Roob’s Observations: Eagles hang on vs. Panthers, tie franchise record in the process originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Had ‘em all the way.
Yikes.
The Eagles improved to 11-2 and tied the longest winning streak in franchise history Sunday with their ninth straight win, but they sure put you through hell for three hours, didn’t they?
The Eagles hung on to beat the Panthers 22-16 at the Linc, but it wasn’t over until Darius Slay knocked down a Bryce Young pass intended for Adam Thielen at the 19-yard-line with 37 seconds left.
Whew.
Here’s our 10 Observations:
1. It’s hard to know exactly what to make of this game. The Eagles didn’t do a lot of things well, the Panthers played better than I dreamed they would, I thought Kellen Moore’s play calling – usually so on point – was shaky, especially early, and still the Eagles escaped with a win. In a game they would have lost last year. You’re never going to have your A-game every week, so how do you respond when you don’t? Ultimately, the Eagles made some huge plays at huge moments that got them a win, but there’s a lot to fix, a lot to improve on, a lot that has to get better if the Eagles are going to keep winning. But this team has done that all year. They find ways to win. Close games, blowouts; home, on the road; good teams, bad teams. You don’t go 11-2 with nine straight wins if you don’t have that ability to shrug off adversity and laugh in its face and figure things out along the way. This was ugly. This was shaky. This never should have been that close. But they found a way, and that’s a sign of a very good team. You hate how they got there but you love the result.
2. Is it time for the Eagles to start looking for another kicker? I can’t believe I’m even writing that because Jake Elliott has been so good for so long. Coming into this season, he was a 70 percent kicker from 50 yards and out, 13th-most accurate in NFL history. And he was 86 percent overall, 12th-highest in NFL history. And unbelievably clutch, as anybody who watched Super Bowl LII will tell you. But this year has been a nightmare. With his 52-yard miss Sunday, he’s now 0-for-5 from 50 yards and out. The last NFL kicker to attempt five or more 50-yarders in a season without making any? In 1994, Jason Hanson of the Lions was 0-for-5 and Morten Anderson was 0-for-6. That was 30 years ago. The rest of the NFL was making field goals from 50 yards and out at a 72 percent clip coming into Week 14. Elliott is at 0 percent. He also missed a PAT Sunday, although a penalty negated that miss and the Eagles wound up getting two. You want to give Elliott every opportunity to work his way out of this, but when you keep missing long field goals, you keep giving the other team a short field and momentum. When he missed his 52-yarder Sunday, the Panthers took over on the Eagles’ 42-yard-line, drove down the field and scored what was then the go-ahead touchdown. Sirianni didn’t even feel comfortable letting Elliott kick a 54-yard field goal with three minutes left to make this a two-possession game, taking a delay and punting instead. That’s really bad. The Eagles are going to have to think long and hard about whether Elliott is their best option heading into the postseason.
3. Seems weird to write that the Eagles didn’t run the ball enough when you look at the final stats and they had 31 carries for 211 yards, but I just thought there were too many drives where Saquon Barkley just wasn’t involved enough. Too many long stretches where Kellen Moore just got away from him. The Eagles ran 29 plays in the first half and only nine were Barkley runs. It felt like if Moore established Barkley at any point in this game, the Eagles would have taken command, but it just never happened. This is the worst run defense in the NFL. By far. They can’t stop anybody. Barkley should have had 30 carries. He should have had 200 yards. He got the team single-season rushing record with four games left, and good for him, but I just didn’t like the offense. The Eagles do one thing really, really well, and that’s hammer Saquon. And against one of the worst run defenses in recent NFL history they got away from what they do best.
4. It was a weird game for Jalen Hurts, but both touchdown passes were magnificent. The TD to DeVonta Smith is such a difficult ball, throwing far across the field into a tight window. And the Grant Calcaterra TD took a bit of patience and it looked like Calcaterra was about his third read, and we know that throwing into the middle of the field isn’t Hurts’ comfort zone. But he threw a dart that Calcaterra caught for his first career touchdown. The numbers look fine – 14-for-21 with two passing TDs, a rushing TD, 61 rushing yards, including a 35-yarder – the 2nd-longest run of his career. He took a couple sacks when he should have thrown the ball away, but overall once again no turnovers, and that’s now one interception in his last 10 games. Bryce Young probably made twice as many highlight plays, but Hurts keeps doing what he’s asked, and I’ll take that.
5. Darius Slay may not be the player he used to be at 33 years old – he turns 34 in a few weeks – but he sure makes a big difference when he’s healthy and can stay on the field for a full game. I thought this was his best game this year, and that 4th-down pass breakup that clinched the win with half a minute left was a thing of beauty. That was a matchup between a veteran corner and a 23-year-old quarterback who’s very promising but has never played against Slay before. Slay stayed a few yards off Adam Thielen until the moment Young unloaded and then made up about three yards in half a second and batted the ball down. Slay might not have the wheels he used to have, but he’s a 12-year veteran and six-time Pro Bowler and he knows all the tricks. Young is a promising young kid, but on the biggest play of the game, Slay got him.
More coming …
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