8/18/2023 0 Comments There are no saints read onlineThe skill position players made plays when Minshew put the ball in winnable positions. The defense played well enough to win on Sunday. Hurts isn't out for the year, and he'll be available in Week 18. It looked so easy and was so productive directly because of Hurts, not because of some mythical system. Things are pretty simple: the Eagles are missing the most valuable player in football, and these last two weeks have highlighted just key Jalen Hurts is to the things this offense was doing all season long. Two losses in a row feels particularly strange after the Eagles lost just once in the first 14 games, but the Eagles are not entering the territory of those hot-start Cardinals and Steelers seasons in recent years. In theory it won't be a problem when Hurts returns because of the way he impacts the offense and the run game, but you never know. Why the Birds are so reticent to run in clear running situations is beyond me. And when Minshew looks as bad as he did Sunday, it also keeps the ball from hitting the ground and makes it easier to avoid a 45-second three-and-out. I know it's not sexy, but running the ball wears an opposing defense down and gives your own defense an extra breather. There's a reason the Saints dominated the first half: they had the ball for nearly 22 minutes. When the run game is working, lean on it. The run game is not the same without Jalen Hurts, but that doesn't mean you have to completely gut one of your strengths. It's possible Sanders had some sort of a snap count going, but if he's healthy enough to be out there then he's healthy enough to be out there. At the time Miles Sanders had nine carries for 55 yards. The Eagles received the ball with 13 minutes left in the fourth quarter, down by three points, and proceeded to throw the ball five straight times. I'm far from a huge Miles Sanders supporter - I think he is a good enough running back who is probably extremely replaceable after this season - but he's playing the best football of his career and the Eagles' play callers seem to not care. Inexplicably, Nick Sirianni and Shane Steichen decided to run the ball just twice in the first half and only gave Miles Sanders 12 carries the entire afternoon. The Saints entered Sunday's game sporting one of the NFL's lesser rushing defenses. The Eagles entered Sunday's game with a backup quarterback and missing their starting right tackle. Oh, and Jalen Hurts is very clearly the MVP. But these two games have been an abrupt reminder of the steep drop-off from someone who's starting to someone who isn't. He holds on to the ball for far too long and was sacked six times Sunday.įor a backup quarterback, he's still perfectly fine. In two starts this season, Minshew has left a lot to be desired when it comes to making the easy plays look easy and making the harder plays look possible. The 26-year-old completed 63% of his passes in 20 starts with the Jaguars, not a bad figure by any means. He finished 18-for-32 for 274 yards with a touchdown and a pick. Minshew missed high, and he missed often. On Sunday against the Saints it was more of the same bad, without as much of the good. Why Nick Sirianni expects Jalen Hurts to keep getting better He was backpedaling like a mad man away from the pocket, and his accuracy was iffy at best. Minshew was able to put up big numbers against the Cowboys on Christmas Eve, but if you actually watched the game it felt like every positive play came much harder than it should've. Now we have an answer, and it's underwhelming. Sports fans and analysts are often fans of the unknown and the upside, and nothing screams "What if?" quite like a backup quarterback. Since Howie Roseman traded for Gardner Minshew heading into last season, many have viewed the Eagles' backup QB situation as the best in the league and posited that Minshew could start for a handful of teams around the league. It was an ugly afternoon for the team still sitting in first place in the NFC, and a painful way to start 2023.įolks are certainly going to have some takes after a second straight loss, so let's overreact: 1. The Birds suffered their third loss of the season at the hands of the New Orleans Saints, damaging their first-round draft pick in the process. The Jalen Hurts-less Eagles experience isn't exactly a rollicking success.
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