Crossing Broad
We were probably thinking the same thing when the Eagles were getting pummeled at half time on Sunday afternoon. Philly sports talk was going to be insufferable this week. Social media, sports talk radio, your idiot buddy at the water cooler, whatever. We were going to hear calls for Kevin Patullo to be fired, maybe the Eagles should trade A.J. Brown, and Jalen Hurts can’t read zone coverage. It would be a playing of 2023’s best-selling album, NOW That’s What I Call Negadelphia, Volume 37.
Instead, we received a Christmas miracle, three months early. Not only did the Eagles pull off an improbable, come-from-behind victory to improve to 3-0, but the passing game emerged from the quasar in which it was stuck, plus we saw designed QB runs and even a zone read that left Jared Verse holding his jock strap. It was good for us and bad for the talking heads, because now they’re going to have to manufacture some other such horseshit to talk about this week.
Some general thoughts on those options:
Did the Eagles false start on the play again? Yes, they did. Did the refs call it? No. So this is not an Eagles problem, and people directing their ire at the Birds are barking up the wrong tree. The onus is on the refs to actually blow the whistle, throw the flag, and penalize the infraction, and they’re not doing it. What’s the point of having refs if they aren’t doing their jobs?
Everybody with half a brain knew that A.J. Brown was completely fine. He was targeted eight times in week two and Jalen Hurts just needed to throw him some vertical balls. We finally got a sideline go route, a couple of 10-yard digs, and a smattering of the high-percentage stuff he’s caught over the years.
The end result was 10 A.J. targets and six receptions for 109 yards and a touchdown. DeVonta Smith caught eight of his nine targets for 60 yards and a score. Dallas Goedert was only targeted twice, his one reception 33-yard TD bomb, shifting away from the underneath stuff that he was loaded up with in Week 1.
So what’s the complaint here? They waited too long to unleash the passing game? Perhaps, but here it is! It never really left, considering that 10 of the 11 starters from the Super Bowl team returned. What’s more is that the pattern played out exactly how it typically does. When passing game complaints reach critical mass, Hurts has a banger, in this case 21 of 32 for 226 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions.
They have one giveaway and three takeaways on the season. That’s a +2 differential. The only turnover came from a backup tackle getting beat off the edge by a Pro Bowl DROY, so nothing much to worry about here.
Ironically, I think there is a slight bit of concern. Saquon Barkley has yet to...
