Eagles Team Grades: Eagles Looked More Poised In Thursday Night Win Vs. Giants
By Kevin McGuire
The Philadelphia Eagles snapped a five-game losing streak on Thursday night with a victory over the New York Giants. The 24-19 victory for the Eagles was somewhat inspiring to see after so many horrible losses. The result of the game also clinched the NFC East Division crown for the Dallas Cowboys and put the Giants' clinching scenarios for a playoff spot on a brief hold until Sunday's games can be played. But enough about the Cowboys and the Giants. How did the Eagles look? In truth, the Eagles looked better and more confident, but there is clearly still some room for improvement.
Offense: C
Quarterback Carson Wentz had some good glimpses and some bad moments throughout the night, completing 13-of-24 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown with one interception. Wentz worked his way out of trouble at times, and one particular play was his own undoing after keeping a play alive only to throw the ball deep and be picked off.
The return of Lane Johnson on the offensive line and running back Darren Sproles provided an early jolt as Johnson made a key block on a 25-yard touchdown run by Sproles in the first quarter to open the scoring. Ryan Mathews carried the football 18 times for 46 yards. Wentz even ran for 27 yards. Nelson Agholor—yes, Nelson Agholor—was the team's leading receiver with two receptions for 47 yards and a touchdown. The Eagles managed just four third-down conversions out of 12 and accumulated just 286 yards of offense.
Defense: A-
The Eagles defense may have given up 356 passing yards to Eli Manning, with 150 of those going to Odell Beckham Jr., but the Eagles did a good enough job putting pressure on Manning when it counted the most. An aggressive attack made Manning uncomfortable at times, leading him to throw the ball up for grabs.
The Eagles picked off three Manning passes, one of which was returned by Malcolm Jenkins for a touchdown in the first quarter. Jenkins had two interceptions on the night. The secondary showed good patience and did not get overly frustrated when they could have crumbled. Nigel Bradham was a beast up front with 14 tackles, including 10 solo tackles.
Special Teams: B+
Eagles kicker Caleb Sturgis remains one of the most dependable assets on the team. On Thursday night, Sturgis converted his lone field goal attempt and successfully kicked all three of his extra-point attempts. Punter Donnie Jones was called on to punt five times, and he downed two inside the Giants' 20-yard line. The other three punt attempts came from inside his own 30-yard line. The punt coverage team shined on those other three punts by Jones, limiting the Giants to negative yardage on punt returns (-3).
Kickoff coverage was fair enough as well, and did not allow any big returns. The Eagles never returned a punt in the game and Agholor handled two kickoffs without much flair but with no mistakes.
Coaching: C
Despite the win, it was still an up-and-down kind of game on the sideline with Doug Pederson. Pederson gambled with Chase Daniel in to relieve an injured Wentz on a fourth and goal from the one-yard line, which was stuffed by the Giants. Pederson also called for a play in which Wentz was a lead blocker very shortly after returning from having his head examined for a concussion.
Pederson had Wentz throw deep late in the game, giving the Giants a free mini-timeout just before getting the ball back with a chance to win. The Giants only had one timeout to spare at the time. These incidents did not come back to haunt the Eagles this time. Credit Jim Schwartz for sticking to his defensive plan as well. The Giants racked up yardage, but the defense did not lose control in the second half and made key plays to seal a win.
The Eagles had been notorious for taking penalties during the losing streak, but Philly was flagged just once for five yards on Thursday night. The Giants were called for five penalties totaling 50 yards in the game.
Up Next: Dallas Cowboys, January 1, 2017 (1:00 PM)
The Eagles will close out the 2016 regular season on the first day of the new year against the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys will have little to play for and may use the regular season finale to rest some key players, like Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott. Could Tony Romo play? The Eagles lost to the Cowboys in the first meeting of the season, 29-23 when Philadelphia blew a late fourth-quarter lead and lost in overtime.