December 25, 2023
Eric Hartline/USA TODAY Sports
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles won on Christmas, but it sure didn't feel that way.
The Philadelphia Eagles won a football game. On Christmas. And against a hated NFC East rival. So I guess angels sang, the baby Jesus smiled, and holiday cheer was spread all over Philadelphia, right? Ehhhhh, not so much. Winning beats losing, but the Birds did little to boost confidence that they have figured things out after losing their previous three games.
As always, win, lose, or tie, we hand out 10 awards.
With 18 seconds left in the half from the Giants' 15 yard line, Hurts scrambled from the pocket and was in the midst of picking up a nice gain. He was clearly not going to score as several defenders had cut off his path to the end zone, but he could have easily stepped out of bounds and stopped the clock. Instead, he continued to try to run for more yards, was tackled in bounds, and the clock continued to run.
Hurts was lucky that a dopey Giants player (Bobby Okereke) grabbed the football and would not let go, which led to a defensive delay of game penalty. Otherwise, the clock might have run out before the Eagles could have spiked the ball. The Eagles did kick a field goal to close the half, but by not running out of bounds Hurts squandered one last chance at taking a shot into the end zone for a touchdown.
There's no way to sugarcoat it ā that was an extremely boneheaded play.
As a passer, Hurts threw an unfortunate INT that was returned for a touchdown. Dallas Goedert slipped on the play, so I'd chalk that one up as more of a bad break than a bad throw. However, on the play right before that, Hurts threw well behind A.J. Brown on a pass where he may not have seen Okereke. If that pass were on target it might have been picked instead.
On the day, Hurts was 24-for-38 for 301 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT. He also had eight rushes for 34 yards and a TD. Those numbers look fine on paper, but the passing offense does not pass the eye test right now.
Hurts seemed particularly bothered by the Giants' blitz-heavy scheme. His first instinct all evening (and for a while now, really) seems to be to try to extend the play by bailing from the pocket and buying more time to throw, as opposed to getting the ball out more quickly. Of course, the scheme often doesn't seem to give Hurts hot reads to throw to quickly, or, you know, maybe he would?
Whatever the case, you can bet that opposing defenses are going to continue to dial up blitzes until Hurts and the Eagles' offense prove that they can carve them up.Ā
Hurts wasn't alone on the mistake front.
ā¢ Jalen Carter got off the field so slowly after a third down stop that the Giants got a snap off on a punt before he reached the sideline. The officials called him for offsides, but could have also dinged him for being the 12th man on the field. That gave the Giants a 4th and 1 opportunity that they converted. The Eagles defense would eventually get a stop and bail Carter out.
ā¢ Later, Carter jumped offsides, and could have been called for a neutral zone infraction. Carter's body language seemed to indicate that he knew he had made a big mistake. Instead, he was bailed out by a questionable false start call on the Giants' center. Had the officials called Carter for offsides, the Giants would have been gifted a new set of downs.
ā¢ Jordan Mailata had an obviously bad block in the back that preceded Hurts' pick-six.
ā¢ Sydney Brown had a dumb late hit on Tyrod Taylor.
ā¢ A.J. Brown had a couple of drops.
I could go on.Ā It's December. This is when veteran teams should be playing their best ball of the season. The Eagles are playing their worst ball, and a lot of it is mental.
During an Eagles touchdown drive in the fourth quarter, Eagles fan started loudly chanting "RUN THE BALL."
The "Run the Ball" mantra has been a weird, nonsensical obsession with parts of the fan base over the last month or so, but in this case, they were kinda right!
The run game was working, and the passing game was struggling. And sure enough, when Nick Sirianni called a run to Kenny Gainwell, the fans reacted with a sarcastic cheer, which turned to actual cheers after Gainwell ripped off a 22-yard run.
But the star of the game in the run game was D'Andre Swift, who made flashy runs all evening, including this 5-yard TD:Ā
What a response from the @Eagles š¦
— NFL (@NFL) December 26, 2023
šŗ: #NYGvsPHI on FOX
š±: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/2Mgsj0ajbL pic.twitter.com/JGTFgXEaqD
After the game, Hurts was asked what he thought of the "run the ball" chants:
Jalen Hurts said that he tried not to pay attention to the ārun the ballā chants. He added, āTheyāre supposed to get loud for the defense, not [the offense].ā
— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) December 26, 2023
On the one hand, he's right. On the other hand, butting heads with the fans is never a great idea in Philly.
