Eagles squeak by Colts

     The upset, underdog winning days of Indianapolis Colts Coach, Jeff Saturday, are over. It really only lasted a week. They beat the Raiders at that was it. The Colts suffered a heart breaking loss at home, as the Jalen Hurts ran for the final touchdown. The Colts had control for the majority of the game, but the Eagles scored 14 points in the fourth quarter. Even though they came out with the W it was not a great win for the Eagles. 

    The Eagles' defense played a good game, and led the entire team. Matt Ryan did throw for 213 yards, but he threw for no touchdowns, was sacked four times, and had an 89.7 quarterback rating, which isn't bad, but isn't great. The Eagles had added both veteran defensive tackles Ndamukong Suh and Linval Joseph to the roster, and holy cow did these players shine. Suh had three tackles, Joseph had four, and both had half a sack. They were a big reason that the Eagles held the Colts, led by last year's touchdown machine, Jonathan Taylor, to only 99 yards. The Eagles defensive line stuffed the run, and although Jonathan Taylor thrived in the first half with a touchdown and a fierce 28 yard run, Philly shut him down in the second half, and Taylor finished with only 84 yards and averaged a meager 3.8 yards per run. Although the Eagles' secondary was unable to force an interception, they did no allow a passing touchdown, and no Colts' receiver had over 80 yards. 

    Jalen Hurts didn't have too shabby of a game. He threw for a touchdown and ran for one as well. He threw for under 200 yards, but had some nice throws and excellent runs. He finished the day with 86 yards on the ground.

Jalen Hurts's clutch touchdown run handed the Eagles the game

Photo Credit: Bleeding Green Nation

    It wasn't a perfect game for the defense, but keeping high-scoring Jonathan Taylor under 90 yards, holding Matt Ryan to a sub-90 quarterback rating, and only allowing 16 points all added up to an Eagles win.

    Their offense still has a lot to clean up. Getting A.J. Brown involved is a serious issue, one nobody could imagine could happen after watching the Eagles play the Steelers. Brown had five receptions and  60 yards against the Colts but he also fumbled. Last week, he had only one catch for seven yards. Back to back weeks for Brown where he has not been very involved in the Eagles' offense. Brown is a big-bodied wide receiver with good hands and a lot of potential: the sort of player the Eagles have not had in a while.

    The Eagles are going to need Brown playing better soon, and they're going to really need him to because the NFC East went bonkers this week. First, the Giants lost to the 3-6 Lions, and now they are 7-3. Daniel Jones threw two interceptions and the team had only 89 rushing yards. The Commanders beat Davis Mills and the Texans, but the most surprising score was the Cowboys'. The Cowboys rode into U.S. Bank Stadium and thumped the Vikings. They sacked Kirk Cousins seven times, gave only 33 yards to Justin Jefferson, and thrashed them with the score of 40-3. 

    Obviously the NFC East is a little more competitive than two years ago, where the best record was Washington's 7-9. The Eagles still have both the Giants and the Cowboys on their remaining schedule, and both pose more of a challenge than they did earlier this season. The past two sloppy games could mean bad news for the Eagles, as they look to not fizzle out in the regular season. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The above photo was taken from a Bleeding Green Nation article written by Brandon Lee Gowton.  Specific photographer was Trevor Ruszkowski-USA Today Sports. Image was used for commentary.