It’s official. After all the speculation, the Eagles defeated the Giants 35-30 on Sunday, advancing their record 7-9 and ensuring that they will not make a trip to London to face the Rams in 2016.
The first game since Chip Kelly’s firing one was an interesting matchup to say the least. DeMarco Murray ran up the gut early on in the game for his second longest run in his career to put the Eagles up by a touchdown before Darren Sproles burst to the outside to add to the total just moments later. It was certainly a coincidence that the first game without Chip saw an emergence of the running game.
Chip Kelly is fired
Eagles score two first quarter rushing touchdowns
¯_(ツ)_/— Philly Sports Network (@PhiladelphiaSN) January 3, 2016
The backs ended rushing for a combined total of over 100 yards as Sam Bradford ended his season on a high, throwing for 320 yards against the worst secondary in the league. Two touchdowns and an interception sat alongside his 30/38 completion rate to round out what was a progressively impressive season for the former number one overall draft pick.
The Receivers still suffered issues with drops as both Matthews and Cooper fell victim to the problem that has cost the Eagles so dearly this season, but an emergence of Zach Ertz saw him become the teams most targeted receiver and with good reason. 152 yards on 9 receptions saw Ertz assert himself as a focal point of the Offense.
Zach Ertz becomes first #Eagles tight-end with back to back 100 yard receiving games since 2009
— Philly Sports Network (@PhiladelphiaSN) January 3, 2016
Defensively there were even more headlines! Denzel Rice played his first defensive snaps as an Eagle to varying success whilst the only sack of the day came from…..Marcus Smith…yup.
Chip Kelly gets fired
Marcus Smith gets a sack
¯_(ツ)_/— Philly Sports Network (@PhiladelphiaSN) January 3, 2016
The birds finally enjoyed an efficient pass rush as Kiko Alonso somehow led the team in tackles with 8 whilst the dominance of Fletcher Cox was as impressive as ever. Malcolm Jenkins was playing all over the field and making things happen in the process but some of the biggest plays came from the teams very own super hero, the Thurmonator.
Walter Thurmond picked up a vital interception that resulted in a touchdown and made some crucial plays down the field as the Eagles forced Eli Manning and his receiving core into 297 passing yards and just two touchdowns. Not a bad way to end a season considering how weak the secondary was.
The first game under Pat Shurmur was successful in many ways and wobbly in others, all of which we will get too in later articles. Whilst it seems highly likely it will be his last as head coach of the Eagles as the search continues, the team responded well under new leadership, pulled together and didn’t let the controversy of the past seven days effect what happened on the field..and that is perhaps a win in itself.
The birds are set to miss out on a top 10 pick unless other results fall in their favour and they will not be playing the Rams in London next season..but they ended this season on a high and as fans..that’s all we asked for. That the players never lost that drive to win regardless of the scenario.
