The Wide World of Dirt

Hello! It’s been a while, I know. I haven’t forgotten about you or this segment.

No, these past few weeks have been HELL as a student. I wasn’t able to have enough time to make these weekly recaps, and if I did have time they would be rushed.

I want to give you guys my absolute best, and fortunately for you all, I am all done with the semester!

It has absolutely pained me not being able to write about the Birds, especially since they have been on a roll since my last article (I still will never fully accept that Commanders’ game.)

What I’m going to do is just give each of these games their own segment, with all my takes summarized as neatly as I can. Let’s get into it!

Week 11: Eagles 17, Colts 16

After suffering their first loss of the year, surely the Eagles were going to get everything patched up and cruise to an easy victory right?

Wrong, nothing can be too easy for a Philly sports team.

This was the worst coaching game in the Nick Sirianni era. Both Sirianni and Shane Steichan, the offensive coordinator, had a rough go of it.

Entering the 4th quarter, they were staring at a 13-3 deficit, with the offense not really able to string any drives together.

Couple that with questionable play calls and some bad clock management, the Eagles looked like they would drop back-to-back losses. However…

Jalen Hurts did what he has been doing all season long and put the team on his back. Hurts finished the contest 18/25 for 190 yards and a TD with 16 carries for 86 yards and a TD.

By the way, his rushing TD was the go-ahead score with a little over a minute left. The numbers don’t look that impressive, especially against a lifeless Colts team, but when it mattered most, Hurts was able to lead his team to a win.

While a one-point win against a bad team doesn’t inspire confidence, the fact your QB showed he can single-handedly carry the team to a win after a subpar performance from the entire team should.

This was only the beginning of how great Hurts has been these past four weeks.

Week 12: Packers 33, Eagles 40:

This was an old-fashioned barn burner, and not in the traditional way.

Coming into this game, not going to lie I was a bit nervous. I have seen what Aaron Rodgers can do to teams; hell, as an Eagles fan we have experienced first-hand what he can do.

Even though this is a different Packers team and Rodgers has come back to earth after back-to-back MVP seasons…it’s still Aaron Rodgers.

Despite that, the defense did not care.

Rodgers finished 11/16 for 140 yards, 2 TDS and 2 INTS before being knocked out of the game with a rib injury.

Jordan Love entered the game and finished 6/9 for 113 yards and a TD in about a quarter or so of action.

The defense was able to do its job and help secure an Eagles win, even though the score doesn’t look that way.

The Eagles offense is what everyone will remember about this game. Jalen Hurts had himself a night, 16/28 for 153 yards while tossing 2 TDS and adding 17 carries on the ground for 157 yards!

That’s the most rushing yards EVER by an Eagles quarterback… even though Michael Vick and Randall Cunningham played for the Eagles, astonishing.

Hurts was so electric he was rewarded with the NFC Player of the Week award, but Hurts was not the only rusher to beat the Packers.

No, the Eagles as a team were able to run for 363 yards and 3 TDs. Miles Sanders ran 21 times for 143 yards and 2 TDs. Kenny Gainwell ran 8 times for 39 yards and a TD. Boston Scott ran 3 times for 24 yards.

The Eagles RBs averaged 7.4 yards a carry…that is insane. Credit to Sirianni and Steichan for redeeming themselves after their worst performance against the Colts.

Credit to the backfield who were able to gash the Packers defense, and credit to Jeff Stoutland and the entire offensive line because they truly have shown they are the top of the top as far as offensive lines are concerned.

If the Colts game left a bad taste in your mouth, then the Packers game should help wash that out…but if it didn’t, then this next game surely would do the trick.

Week 13: Titans 10, Eagles 35:

Out of all the games during this stretch, this was the one game I was more worried about than the others.

The Titans are a good team that like to bully and push teams around. How do they do that? Well they have a pretty straight formula.

They have a pretty good defense that won’t make things easy for an offense. After the defense gets off the field enter King Henry: a RB that will run all over you and keep the ball away from your offense.

They are a good-enough team that plays ugly…but against the Eagles they just looked ugly.

Their formula for success? Yeah, that didn’t really work out. They gave up 35 points. Derrick Henry running all over you? He was held in check for 11 carries for 30 yards.

A week after winning the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his running game, Jalen decided to win it with his arm.

Hurts went 29/39 for 380 yards and 3 TDs while running 5 times for 12 yards and tacking on another TD.

Not sugarcoating this at all, that was easily Hurts’ best performance in the NFL, and one of the best performances from an Eagles quarterback I have ever seen.

The Titans couldn’t stop Hurts.

They also couldn’t stop former Titan AJ Brown either. Brown went for 8 catches for 119 yards and 2 TDs.

DeVonta Smith also couldn’t be contained with 5 catches for 102 yards and a TD. It’s so nice not having to worry about the WR positions as an Eagles fan.

After the past eight or so years of not having a true #1 wide out, the Eagles have two. My only takeaway from this game was; Why the hell did the Titans trade AJ Brown?

Week 14: Eagles 48, Giants 22

Back-to-back weeks of just pure domination.

This one was definitely my favorite win during this stretch because it was at the Meadowlands against the Giants.

All year long I knew the Giants were fraudulent.

Credit to Brian Daboll and his coaching staff for having this Giants team this far along in year 1, but this team is not as good as Giants fans have led you to believe.

This game was over in the second quarter. The last time Jalen Hurts played in MetLife Stadium, he had the worst game of his career against these Giants, going 14/31 for 129 yards and three INTs without a TD through the air or on the ground.

His first game back since? 21/31 for 217 and 2 TDs and 7 carries for 77 yards and a TD. Divisional opponents are always tough games to feel out. They rarely ever go how you think…except this one. I knew the Eagles were going to outclass the Giants.

I knew it was going to be a rough going for them the whole day, and I was right. What an absolutely satisfying win.

The Eagles are 12-1 on the year. They’ve surpassed my projected win total for them and still have a month to go. They secured their fifth playoff berth in the last six years.

They are very clearly the best team in the NFL. If you don’t believe that, then I don’t know what else to tell you.

Additional Notes:

• The Eagles’ defense has really impressed me. They have drastically improved against the run, especially against some big name running backs.
• Against some top runningbacks here are the numbers this defense has held them:
  • Jonathan Taylor: 22 carries for 84 yards and a TD, a 3.8 average
  • Aaron Jones: 12 carries for 43 yards, a 3.6 average
  • Derrick Henry: 11 carries for 30 yards, a 2.7 average
  • Saquon Barkley: 9 carries for 28 yards, a 3.1 average

• The Eagles pass rush has also really turned it on recently
  • 4 sacks against the Colts
  • 3 sacks against the Packers
  • 6 sacks against the Titans
  • 7 sacks against the Giants

• Jalen Hurts’ numbers so far: 264/388 for 3,157 yards 22 TDs and 3 INTS with 139 carries for 686 yards and 10 TDs… That’s 3,843 yards with 32 TDs total. Give him the MVP.
• AJ Brown becomes the first Eagles WR since 2014 (Jeremy Maclin) to have 1,000 yards in a season, and he still has a month to go.
• Miles Sanders becomes the first Eagles RB since 2014 (LeSean McCoy) to have 1,000 yards rushing in a season and still has a month to go
• Go Birds