(Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
What we watched last night, will probably be one of the uglier games we see the Eagles play all season. However, come November and December, we won’t remember how the Eagles won this game. The only thing we will see is the “W” in the win column. The games importance was magnified shortly after kickoff when a report came out that Wentz would still be out for several more weeks. The Eagles have a relatively easy schedule in September and yesterday’s win sets them up nicely for the rest of the month. Should Wentz be ready to go come October, the Eagles will be primed to start their ascension towards the top of the NFC.
As far as last night goes, the Eagles star players made things happen. Well, all of them with the exception of Zach Ertz. Ertz had some crucial drops including one on third down that would have resulted in a first down. Jay Ajayi took over in the second half and got the Eagles both their touchdowns. It was also nice to see Sproles back out there. He doesn’t look like he’s lost much of a step at all.
The Eagles defensive line, led by Fletcher Cox, was relentless all game and it allowed for Jordan Hicks to have a great game. Hicks was everywhere yesterday and looked just like the guy we saw last year before the injury. The guys up front made the linebacker’s job a lot easier yesterday. The Eagles won yesterday’s game because they won down in the trenches.
Doug saw at halftime that Foles didn’t have his best stuff. He made the adjustments necessary and you could see there was a much more concerted effort to get the running game going in the 2nd half. You throw in a little “Philly Special,” and that’s all that was needed to get the Eagles offense going in the 2nd half. Not only did the Philly special revive the offense, but the crowd at the Linc as well.
The Eagles domination of the offensive and defensive lines will be a theme all season long. The defensive line will only get better when Timmy Jernigan returns at some point in October, but the Eagles have the type of run game that can wear down a defense throughout a game. When Wentz comes back, they won’t have to rely on that every game. However, for now, that will need to be the recipe for the Eagles to have success.
I blame a lot of last night’s sloppiness on the lack of reps these teams get in the preseason. I think from here on out we will see a better product. I also think the Eagles put to rest any doubts anyone had about them not being as good as last year. They have too much depth and they are too well coached to not stay afloat while Wentz, Jeffery, and Jernigan battle back from injury. Once, the full squad is back together, the NFL better be on notice. Because this team is not only as good as last year, but they are even better.
