You play to win the game, as Herm Edwards said, and there’s no consolation prize for losing a close one. Still, it’s apparent to me and many others that some good things came out of the Eagles’ 24-23 loss in Detroit.
Sir Nigel Bradham may have his problems coping with day-to-day civilian life, but he is playing a great linebacker game for the Eagles when he gets onto the field. Ain’t we lucky we got him? Imagine going into FedEx Field this weekend and trying to cover TE Jordan Reed without him?
Eagles tight end Zach Ertz is back in the lineup, he looked healthy against the Lions, and his workload and targets should increase. He had 3 receptions on Sunday.
Dave Spadaro of PE.com took away these positives:
- “There were plenty of positives from Sunday’s loss, including the second-half performance from the defense, but perhaps most encouraging was the way rookie quarterback (is he still a rookie?!)Carson Wentz stared a double-digit deficit in the face and erased it over the course of two quarters. He showed great calm and poise and leadership. The kid is the real deal. So the Eagles know they have a quarterback who is going to be there for them through thick and thin.”
I don’t like trading field goals for what could be touchdowns in the red zone, but I take encouragement from the team’s growing confidence in our kickerCaleb Sturgis, who now has made 10 consecutive field goals after pushing his first effort of the season wide against Cleveland, including a 53-yarder in Chicago and a 50-yarder on Sunday in Detroit. Sturgis is a legitimate threat from 55 yards and in.
This next item is like taking a cough medicine that tastes bad but it works—
We basically learned how and what the rest of the league is going to try to do to mess up our defense.
Spadaro explains: “Detroit wanted to spread the field and force the Eagles to cover receivers in space, and quarterback Matthew Stafford got the football out of his hands quickly and accurately. Not every team has the ability to do that, but it’s a blueprint to consider. How do you counter the aggressive nature of the Eagles’ defense? You run screens, draws, swing passes, quick-hitting stuff. One, it doesn’t allow the powerful Eagles’ front four to get to the quarterback and, two, it forces the Eagles cornerbacks and linebackers to make plays in coverage. Swing passes to shifty, quick running backs like Theo Riddick are difficult to cover, as the Eagles again found out.”
So to me it’s a positive that we have found out this early in the season as much as we can so far about our exploitable weaknesses on defense. There’s still more than enough time to fix what needs to be fixed. Next time a team shows us a weird look (like receiver Golden Tate lined up in the backfield), we’ll be better ready to quickly interpret and react.
Other positives which you could say are possible indications of a productive trend:
• Bennie Logan had a sack in back-to-back games for the first time since 2013. Vinny Curry also picked up his first sack of the season. The Eagles’ defensive line has accounted for 12 of the 13 team sacks so far this year. Curry became the seventh different Eagle to post a sack in 2016
• After surrendering 21 first-half points, 199 total net yards and 17 first downs in the first half, the Eagles held the Lions to just three points, 45 yards and four first downs in the second half. On the season, the Eagles’ defense has yet to allow a touchdown in the second half and just six points overall.
• Fletcher Cox recorded his 26th career sack, tying for 19th on the Eagles’ all-time list. Cox has four sacks this season and eight sacks in his last eight games.
• Josh Huff caught his first touchdown of the season, becoming the fifth different player to catch a TD pass for the Eagles this season.
• Carson Wentz threw for 238 yards and two touchdowns. With 1,007 passing yards this rookie season so far, Wentz moved past Donovan McNabb and into fourth on the Eagles’ all-time rookie passing yardage list. With seven passing touchdowns, he is one shy of tying McNabb for the team rookie record in that category.
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