Smith had the play of the night for the offense, when he got a lot of separation on a slant and then took it to the house.
Hurts and Smith puts the Eagles up two scores ā¼ļø
— NFL (@NFL) December 25, 2023
šŗ: #NYGvsPHI on FOX
š±: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/2Mgsj0ajbL pic.twitter.com/Iie4TCe9SA
He made that look easy. He finished with four catches on five targets for 79 yards and the above TD. A.J. Brown also made a huge play on a 3rd and 20 reception for a first down, but otherwise had an up and down game.
The Eagles entered this game down their top three linebackers in Zach Cunningham, Nicholas Morrow, and Nakobe Dean. They started Shaq Leonard, Ben VanSumeren, and even got Nolan Smith involved in an off-ball linebacker role.Ā
Until I get a chance to re-watch the game, it's hard to know whether those guys played well or if the Giants simply couldn't exploit them, but the biggest question mark heading into this matchup for the Birds didn't end up being an issue.
Heading into Week 16, the Giants had given up a staggering 76 (!) sacks this season, by far the most in the NFL:
| Ā Team | Sacks allowed through Week 15 |
| Ā Giants | 76Ā |
| Ā Jets | 61Ā |
| Ā Commanders | 59Ā |
| Ā Panthers | 54Ā |
| Ā Titans | 50Ā |
They had already given up the third-most sacks in a season in NFL history, with three games to play:
| Ā Team | Sacks allowedĀ |
| 1986 EaglesĀ | 104Ā |
| Ā 1987 Cardinals | 78Ā |
| Ā 2023 GiantsĀ | 76Ā |
| Ā 2002 TexansĀ | 76Ā |
So what did the Eagles' pass rush do against them? Not much. Haason Reddick got pressure at times, but everyone else was a no-show. Leonard notched one sack, on a broken play.Ā
It would be an understatement to say that the Eagles' pass rush has simply not been the dominant force it was a year ago.
There was some ugliness on the Eagles' sideline during the Giants; final drive of the game.
Nick Sirianni fuming on the sideline. #FlyEaglesFly #Eagles #NickSirianni pic.twitter.com/xEsOba3Fup
— AC īØ (@ACinPhilly) December 26, 2023
The Eagles weren't forthcoming as to what that was all about. I'm sure it'll come out. But that's certainly not the first time we've seen heated exchanges on the Eagles' sidelines this season.Ā
During the Eagles' run to the Super Bowl in 2022, it felt like we saw players and coaches having a lot of fun. This year... not so much.
Covey had a 54-yard punt return that set up the Eagles' first score of the game.Ā Ā
Britain Covey is so dangerous as a punt returner
— NFL (@NFL) December 25, 2023
šŗ: #NYGvsPHI on FOX
š±: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/2Mgsj0ajbL pic.twitter.com/PCveiMhTwq
That wasn't some return where things just opened up and he ran to daylight. Covey cooked on that return making guys miss all the way down the field. He has become one of the best punt returners in the NFL.
With 5:32 left in the game, the Eagles up 12, and the Giants at their own 31 yard line, Slayton somehow got behind the Eagles' defense for a not-so-nice 69-yard score:
Tyrod Taylor tossing a dime to Darius Slayton šÆ
— NFL (@NFL) December 26, 2023
šŗ: #NYGvsPHI on FOX
š±: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/2Mgsj0ajbL pic.twitter.com/Uzdw0ahxJp
That felt like a busted coverage, which I suppose should be expected of a team that abruptly changed their defensive coordinator after 13 games.
With their win over the Giants and the Cowboys' loss to the Dolphins on Sunday, the Eagles re-took sole possession of first place in the NFC East.
As of this writing, the 49ers are losing 33-12 to the Ravens. If the Ravens are able to hold on for the win (update: they did), then the Eagles, 49ers, and Lions will all have 11-4 records with two games to play. Their schedules:Ā
| 49ersĀ | LionsĀ | EaglesĀ |
| At Commanders (4-11)Ā | At Cowboys (10-5)Ā | Cardinals (3-12) |
| Rams (8-7)Ā | Vikings (7-8)Ā | At Giants (5-10)Ā |
The Eagles are behind on tiebreakers to both teams in most scenarios, but they very clearly have the easiest remaining schedule. Could this team be a 1 seed?
Follow Jimmy & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @JimmyKempski | thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
Add Jimmy's RSS feed to your feed reader
