Refs blowing dead the Collins interception.
  • Adam Humphries dropping what should have been a touchdown.
  • Hurts throwing into double coverage and Goedert coming down with it.
  • Genard Avery looking verrrrrrry close to being offside on the 3rd and 1 stop, but the refs not flagging it
  • Washington blind side block wiping out a big gain

RE: that blind side block call, good bail out for Derek Barnett, because he was getting eaten by Gilbert and couldn’t shed that block for some reason. Not a great look for him.

7) Ancillary wins and losses

Let’s have a look now, shall we?

  • won time of possession 35:17 to 24:43
  • -2 turnover margin
  • 7-13 on third down (53.8%)
  • 0-1 on fourth down
  • WFT 6-13 on third down (46.1%)
  • lost 15 yards on 3 sacks
  • 3-6 success rate in the red zone
  • 4 penalties for 48 yards
  • 23 first downs, 14 for Washington
  • ran 70 total plays, Washington 54

Turnovers and red zone issues, but solid otherwise across the board. Also, I don’t know where else to put this, but here’s Howard Eskin talking about “Dallas Goedart,” who dressed up as an elf after the game:

8) Nick’s best call?

Good challenge on the second drive. DeVonta Smith clearly got that second foot down and the guys in the booth saw it right away. You could hear the crowd going totally apeshit when they showed it on the jumbotron as well. The broadcast noted that Sirianni is now 5 for 6 on challenges this year, which amounts to 83%.

I also liked the decision to go on 4th and 1, and liked the toss to Jordan Howard, but unfortunately the Mailata holding wiped it out.

The wrinkle with Darius Slay in on offense? The play worked. Moved the sticks. Not sure why Washington was so intent on going with those guys in motion, but they did, and it opened up space for the ball carrier:

9) Nick’s worst call?

Second drive, they tried that orbit motion swing pass for Sanders and it went for diddly poo. Might be time to remove that one from the playbook.

There were a couple of instances where he could have been more aggressive in this game. The punt after the Mailata hold. The decision to kick the field goal on 4th and goal, etc. Seemed like he had some opportunities to go for it, and he was passive instead. I do think taking the second field goal instead of trying to convert on 4th and 1 was the right call. Take those points and make it a two-score game.

https://twitter.com/PaganettiRyan/status/1473456609363992611?s=20

10) Excellence in broadcasting

Kevin Kugler and legendary Eagles quarterback Mark Sanchez on the call for this one. Laura Okmin on the sidelines. Sources say Sanchez ran into Kugler’s butt and fumbled the football.

The crew was fine, I guess. Sanchez was getting killed on Twitter. He’s new to this, and said some weird stuff, though the timeline revealed that Washington fans thought he was showing favor to the Eagles. Was he? I think that’s all overrated. Everybody thinks every announcer hates their team.

Finally, how’s this for some political pandering? –

There was video of him doing Fly Eagles Fly, but it was deleted. Why? We need answers!

Meantime, Dr. Oz rises in the Mehmet rankings, passing Okur for #1.

Go Birds! Good morning.