A long touchdown by Nelson Agholor, excellent play by the secondary, a win in a close game ... who ARE these guys?
The Eagles ended their five-game losing streak Thursday night, beating the Giants 24-19 at the Linc (see Instant Replay) and on national TV, and they did it by doing a bunch of things they haven't done in a while.
Hit big plays. Created turnovers. Kept a star wide receiver out of the end zone.
It's been a while since we gave you some happy observations. So here you go — Roob's 10 Happy Instant Observations off the Eagles' first win since Nov. 13:
1. I’ve been hard this year on Agholor. I think I’ve been fair, but honestly, he’s been brutal. But after all he’s been through, it was impossible not to be happy for the kid when he hung onto that 40-yard pass from Carson Wentz in the second quarter. I can’t even imagine the mental demons he’s been fighting. I still have serious questions about whether Agholor can be an effective and productive wide receiver long-term for the Eagles. But I give a lot of credit to anybody – in any field – who can face adversity and get through it and not be broken by it. Agholor already had one bad drop Thursday night when he glided under that 40-yarder from Wentz and cruised into the end zone. Where does it lead? I have no idea. But at least the kid has something positive to take into the offseason. That can only help him and it can only help the Eagles.
2. Speaking of that 40-yarder … sure was nice to see the offense finally produce a big play. Eagles wide receivers didn’t have a TD catch longer than five yards – five yards – since Week 3, and they really they hadn’t taken many shots. But against a defense that had allowed only two TD passes this year longer than 21 yards, the Eagles actually dialed it up, ran it and executed it. That’s a combination we’ve seen way too infrequently this year.
3. This is going to sound insane, because Odell Beckham had 150 yards Thursday night, but I really liked the way the Eagles defended him. It’s like I said before the game on Quick Slants: He’s going to catch his passes. He’s going to catch a bunch of them. The key is getting him down on the ground and living to see another day. Making sure those 30-yard catches don’t turn into 50-yard touchdowns. And the Eagles did that. The amazing Beckham caught 11 passes for 150 yards, but his longest catch was 33 yards, and he never got in the end zone. The Giants don’t have a lot of different ways to beat you. They don’t run the ball much. They don’t have any other elite receivers. So if you can keep No. 13 out of the end zone, you have a good shot at winning the game. When Beckham scores a touchdown, the Giants are 6-1. When he doesn’t, they’re 4-4. The Eagles kept Beckham in front of them and it paid off with a win.
4. I really hope the Eagles keep Darren Sproles. I know they need to get younger and figure out a lot of things with the running game this offseason. He turns 34 years old this summer, I know. But the dude is just so much damn fun to watch. He’s such a tough little guy and brings so much energy and life to this team. I can’t imagine seeing him in another uniform. Sproles is not a lead back, and I don’t know why Doug Pederson ever thought he was earlier this year. But the way he was used against the Giants Thursday night was perfect. Nine touches for 63 yards. Seven carries for 40 yards, two catches for 23 yards. Change-of-pace back. He may not be quite as fast as he used to be, but he’s still faster than almost everybody else. Hope he’s back.
5. I loved the way the Eagles’ D-backs played Thursday night, which sounds weird, considering that the Giants had 450 yards of offense and Eli Manning had 356 passing yards. I don’t care. The Giants can pile up yards all they want. But the D-backs made plays when they had to and were as aggressive to the ball as they’ve been all year. Nolan Carroll played one of his better games of the season. Leodis McKelvin saved a touchdown in the end zone. Malcolm Jenkins had the first two-INT game by an Eagle at the Linc since Asante Samuel in 2010 (against Manning, of course). Even rarely-used Terrence Brooks picked up his first career INT in the game’s final seconds. Manning threw 63 times but put up only 19 points and engineered only one TD drive. The Giants always pile up yards against the Eagles and lose. This is the fourth time they’ve netted 450 or more yards against the Eagles since 2009 and the Eagles have won every one. That’s why I picked the Eagles Thursday night. They just know how to beat the Giants.
6. I’ve said this before, that I love the way Ryan Mathews runs the football when he’s healthy. He runs tough, he runs physical, he runs violently. But he’s always hurt, and maybe it’s because he plays so hard, but it’s pretty clear the Eagles have to move on next year and find a running back to build around who they can count on to be on the field week in and week out and at the end of games. Mathews is really talented when he’s out there. He’s just not out there nearly enough.
7. Final total for the offense Thursday night was 286 yards, 17 points, 118 rushing yards and just 13 completions and 152 passing yards for Wentz. The offense still hasn’t scored more than two touchdowns since Week 3, and that’s 12 straight games with two or fewer offensive TDs. They did enough to win along with a dominating defensive performance, but all the questions we had about the offense remain. The wide receivers totalled five catches for 66 yards – 40 on one play – and the backs averaged 3.4 yards per carry. Wentz threw another interception – his 14th this year – to go with the one TD to Agholor. It was great for this team to get a win, but this offense still has a long, long, long way to go.
8. Chris Maragos is the best I’ve ever seen on punt coverage. The dude is in on every single punt return. It’s insane. You could make a legit case that Maragos is one of the Eagles’ most valuable players. How many other players have consistently carried out their responsibilities as well as he has all year?
9. There’s a time to be aggressive and a time not to be. And up five points late in the third quarter facing a 4th-and-goal on the Giants’ one-yard-line, I would have liked to see Pederson send Caleb Sturgis out to kick a field goal for a 24-16 lead. Why did I want Pederson to run Mathews on the two-point conversion in Baltimore but kick the field goal here? In Baltimore, Mathews was flat-out steamrolling the Ravens. He was 9-for-73 rushing in the second half and 4-for-51 in the fourth quarter. The Ravens wanted nothing to do with him. Here? It was the opposite. Going into that 4th-and-1, Mathews was 18-for-46 rushing and 13-for-16 after the first quarter. Then there was that 3rd-and-5 with under two minutes left and the Eagles trying to run out the clock. I don’t mind throwing the football. But a low-percentage deep ball to Jordan Matthews? Why? Being aggressive is great. Most of the time. Sometimes it just makes no sense.
10. Lemme say one thing about Zach Ertz. I’ve gotten about a thousand tweets over the last couple weeks with the same theme – “Ertz SUCKS because he never gets any yards after the catch.” And worse. Way worse. Listen, Ertz isn’t the best tight end in football. He needs to be more consistent. But for crying out loud, despite having a different quarterback every year of his career, he’s got the 16th-most receiving yards (and 11th-most catches) of any tight end in NFL history through four years, with one more game to move up. I guess it’s because of the Vontaze Burfict play that some fans have been so hard on Ertz, but his numbers are almost identical to Keith Jackson’s after four years, and the connection he and Wentz developed over these last few weeks is going to serve the Eagles well for years. I’m not saying Ertz doesn’t have room for improvement. He has plenty. But the vicious and personal insults being lobbed his way are unfair and off-base. And I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve seen a bit more toughness from Ertz since that Bengals game. This team doesn’t have a ton of promising young players to build around, but there’s no doubt in my mind that Ertz is going to be a flat-out stud before all is said and done.