Roob’s Observations: Eagles nearly blow 22-point lead, escape with win over Jags originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
It would have been one of the worst losses in franchise history. It really would have. Blowing a 22-point 2nd-half lead in your own stadium against an injury-riddling two-win team?
The Eagles escaped with a 28-23 win over the Jaguars, but yikes … that was a little bit terrifying.
Here we go with our 10 Instant Observations.
1. With each chance the Eagles had to put this game away, you could just see the Jaguars growing more and more confident. When you’re up 22-0 you just can’t let that happen. You can’t let the other team think they have a chance. And the Eagles did exactly that. The two failed two-point conversions. Saquon Barkley’s fumble. The ridiculous failed 4th-and-inches near the end of the third quarter. All those Eagles mishaps gave the Jaguars life. Gave them hope. If you want to be a great team, you put teams away when you’re up 22 points, for crying out loud. Great that Nakobe Dean made a play and the Eagles escaped, but they never should have been in that position in the first place. They’ve got to learn from this and not put themselves in the same position again.
2. Speaking of Nakobe Dean … wow. This kid is playing so well and to make that play with a minute and a half left and save the game – who knows, maybe save the season – is just the payoff for all the work he’s put in. The expectations were so high on Dean coming out of Georgia in 2022. Then he didn’t play as a rookie and got hurt last year and I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect this year. He looked good in camp, but those first few weeks were not good ones. But, man, he has settled down and is just playing tremendous football and that interception was the product of an incredible amount of preparation and film study. He knew exactly what the Jaguars wanted to do there and he was ready for it and it was quite an athletic play as well for his first career interception. Kudos to the Eagles for sticking with Dean and good for Dean for never getting down on himself during a couple challenging seasons. Big-time play.
3. We’re really seeing some special play from Jalen Hurts, who keeps stacking clean, efficient and productive games together. He was brilliant Sunday, going 18-for-24 for 230 yards with two touchdown passes and for the fifth straight game no interceptions and fourth game with no turnovers. His 132.3 passer rating makes him the first Eagles quarterback ever with four straight games with a passer rating of 119 or higher. It was going to take some time with his fifth play caller in five seasons, but once things clicked with Kellen Moore, they clicked in a big way. Hurts is letting the game come to him just like he did in 2022 with Shane Steichen. He’s making quick decisions, he’s delivering the ball accurately, he’s not forcing anything, he’s throwing the deep ball spectacularly and he’s making plays with his legs again. Which is a product of being decisive and taking off and running before the defense is ready for it. And he just looks faster than he did at any point last year. That 18-yard touchdown run was his longest since a 22-yarder against the Bears in Week 15 of 2022. This team can go a long way with this Jalen Hurts.
4. That DeVonta Smith touchdown is one of the greatest catches I’ve ever seen. And it wasn’t just the one-handed stab in the back right corner of the end zone with Ronald Darby on solid coverage, it was also Smith somehow dragging both feet in bounds inches shy of the back of the end zone while making this spectacular one-handed catch. With A.J. Brown out of the game in the second half the Eagles needed Smith to come up huge and he did and it was incredible. That’s an impossible play just goofing around in the schoolyard with your friends. To do it in an NFL game? Mind-blowing.
5. Hey, Howie … get Zach Baun a contract. Now! Geeze, what a find he’s been. Baun just gets better and better playing a position he’s never played before, and Sunday he was unreal. Player of the Week type stuff. 10 tackles, two pass breakups and that diving interception just before halftime that set up Saquon Barkley’s 19-yard TD. Baun has been playing well all year but this was next-level stuff. The Eagles gave him a one-year contract to play off-ball linebacker just based on a handful of snaps that Vic Fangio saw him play with the Saints. Which is crazy in itself. But he’s not just playing a new position, he’s playing out of his mind. That interception was a thing of beauty. He reacted the instant the ball bounced off Travis Etienne’s hands, dove fully outstretched and somehow got his hands under the ball and kept control. Baun has shown intelligence, instinct, toughness, playmaking, everything you want from an off-ball linebacker. The toughness of DeMeco Ryans and the athleticism of Mychal Kendricks. Heck of a combination. The Eagles can’t afford to lose him.
More coming …
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