The Eagles defense was thoroughly prepared for Denver, but the thing that stood out most to me was how the Eagles offensive line was able to push the Broncos back on their heels all day long. I may have seriously underrated the strength of the big guys on Philly’s offensive front. Brandon Brooks was dominant in his matchup battles. “Big V” was balling at left tackle. Even Isaac Seumalo looked unstoppable. Center Jason Kelce played probably his best game of the season so far. Lane Johnson played tough all game despite a nagging lower back spasm. I was totally unprepared to witness such a thrashing of a top-rated Denver front seven by our Big Uglies.
It all helped to translate into a laffer at the Linc.
“All of this came against the top-rated defense in football. Add in the continued strong play of Jim Schwartz’s defense (two takeaways, three sacks), and this appears to be the best team in football.”—Tim McManus, ESPN
Who am I to argue? I guess we are the best team in football right now—but it’s not something I take for granted. There’s still a long way to go before that crown can be rightfully claimed.
Carson Wentz tossed four touchdown passes, Corey Clement had three scores, and the Philadelphia Eagles (8-1) routed the Denver Broncos (3-5), 51-23, on Sunday.
Brock Osweiler couldn’t get the Broncos on track in his first start since rejoining the team in September. He threw two interceptions. Denver has lost four in a row and five of six.
Wentz was 15 of 27 for 199 yards before giving way to Nick Foles. He has three four-TD performances in the last five weeks.
Clement had two TD runs and one TD catch, and newcomer Jay Ajayi ran for 77 yards and one score.
Wentz flipped a 32-yard TD pass to Alshon Jeffery to give the Eagles a 7-3 lead after a holding penalty on Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib extended the drive. Talib bit on a faked inside handoff to Ajayi and Jeffery ran past him to make the catch and score.
After Osweiler threw a pick right to Patrick Robinson later in the first quarter, Wentz threw a short catch-and-run TD pass to Clement on third-and-10 from the 15.
A roughing-the-passer call on Denver’s Zach Kerr kept another drive alive for Philadelphia. Wentz connected with Trey Burton on a 27-yard TD pass on the next play, giving the Eagles a 24-6 lead.
Ajayi burst through for a 46-yard TD run to put Philadelphia ahead 31-9 in the second quarter. Ajayi, a 2016 Pro Bowl pick with Miami, was acquired in a trade Tuesday. The Broncos hadn’t allowed 30 points in a game this season, nor any TD runs.
Clement, an undrafted rookie free agent, ran in from the 2 in the third quarter, and Wentz connected with Jeffery on a 6-yard pass to make it 44-9. Clement’s 4-yard TD run capped the scoring.
The Eagles hadn’t scored 50 points since a 54-11 victory over the Bears on Dec. 22, 2013.
The last time the Broncos allowed more points, they beat the Cowboys 51-48 on Oct. 6, 2013. But Peyton Manning isn’t around anymore.
For one play late in the game, Denver’s defense looked like its old self. Von Miller stripped Foles and Brandon Marshall scooped up the fumble and ran it back 19 yards for a TD.
Clement had 51 yards rushing, LeGarrette Blount added 38 to go with Ajayi’s 77, and the Eagles got 197 on the ground. Again, you can thank the Eagles offensive line for opening up more lanes than your local AMF bowling center.
INJURY REPORT for Eagles: TE Zach Ertz didn’t play because of a hamstring injury aggravated in practice. Other than a few dings here and there, the team escaped this game without any real injuries of note. The Birds will benefit even more from their upcoming Bye Week because of it.
Final:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DEN | 3 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 23 |
| PHI | 17 | 14 | 13 | 7 | 51 |
Scoring Summary:
| FIRST QUARTER | DEN | PHI | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
FG
10:35
Brandon McManus 52 Yd Field Goal
9 plays, 41 yards, 4:25
|
3 | 0 |
 |
TD
6:34
Alshon Jeffery 32 Yd pass from Carson Wentz (Jake Elliott Kick)
7 plays, 75 yards, 4:01
|
3 | 7 |
|
FG
1:53
Jake Elliott 45 Yd Field Goal
6 plays, 29 yards, 2:14
|
3 | 10 |
|
TD
0:53
Corey Clement 15 Yd pass from Carson Wentz (Jake Elliott Kick)
3 plays, 15 yards, 0:51
|
3 | 17 |
| SECOND QUARTER | DEN | PHI | |
|
FG
11:05
Brandon McManus 53 Yd Field Goal
4 plays, 8 yards, 1:00
|
6 | 17 |
|
TD
9:15
Trey Burton 27 Yd pass from Carson Wentz (Jake Elliott Kick)
6 plays, 75 yards, 1:50
|
6 | 24 |
|
FG
3:03
Brandon McManus 24 Yd Field Goal
12 plays, 69 yards, 6:12
|
9 | 24 |
|
TD
1:20
Jay Ajayi 46 Yd Run (Jake Elliott Kick)
4 plays, 75 yards, 1:43
|
9 | 31 |
| THIRD QUARTER | DEN | PHI | |
|
TD
7:32
Corey Clement 2 Yd Run (Jake Elliott Kick)
13 plays, 77 yards, 7:28
|
9 | 38 |
|
