The Wide World of Dirt

Wow, what a way for the Eagles to close out the first quarter of the 2022-2023 season.

Winning games is tough; it’s a 60-minute grind to find “who wants it more.” The Eagles being 4-0 has me feeling good, and after a gritty win Sunday, that couldn’t be more true.

Overcoming Adversity

The Jaguars game easily was the toughest game the Eagles have had this season.

While the Lions had a closer final score, the Jaguars had the Eagles on the ropes. It was a very rainy, muddy, windy game at the Linc. Weather conditions always affect a gameplan.

You definitely have to take into account how this affects your entire team, so for the Eagles to win in this less-than-ideal situation, it shows that they can win, rain or shine.

The first quarter was an ugly one. After the Eagles forced a Jacksonville three-and-out to start the game, the Eagles began driving. Until Hurts threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown, which I would consider his first real “bad play” all season (definitely his worst throw).

The next drive, the Eagles drive stalled out. The following Jaguars possession, they scored in 8 plays, driving the ball 80 yards. The result was a 14-0 deficit.

After yet another Eagles drive that stalled out, things were not looking good for them.

Things easily could have gotten worse for this Eagles team. Much like my West Virginia Mountaineers, they could have rolled over and conceded the game.

However, that is not the way these players do things.

The defense forced a Trevor Lawrence fumble on 4th down where the Eagles offense would then capitalize and cut the deficit in half.

The defense then forced a three-and-out, where once again the Eagles offense would capitalize evening the score at 14 a piece.

The Eagles then force another Trevor Lawrence fumble, this time the defense recovered.

Wouldn’t you know it, the Eagles once again capitalize on the Jaguars’ mistakes and take a 21-14 lead and never relinquish it.

This was a game I was waiting to see the Eagles perform in. A gritty, ugly win. The Eagles looked sloppy, the weather was an issue, and they were facing a good team.

How would they respond to this?

I am beyond happy with they way they responded to their mistakes. They cleaned them up, and capitalized on the Jaguars’ mistakes rather than succumbing to their own.

It wasn’t a pretty win, but it sure felt good in the end. At the end of the day, that’s all I really care about.

Still Hurts

You could look at this game and simply think this was the least impressive Hurts game.

Looking at his numbers would certainly back you up as Hurts went 16/25 for 204 yards and an INT while having 16 carries for 38 yards and 2 TDs.

However, this is where I will disagree with you.

Hurts overcame some sloppy play and bad weather and carried the offense when needed. That is what franchise quarterbacks do.

They can carry their team when a game gets rough, and Hurts did just that. He had huge runs that gave the Eagles opportunities to score, and he made some big-time throws.

He again had key plays on 4th down to keep drives going. I know it was not a pretty game, and the box score doesn’t look that impressive.

But, I promise if you watched the game, or go back and watch, Hurts looked just as good as he has all season. I truly am all aboard the Hurts train, and you all should hop on with me.

He has put in the work, and it is showing. I cannot say enough positive things about him. Jalen Hurts. That’s my quarterback.

Offense winning in different ways

I am a very big fan of this Eagles offense. I think Nick Sirianni and Shane Steichen, the offensive coordinator, are very good at their jobs.

They understand the personnel they have at their disposal, and they’ve gotten the most out of them. Every week they keep finding new ways for this offense to produce and win games.

This week, it was definitely on the rushing attack.

Miles Sanders is entering a critical year. His performance this season will decide if the Eagles will offer him a contract.

He has the talent, but injuries have halted the burst we have seen from him. This week was one where we were shown just how talented he can be.

He had 27 carries for 134 yards and 2 TDs. That is an impressive 5.0 average on touches, without a doubt his most impressive game of his career.

One thing I constantly see on Twitter is Eagles fans discussing whether or not the Eagles should make a trade for a RB.

I’ve seen Kareem Hunt’s name brought up numerous times. Maybe they wait and draft Bijon Robinson in this upcoming draft.

I just read an article this week discussing whether or not they should trade for Christian McCaffrey should he become available.

I do not know what the Eagles will do; all I know is the last time they traded for a running back during the season was for Jay Ajayi. That ended pretty well.

However, letting Sanders carry the load could prove fruitful. That, and I have his jersey and would definitely not like to replace it!

Defense Legit?

Another week in which the defense came up huge.

The pass rush once again made itself known with four sacks on Trevor Lawrence. The defense forced 5 fumbles. Again, I know the weather was less than ideal, but that is insane.

Haason Reddick was awarded with his stellar performance by getting NFC’s Defensive Player of the Week. Reddick recorded 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and 2 fumble recoveries.

That makes it three-straight Eagles earning the Defensive Player of the Week, and four-straight weeks of an Eagles player getting rewarded. That truly is special.

I still have a ways to go to trusting Jonathan Gannon, but he definitely has righted the ship since week 1.

He was a head coaching candidate for a few teams last year, and if he keeps this up, it won’t be long till he gets the job. 

Cardinals Hate Week

In my season prediction I had this being a loss for the Eagles.

I laid out in that prediction that the Eagles are a better team than the Cardinals and have a better coaching staff. Through four weeks, that remains true.

The reason I picked the Eagles to lose this game is due to the fact it is at Arizona. That is a big advantage since the Eagles have to fly over to the othe rside of the country.

They had their first test with adversity last week, and this could be another battle here.

They won’t have home-field advantage either. They very much can win this game, and I expect Sirianni and company to have a better gameplan than Kliff Kingsbury.

This is another “eye test” game.

While I definitely see the Eagles being able to pull out a victory, I think Kyler Murray is a special player, and he uses the same magic he had against the Raiders in week 2.

ALSO, this is not the only Cardinal franchise I will be rooting against!

After 11 long and hard years, my beloved Philadelphia Phillies will be returning to the MLB playoffs and will face off against, you guessed it, the St. Louis Cardinals in the Wild Card round in St. Louis starting Friday.

It will have been 4,017 days since the Phillies last made their appearance in the 2011 NLDS where they lost to, you guessed it, the St. Louis Cardinals.

I don’t like the St Louis Cardinals. They were the very team that ended the best era of Phillies baseball, and I very much think they are beatable.

Yes, Albert Pujols’ chase for 700 HRs was awesome to watch, but now that is over, I can go back to disliking the team and praying on their downfall.

It’s Red October for the first time in 11 years. #RingtheBell and Go Birds!