November 27, 2022
First half fireworks!
Untimely turnovers were forced, extra points were missed and seven touchdowns were scored in all. Things were on the seesaw, but the Eagles are up 27-20 over Packers under the bright lights of Sunday Night Football down in South Philadelphia.
Here are my running thoughts from the first 30 minutes of play:
• Facing a third and 10 on the opening drive, Jalen Hurts picked up right where he left after running all over the Colts in Indianapolis. Hurts hung in the pocket, but as the pressure collapsed upon him, he broke through and scattered towards a first down. More All-Madden-level jukes kept that train chugging along, as Hurts' 24-year run had the crowd at Lincoln Financial Field absolutely electric. Ankles were broken!
Look at @JalenHurts go 💨
— NFL (@NFL) November 28, 2022
📺: #GBvsPHI on NBC
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/FRZHlv4OoL pic.twitter.com/N6QIHlB3D7
• Another third down on the drive? Another huge Hurts run, picking up 28 yards. How would you rank him among the most entertaining players in the NFL? Not best. Just entertaining. He's, at minimum, top five alongside the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson.
That fact that he's doing it in Air Jordan Concord 11 cleats only makes it that much cooler.
• A running theme (pun intended): the Eagles' prolific 2021 rushing is back. Besides that first drive, the offensive line kept dishing out pain in the ground game. Hurts keeps torching the Green Bay defense, up to 126 yards on 10 carries.
Miles Sanders picked up two goal line touchdown runs as well. Sanders is up to eight rushing TDs on this season. He had nine his previous three seasons combined.
• I barely have enough time to write with how wild this game is.
On their first offensive drive, Green Bay was facing a 3rd and 4 from their own 15. The Packers' makeshift OL totally forgot that Pro Bowl pass rusher Javon Hargrave was coming up the middle with the force of thunder after Aaron Rodgers and the Magical Mystery Tour. Hargrave couldn't quite wrap up Rodgers, who still has legit pocket maneuverability in his age-39 season. The QB rolled right and attempt a throw for the first down that was deflected and landed in the hands of cornerback Josiah Scott. It's Scott's first career INT:
First career INT for @JosiahScott7 🦅
— NFL (@NFL) November 28, 2022
📺: #GBvsPHI on NBC
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/FRZHlv4OoL pic.twitter.com/slILf1c2Qj
Scott has seen an increase in playing time given that starting slot corner Avonte Maddox hasn't played since the Eagles' Week 9 win against the Texans in Houston. The "Next Man Up" mantra from the 2017 season has carried over to these Eagles. Jordan Davis missing time? Well, here come Linval Joseph and Ndamukong Suh. The loss of Maddox is significant. He's on IR and the earliest he's eligible to return is in Week 14 against the Giants. Scott has made a statement about his game, separating himself from these young-ish, back-of-the-roster CBs the team has stockpiled over the last couple of seasons, hoping to find a diamond in the rough.
• With the first half nearly over and Eagles team of yesteryear "settling" for a field goal, Hurts uncorked a good throw to Quez Watkins that was one-upped with great ball-tracking and an in-bounds catch. Touchdown:
Hurts to Watkins! @Eagles score before the half 🙌@JalenHurts | #FlyEaglesFly
— NFL (@NFL) November 28, 2022
📺: #GBvsPHI on NBC
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/FRZHlv4OoL pic.twitter.com/cfhPosiT4Q
Hurts is doing it with his arms and his legs!
• Jake Elliott missed an extra-point attempt following the Eagles' second touchdown of the first quarter. That just can't happen. Continuing the year-long theme of lackluster special teams play, Packers returner Keisean Nixon took the ensuing kickoff to the Packers' 41. This put them in prime position to throw a score of their own up on the board (more on that in a second!). It's a mishmash of the special teamers not following their lines and missing tackles. Not great.
The Packers started their first drive at their own 9 and threw an interception on third down. They started their second drive at their own 41 and marched down the field for a TD. That makes a hell of a difference.
The special team woes go beyond how fed up fan base may be with Britain Covey and other juice-less return men. It extends to the kick and punt coverage, blocking on returns and more.
• Complaints about the Eagles' run defense aren't going away just yet. With that excellent field position, the Birds' special teams gifted them, the Packers trusted their great running back duo of Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon to get them to the end zone.
A barreling 20-yard TD run from the 247-pound Dillon cut things to a six-point game and what felt like a quick blowout slowly morphed into a game that may go down to the wire.
Tighten up and hope that Jordan Davis is back against Derrick Henry and the Titans.
• The Eagles' elite short-yardage running attack was stopped on 3rd and 1 and 4th and 1 from their own 37 late in the first quarter. I'm sure the coaching brass will draw criticism for that aggressive call that deep in their own territory, but this offense has showcased at every turn the last two seasons that they can convert on those plays. That's a risk that should be taken.
After Hurts was stuffed on what everyone assumed was an unstoppable QB sneak on third down, a fumbled snap from Jason Kelce and Hurts threw the fourth down call into disarray and the Birds turned the ball over. It's hard for me to see from my vantage point in the press box at the Linc, but the chatter appears to be that Hurts was over the line both times. Maybe that's true, but, unfortunately in the Eagles' case, that's never a play that's going to get turned over on a challenge.
There was a false start from Lane Johnson on that play that should've negated it. It is what it is when it comes to referees.
If people want to hate the refs, however, who am I to stop them?
• There have been some issues on the snap between Kelce and Hurts this season. That needs to get rectified ASAP.
• Losing C.J. Gardner-Johnson for an indefinite period of time with this safety depth? That's rough. Extremely. Earlier this week in an article talking about Dallas Goedert's injury absence, I said Gardner-Johnson was one of the five Eagles the team could least afford to lose given his own production and the replacement players who'd step in.
Though this is the "bad" section, it's worth mentioning that backup safety Reed Blankenship came in, read Rodgers' progressions perfectly and jumped this pass with the precision of Asante Samuel to give the Birds ball back with a little over 11 minutes remaining in the half:
Rookie Reed Blankenship picks it! @reedus99_reed | #FlyEaglesFly
— NFL (@NFL) November 28, 2022
📺: #GBvsPHI on NBC
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/FRZHlv4OoL pic.twitter.com/I6pOgV3DXx
"Next Man Up," right?
• Speaking of fumbling woes... A.J. Brown, what's going on?
Brown had a costly fumble when the Eagles were driving against the Colts last week and fumbled late in the second quarter on 3rd and 8 that the Packers returned 63 yards:
Quay Walker almost took the fumble back for a TD ‼️
— NFL (@NFL) November 28, 2022
📺: #GBvsPHI on NBC
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/FRZHlv4OoL pic.twitter.com/wOumNSaeFl
If there's no fumble, the Eagles kick a field goal and go up two score 23-14. A short few plays later, it was 20-20 (Green Bay missed an extra point of their own). That's a swing.
• Starting position for all three of Green Bay's first half touchdowns: GB 41, PHI 31 and PHI 13. The Eagles' mistakes in the first half are of the worst variety: self-inflicted while handing the other team both the ball and yards.
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