TD
3:00
Alshon Jeffery 4 Yd pass from Carson Wentz (Jake Elliott PAT failed)
3 plays, 11 yards, 1:25
|
9 | 44 |
| FOURTH QUARTER | DEN | PHI | |
|
TD
9:45
Demaryius Thomas 1 Yd pass from Brock Osweiler (Brandon McManus Kick)
13 plays, 75 yards, 8:15
|
16 | 44 |
|
TD
8:09
Brandon Marshall 19 Yd Fumble Return (Brandon McManus Kick)
3 plays, -4 yards, 1:36
|
23 | 44 |
|
TD
4:44
Corey Clement 4 Yd Run (Jake Elliott Kick)
5 plays, 48 yards, 3:25
|
23 | 51 |
| Matchup | |
|
|---|---|---|
| 1st Downs | 14 | 25 |
| Passing 1st downs | 12 | 13 |
| Rushing 1st downs | 1 | 9 |
| 1st downs from penalties | 1 | 3 |
| 3rd down efficiency | 3-13 | 5-13 |
| 4th down efficiency | 1-1 | 2-4 |
| Total Plays | 60 | 67 |
| Total Yards | 226 | 419 |
| Total Drives | 12 | 14 |
| Yards per Play | 3.8 | 6.3 |
| Passing | 191 | 222 |
| Comp-Att | 19-38 | 16-28 |
| Yards per pass | 4.7 | 7.4 |
| Interceptions thrown | 2 | 0 |
| Sacks-Yards Lost | 3-17 | 2-12 |
| Rushing | 35 | 197 |
| Rushing Attempts | 19 | 37 |
| Yards per rush | 1.8 | 5.3 |
| Red Zone (Made-Att) | 1-2 | 4-4 |
| Penalties | 14-105 | 5-35 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 1 |
| Fumbles lost | 0 | 1 |
| Interceptions thrown | 2 | 0 |
| Defensive / Special Teams TDs | 1 | 0 |
| Possession | 30:06 | 29:54 |
Philadelphia Passing| C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | SACKS | QBR | RTG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carson Wentz | 15/27 | 199 | 7.4 | 4 | 0 | 1-4 | 82.3 | 118.7 |
| Nick Foles | 1/1 | 35 | 35.0 | 0 | 0 | 1-8 | 77.0 | 118.8 |
| TEAM | 16/28 | 222 | 8.4 | 4 | 0 | 2-12 | — | 124.1 |
Philadelphia Rushing| CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jay Ajayi | 8 | 77 | 9.6 | 1 | 46 |
| Corey Clement | 12 | 51 | 4.3 | 2 | 28 |
| LeGarrette Blount | 9 | 37 | 4.1 | 0 | 10 |
| Wendell Smallwood | 5 | 25 | 5.0 | 0 | 26 |
| Carson Wentz | 2 | 8 | 4.0 | 0 | 7 |
| Nick Foles | 1 | -1 | -1.0 | 0 | -1 |
| TEAM | 37 | 197 | 5.3 | 3 | 46 |
Philadelphia Receiving| REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | TGTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alshon Jeffery | 6 | 84 | 14.0 | 2 | 32 | 11 |
| Trey Burton | 2 | 41 | 20.5 | 1 | 27 | 4 |
| Brent Celek | 3 | 39 | 13.0 | 0 | 15 | 4 |
| Nelson Agholor | 2 | 36 | 18.0 | 0 | 35 | 4 |
| Corey Clement | 1 | 15 | 15.0 | 1 | 15 | 1 |
| Torrey Smith | 1 | 11 | 11.0 | 0 | 11 | 2 |
| Mack Hollins | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| Marcus Johnson | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| TEAM | 16 | 234 | 14.6 | 4 | 35 | 28 |
Philadelphia Defense| TACKLES | MISC | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TOT | SOLO | SACKS | TFL | PD | QB HTS | TD | ||
| Brandon Graham | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Corey Graham | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Nigel Bradham | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Mychal Kendricks | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| Kamu Grugier-Hill | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Derek Barnett | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Chris Long | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Malcolm Jenkins | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| Vinny Curry | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Patrick Robinson | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Fletcher Cox | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Destiny Vaeao | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Rasul Douglas | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Rodney McLeod | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Joe Walker | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Najee Goode | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tim Jernigan | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dexter McDougle | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Beau Allen | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Jaylen Watkins | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Jalen Mills | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Nathan Gerry | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TEAM | 50 | 41 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 0 | |
Philadelphia Interceptions| INT | YDS | TD | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rodney McLeod | 1 | 50 | 0 |
| Patrick Robinson | 1 | 17 | 0 |
| TEAM | 2 | 67 | 0 |
Two weeks from this Sunday night the Eagles take on the Dallas Cowboys in prime time. Somehow I feel more confident than ever the Eagles coaching staff will have them ready to play in that one, which could shape up to be a decisive moment in the NFC East divisional race for 2017.
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