The Linc was rocking like no other Week 2 game we have seen in years. Glimpses of hope on a potential playoff team with a future star quarterback in the back of everyone’s mind. The Eagles looked great early on but then with 12 seconds to go in the half; the 49ers took 7-3 lead to never look back. A smattering of boos were heard and a lifeless second half for the most part. The Eagles and fans were grounded back down to reality as the Eagles lost at home 17-11 falling to 1-1 on the season.
Same Old Offense
Besides for this absolute beauty of a throw from Jalen Hurts to Quez Watkins, the offense was stuck in mud with many of the same issues that plagued the Eagles last year.
Unfortunately, the Eagles got zero points out of that drive due to the inept play calling of Nick Sirianni. I still can’t believe he called the “Philly Special” on 4th down. Nick seemed to be outmatched by Demeco Ryans all afternoon but the players didn’t help any either. Jalen Hurts was average at best but made a few nice throws. The receivers didn’t seem to get separation. The offensive line played terrible with a potential season ending injury to Brandon Brooks. The Eagles offense only had the ball for 25:06 to the 49ers 34:54. It was the same old stuff we have been seeing the previous few years.
Hurts
As much praise as Hurts received last week the criticism will come for his Week 2 performance. Hurts was 12/23 for 190 yards while being sacked twice. Imagine if you took away the Watkins bomb? He also had a nice throw to Jalen Reagor for a TD that was called back. Hurts also rushed for 82 yards on 10 carries scoring the Eagles only touchdown late in the 4th. There were times the pocket collapsed and other times Hurts held the ball too long. The good thing here is different from last year Hurts did not turn the ball over and avoided even more sacks with his legs. Once again ZERO turnovers!
We knew the 49ers would take away the underneath stuff and they also played a deep zone to take away the big play as well. That would leave the middle of the field to attack, right?
This loss certainly doesn’t fall on Hurts but is worth pointing out after two games not many attempts have gone over the middle over 10 yards. I would imagine this will not continue as Hurts takes the next steps in his development as a quarterback. It also seemed as the 1st read wasn’t there either the receivers weren’t open or Hurts didn’t see it. Time will tell but Jalen definitely seems to have the demeanor to improve and get better.
Penalties
The Eagles cost themselves multiple times during this game with 8 penalties for 57 yards. Two however standout as game changers to me. One is the Jalen Reagor play where he was unable to reestablish himself inbounds.
The other was the helmet to the head penalty called on K’von Wallace which in my and many others opinion was a bad call.
Defense
The defense played well but couldn’t get stops when it counted down the stretch. Through 2 games, they also have ZERO turnovers and don’t seem to blitz very much. Big test this week in Big D against the Cowboy offense. I think this will give us a better gauge of what this defense really is to this point.
Grounded
Everyone has been grounded from the crazy expectations and hopes that entered our brains after week one. This year will be up and down as a rookie head coach and essentially rookie QB are learning together on the fly. I feel like its going to be a one week at a time season to enjoy the wins and learn from the losses. This week was a loss but hey they were in a game which they very well could have maybe even should have won. Its DALLAS WEEK though, so enough meddling in this loss. Beating Dallas on the road on Monday night will be a tall task but not impossible.
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Freddy Burns
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Photo Credit: AP – Matt Slocum
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