Well, that was emotional. The Eagles fell just short of the mark (literally, an inch) on Sunday night as Atlanta were finally able to beat the team that had pipped them to the post in their last three meetings. The game was an absolute ‘slobberknocker’ and the aftermath may not be pretty…
Hold your breath, Eagles fans
Alshon Jeffery, DeSean Jackson, Carson Wentz, Dallas Goedert, Zach Ertz, Timmy Jernigan, Corey Clement, Jason Kelce. I’m pretty sure there are still players I’m missing, but all of the aforementioned were either taken inside the medical tent, the locker room, or had some kind of injury concern during the game.
Just as the Eagles thought they’d shaken off that horrible injury bug, it reared its ugly head and tried to sink its teeth in even further. Somehow, the team fought through with half of their offensive firepower hurting and their franchise quarterback making some worrying throws early on. One would argue that any other team who endured what the Eagles did tonight would have been down for the count…but this isn’t just ‘any other’ team. But we’ll have more on that later on in this piece.
A tale of two halves…again
The Eagles went into halftime unsure if Josh McCown or Carson Wentz would lead the team into a crucial second half. The answer didn’t matter immediately anyway, because Corey Clement fumbled the kickoff and injured his shoulder.
From then though, things changed. The Eagles were able to rally to a pair of touchdowns, (one coming on a huge 4th down conversion) and a 2-pt conversion to bring them within reaching distance. Considering that once again, this team was without two of its leading three receivers and down to one tight end, this in itself is staggering. It’s a good job they found some help from a familiar face…
Jim Schwartz coached the game of his life
The first half wasn’t great…at all…but that’s largely because Ronald Darby did Ronald Darby things (shock). The Eagles secondary really struggled, which is a shame because the defensive line was absolutely ruthless. The Falcons were held to less than 60 total rushing yards and Matt Ryan, while only sacked once, completed just 27/43 passes.
The second half from Schwartz was, to put it as simple as I can, different gravy. Blitzes, surprises, masking coverage, it had it all. A pair of interceptions from unlikely candidates (Nate Gerry had himself a game) pushed the Eagles back from the brink and into contention.
Seriously, the halftime adjustments to safety play were brilliant and arguably kept the game alive.
Wentz flashes his houdini skills once more
No more needs to be said here. Wentz looked shaky early on. Very, very shaky. But the man rebounded with a brilliant second half. Daredevil even flashed some of his ‘Houdini’ qualities, evading sacks when all hope seemed lost and making a frankly ridiculous throw in the midst of being brought down.
Carson Wentz is the real deal, folks. Staying healthy is always going to be a concern as evidenced tonight,…but when he’s rolling, he’s unstoppable.
Every cloud…
The Eagles lost a lot of bodies tonight, but this season was always going to be defined by two things:
- Can Carson Wentz stay healthy?
- How much depth does the team have? Can it avoid a 2018 repeat?
We came scarily close to both of these answers tonight, but the truth is, we shouldn’t have been scared at all. The Eagles receivers stepped up in a big way. Nelson Agholor took charge from the slot to register a 100-yard game, the offensive linemen stood their ground when needed and even Josh McCown as able to move the chains, completing 3/5 passes in a situation where all hope seemed lost.
The Eagles may have some lingering damage from this game and it hurts to lose in such a heartbreaking fashion, but what a monumental effort by a team that just doesn’t give up. There’s never a definitive ‘it’s over’ moment. There’s never a fumble, a mistake, a drop, a missed touchdown, an injury, that deflates this team as it would any other….and that is truly special.
The Eagles may well be 1-1, but they learned a lot about themselves tonight
Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports.
