A Win Is A Win — Eagles Squeak By Patriots

It was ugly, but they got it done. The Eagles squeaked by the Patriots 25-20 to start the season 1-0.

After not playing any snaps in the pre-season the Eagles offense certainly showed the rust. Even with all the rust, they were still able to pick up the win. We are all thankful for Jake Elliott today.

Hurts Struggles

Despite his best effort to fumble the game away, Hurts did just enough for the Eagles to pick up the win. Hurts really struggled to move the ball down the field tonight, with most of his passes being underneath. It seemed that Hurts was also missing receivers downfield that seemed open. Of course, it is tough to tell exactly what he is seeing on the broadcast view, but it seemed that he had receivers running open multiple times that he did not see. In the past two games the Eagles have played Hurts has fumbled. Luckily this time it did not cost them like the Super Bowl, but he has to protect the ball better.

To be fair the Eagles offensive line had a poor game. While I think sometimes Hurts did leave the pocket early, he was constantly under pressure and had to roll out.

The Eagles have a quick turnaround with their next game being Thursday night, and Hurts needs to have a bounce-back game.

Coaching Misques

One of the biggest concerns for this season is that the new coordinators will not be as good as the previous coordinators. It is only week 1, and there is a lot of season left, but the new coordinators struggled today. Offensive coordinator Brian Johnson had many fans scratching their heads as Dallas Goedert finished with 0 catches. Newly acquired running back D’andre Swift also only touched the ball 2 total times. Sirianni said in his post-game press conference that Swift needs to get more touches. It also seemed like they either went away from or used fewer RPO plays than they had been in last year’s season. The offense did not score a touchdown without the help of a turnover, and overall did not have a great game.

Another place the coaches struggled is substitutions. Nick Sirianni had to waste 2 timeouts because the special teams only had 10 men on the field. The special teams is by far the weakest unit on the field, and it needs to be addressed. It was a major reason they lost the Super Bowl, and they have yet to address the problem. It needs to get fixed or else it will cost them again.

Quick Turnaround

The Eagles’ next game is this Thursday night against the Vikings. While it is nice to get your Thursday night game out of the way early, it is not great having it be week 2. Lane Johnson talked on WIP after the game about how players were exhausted after the game. Of course, the Vikings are in the same boat, but the Eagles did have some key players injured throughout the game. James Bradberry left the game late, and so did Nakobe Dean. Dean was seen walking around with a boot after the game. It is yet to be seen if they will be back and ready to go for week 2, but the short turnaround will not help.