Deja vu — 6 takeaways from Falcons-Eagles a day later
Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
The Eagles’ implosion Monday night brought me back to the dark days of the 2023 season, where they just always found a way to lose.
The Eagles in 2023 blew three games where they led going into the two-minute warning. And, well, they did that again Monday night. Kind of brings you back to that other Monday night in Seattle from last season, or the collapse against the Cardinals on New Year’s Day at the Linc, which was the last home game prior to this one.
It was another nightmare, but this one was the home opener. Saquon Barkley‘s home debut. Brandon Graham‘s final home opener. Nick Foles‘ retirement night. Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox‘s return to Philadelphia.
This agonizing 22-21 loss to the Falcons is a game that could alter a season. But hey, it is only Week 2!
Here are my six (you know it is real when I go more than five) observations a day after the loss:
Hurts’ legs are back
I want to start positively before we really get into it.
Jalen Hurts looked really good running. He looked extraordinarily fast and powerful. We have not seen that from him in a long time. And he did while making smart decisions with the football and protecting the pigskin.
His 23-yard run on a 4th-and-3 in the second quarter was the longest in what seems like forever. He also got a dumb delay of game penalty on that run for spiking. Hurts followed it up with scrambles of nine and 15, which means he had more rushing yards on that drive.
Hurts looked lethargic running the ball last year and in Brazil. There were concerns he had lost that aspect of his game. I think we can push those to the side. He looked like himself in his 2022 MVP-level season on the ground.
He finished with 85 rushing yards, a tush push touchdown, and six rushing first downs. Did not think we would ever see Hurts like that again? Neither did I. But we did.
Gotta catch the ball, or should he not have even had to?
Barkley had his homecoming Monday night. Whitehall High School graduate, Penn State legend, back home at the Linc. And he was a big reason the Eagles lost this game.
It is hard to be critical of him, though. He is a game-changer. But, was a game-changer in the wrong way in Week 2.
3rd-and-3, Eagles up 21-15 with 1:46 to go, ball at the Falcons’ 10, nobody near Barkley at the first down marker, easily could have gotten it, Hurts tosses him a floater, and he drops it. Off the fingertips. It is a ball that has to be caught. There are literally zero excuses. I think my grandmother, who claims to have played intermural soccer in college, could have caught that ball.
Barkley ends the game if he catches that ball. He would have just gone down at the seven-yard line, and victory formation ensues. But nope, the Eagles took the three and the Falcons went down and won the game.
But, in retrospect, I do not even think the Eagles should have thrown the ball anyway. Barkley is such a beast, I would have handed it off to him, and let him get the three. And if he could not, I bet they would have been in tush-push range. Just a bad play call in my opinion.
There was a lot of that Monday night. A 3rd-and-9 QB draw that I hated, not handing it off to Barkley for a while to turn the ball over after a pair of 9-yard-gains, a 10-yard-gain, and an 11-yard gain, and very little Barkley again in the red zone.
Once again, some 2023 throwback. The playcalling was bad.
This run defense sucks
I am going to keep it straight up, there is no other headline that sums it up better than that.
Two weeks in a row the Eagles’ run defense has gotten obliterated. The Eagles allowed 163 rushing yards and 7.8 yards per attempt. On Monday night, they allowed 152 more and 5.4 yards per rush.
There are so many problems. The defensive line is just not getting the rushers, getting dominated, and the secondary is missing tackles.
I want to focus on the guy’s high to eat up the run. Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter. They are simply just not doing their job. They cannot tackle. They cannot do anything.
What is the fix? Is it the personnel? Is it the coaching?
Giving up five-plus yards per run is not a winning formula. Will that even get eight wins? I do not know.
What about the pressure?
Oh, there is none.
Zack Baun got two sacks in Brazil and Milton Williams had an explosive one Monday night, but that is it.
Where are the EDGE guys? They may have been on my couch next to me watching these first two games for all I know.
Graham, Nolan Smith, Josh Sweat, Bryce Huff, and Graham have no sacks this year. Sweat is the only EDGE that had a hurry against the Falcons. Graham may be the Eagles’ best EDGE guy, and he is 36.
The Eagles have not had a sack from an EGDE in the last six games, according to Reuben Frank on NBC Sports Philadelphia’s postgame show. That feels impossible. It is crazy.
Huff is yet to sniff a quarterback this year. $51 million this offseason, and I do not even think he is in frame on TV.
They could really use a guy like Haason Reddick right now…
It is all coming back
The end of this game, after watching it back a day later, is straight-up embarrassing. The last time I said that about the Eagles? Literally eight months ago. Memories of 2023 are starting to come back into my brain.
Kirk Cousins needed only 65 seconds to move the Falcons 70 yards down the field for the game-winning touchdown.
The Eagles got away with some really bad defense almost all game, but it came back and pinched them in the you-know-what in the end. They had bad coverage, bad tackling, horrible rushing, and everything else in between. I do not know if this is on the coaches, just the personnel, or a little bit of both.
We all thought last year’s end would be long forgotten, but it does not seem so. They still seem like they do not have the toughness or the heart to win games like this.
Super Bowl contender? Ok. But you play like that at Lincoln Financial Field for the first time this season with former legends in the house against the stinking Atlanta Falcons? The shadow of the 2023 collapse still reigns, and it seems like nothing has changed with Nick Sirianni at the head.
Let us preview, shall we?
Oh boy, let us look at the road ahead.
On a short week, the Eagles are heading to New Orleans to play the 2-0 Saints. The Saints have scored 91 points in wins over the Panthers and Cowboys. The Eagles’ run defense will have to deal with Alvin Kamara, who had 25 rushes for 115 yards and three touchdowns at Dallas this week. He has 198 yards in total, averaging 5.7 per rush.
Haha, alright.
After that? They head to Tampa Bay, where there are so many bad vibes, for a date with the 2-0 Buccaneers, who are coming off a win over the Lions in Detroit.
And then, the bye week.
If the Eagles cannot stop Kirk Cousins, how in the heck will they stop red-hot Derek Carr and Baker Mayfield? Not sure. I do not think anyone is sure.
Maybe both teams are due for let-downs and the Eagles will bounce back big time from their self-destruction and turn this around. But after what we saw at the Linc Monday night on national television, it is not easy to have much confidence in that.
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Benjamin Goldstein
Benjamin has been covering Philly Sports for Philly Sports Reports since 2017. He is a podcaster, writer, and founder of Philly Sports Reports. Benjamin is also an intern at the WBCB Sports Network on 1490AM. Through Philly Sports Reports, Benjamin has gotten the opportunity to meet Phillies owner John Middleton in his suite and be honored as the Philadelphia sports fan of the week for KYW News Radio. He hopes to be reporting on Philly sports as a full-time job in the future.
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