The 2022-23 NFL season has concluded and the Philadelphia Eagles have rightfully asserted themselves as the top team in the NFC.
While the team’s 22-16 win over New York left much to be desired, they were still able to accomplish their goals as a first-round bye and NFC East crown. The win also came courtesy of the Giants sitting all of their starters and the Eagles needing to play their entire starting unit to secure the coveted first-round bye.
There were plenty of players that stood out on Sunday and plenty who struggled so let’s go over the last stock watch of the 2022 season.
Stock Up: Haason Reddick
There’s a case to be made that Haason Reddick has been the Eagles’ best player over the last month of the season. He’s already one of their best free-agent signings in recent memory as well.
Reddick concluded his career season with 16 sacks and five forced fumbles which were both top five in each category across the NFL. In Sunday’s win, Reddick did not record a sack but had three quarterback hits and a bevy of pressures on Davis Webb.
The Eagles ultimate weapon has been superb for the tea, this season and he continued his strong play on Sunday.
Stock Down: Darius Slay
Just as Reddick has produced excellently over the last month, Darius Slay has struggled over the last few weeks. Slay dropped two sure-fire picks in Sunday’s win and gave up a one-handed touchdown grab by Kenny Golladay.
Golladay hadn’t caught a touchdown pass from the Giants to this point in two years. Add in a couple of missed assignments and Slay will need to be a lot better in two weeks with a potential rematch with the Giants on the horizon, or tougher matchups in store.
Stock Up: Boston Scott
Well, it was Giants week so naturally, Eagles RB Boston Scott had a big game. Scott scored the only touchdown for Philadelphia on Sunday and had over six yards a carry.
Scott now has 10 touchdowns in his career against the G-Men which is over half of his 17 career scores. Whenever the Giants are on the schedule, it’s nice to know that Boston Scott is always there to help put the game away.
Stock Down: Offensive Line
Without Lane Johnson, this group has really struggled in the last couple of games. Jalen Hurts was sacked three times and pressured quite a bit more.
Philly’s top unit struggled mightily to pick up disguised blitzes throughout the night and averaged just four yards a carry on the ground. If The Eagles are to win in the divisional round of the playoffs, they will need Lane Johnson back, but they’ll also need the entire group to play a lot better.
Stock Up: DeVonta Smith and AJ Brown
The Eagles have never had a receiving core this good in their entire history. Smith set a franchise record for receptions by a receiver, and Brown set the franchise mark for yards in a single season.
Both tallied over 150 of the 230 yards passing from Hurts on Sunday and once again showed why they are the best tandem in the NFL today. Even AJ Brown understood how good the two of them were when he told reporters yesterday “We got a lot more. We’re going to be here for a long time.”
Stock Down: Jalen Hurts
In his first game back from a shoulder injury, Jalen Hurts looked rusty amid a vanilla playcalling script used to keep him healthy instead of winning the game.
Hurts, and the entire offense struggled on Sunday for a bevy of reasons, and while the quarterback should absolutely get a pass since it was his first game action in weeks, the inability to consistently move the football against practice squad players wasn’t enjoyable at times.
The Eagles should have all the confidence in the world that Hurts will get right as he gets healthier, but Sunday was easily his worst game of the year.
AP Photo/Chris Szagola
