December 22, 2016

Instant observations: Eagles 24, Giants 19

By Rich Hofmann
PhillyVoice Contributor

The Giants were looking for a playoff spot, while the Eagles were playing for nothing but pride in the last Thursday Night Football game of the year at The Linc. In this case, pride won out.

The Eagles continued their recent domination of the Giants and prevented New York from clinching a playoff spot (well, at least for one more week) with a 24-19 win. With the victory, the Birds improved to 1-6 in one-score games and 4-1 with Lane Johnson in the lineup.

Here’s what I saw:

The good

• For the second week in a row, Doug Pederson went for it near the goal line in a critical spot. Last week, it was a two-point conversion. This week, it was 4th and short:

"THE @GIANTS SLAM THE DOOR ON 4TH & GOAL!"

📱💻: https://t.co/WnjN3VuYXk
📺: NBC + NFLN #TNF #NYGvsPHI https://t.co/wXKQxd6EO9
— NFL (@NFL) December 23, 2016

It didn’t work, and there will likely be criticism for the call. But it says here that (reasonably) aggressive Doug Pederson is a good Doug Pederson. I would like to see his mentality stay that way if and when he has better players to work with on the offensive side of the ball.

MORE ON THE EAGLES: Recap: Eagles snap skid, prevent Giants from clinching playoff berth at Linc | First-half observations: Eagles 24, Giants 16 | Eagles QB Carson Wentz evaluated for concussion, cleared to return vs. Giants | Injured Dorenbos vows return: 'I want to win a Super Bowl so bad here'

• ELIIIIIIIIIII:

INTx2 for @MALCOLMJENKINS!

📱💻: https://t.co/WnjN3VuYXk
📺: NBC + NFLN #TNF https://t.co/T6SeJrBVkB
— NFL (@NFL) December 23, 2016

Malcolm Jenkins, who had two interceptions, was completely locked in.

• Carson Wentz missed his first plays of the season after Olivier Vernon fell on his shoulder on a late hit. He came back into the game, and it was nice to see him make a couple of plays with his legs. The rookie finished 13-24 with one touchdown and one interception.

• When the defense needed a big stop at the end of the game, they got off the field. Jim Schwartz’s crew had the benefit of a false start and Nolan Carroll getting away with pass interference on fourth down, but they got off the field.

And then after the offense couldn’t end things, they got off the field again.

Malcolm Jenkins has more catches than any Eagles WR.
— Colleen Wolfe (@ColleenWolfeNFL) December 23, 2016

The bad

Malcolm Jenkins has more catches than any Eagles WR.
— Colleen Wolfe (@ColleenWolfeNFL) December 23, 2016

• Bad Carson! Bad! Bad!

Wentz almost throws another pick after extending the play. Big difference between the speed in the NFL and FCS @AdrianFedkiw pic.twitter.com/zlpbxQThbn
— Philly Influencer (@PHL_Influencer) December 23, 2016

• My name is Rich Hofmann and I approve these tweets:

"Why yes, let's have the franchise quarterback who just underwent concussion protocol BLOCK ON A DOUBLE REVERSE!!!" #Eagles
— Mike Sielski (@MikeSielski) December 23, 2016

Yeah, maybe don't have Wentz lead-blocking in a meaningless game two minutes after he just cleared concussion protocol.
— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) December 23, 2016

Dear Carson, Please don't block. Ever.
— Enrico (@The700Level) December 23, 2016

Carson was going full Mike Tolbert on that.... and what the hell are going Doug?
— John Barchard (@JohnBarchard) December 23, 2016

• With the Giants loss, the Dallas Cowboys clinched the NFC East title. Yuck.

The ugly

• The Eagles defense gave the offense a chance to win, and the offense couldn’t get a first down to ice the game. Not only that, they threw deep on third down, an extremely low-percentage play.

I like aggressive Doug Pederson, but you have to keep it within reason.

• The game-sealing interception from Eli Manning (caught by Eagles safety Terrence Brooks) was another pretty bad throw. I mean, when the NFL's official account is trolling you...