Eagles Keep Season Alive With Overtime Thriller
The Eagles won a hard-fought game on Sunday night against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night, walking off in overtime with a 33-27 win.
The Birds showed some good mental toughness, as the Cowboys received numerous breaks throughout the second half. From Lucky Whitehead’s 80-yard kickoff return, to Dez Bryant’s unbelievable catch, to Dan Bailey’s game-tying field goal, the Eagles took the best shot that the wounded Cowboys had to offer, and they survived it.
I think the most impressive aspect of this win was that for the first time all season, the Eagles did not turn the football over. Protecting the football and winning the turnover battle is so crucial in the NFL, and the Birds had lost a lot of games this year because of their tendencies to give the ball away.
Jordan Matthews Wakes Up
Jordan Matthews had been having a terrible season. The second-year wide receiver had been killing the team with drops, and played his part in assisting in a few of the team’s giveaways during the first half of the season.
But fresh off of the bye, Matthews returned in a big way with what was easily his best effort of the 2015 season. The second-year pro registered nine catches for 133 yards, including a 41-yard touchdown reception in overtime to give the team the win.
Matthews looked much more confident and focused this week than he had all season. Perhaps the bye came at a good time for him, allowing him to get away from the game for a week and now that he’s had a big game, maybe he can build off of this and deliver some better performances moving forward.
Jordan Hicks Heroic Again
Where would the Eagles be without linebacker Jordan Hicks?
Hicks came up with another game-changing play, picking off Matt Cassell in the third quarter and running it back for a touchdown.
The rookie has been around the football and created turnovers like this all season long, and if not for his latest big play, this might have been a different result, as the Cowboys were well on their way to another score during that point in the game.
Offensive Line Survives Absence Of Jason Peters
When news broke that Jason Peters would be unavailable for tonight’s game, I expected the Eagles’ offensive line to have all kinds of problems creating holes in the running game and protecting Sam Bradford.
However, the reserves turned in a pretty admirable performance, with the line allowing just one sack on Sam Bradford and setting the stage for solid rushing performances from DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews.
The team called a lot of running plays towards Dennis Kelly’s side of the line, and the reserve lineman did a pretty solid job in his first start since 2012.
Quick Thoughts
Offense
- Sam Bradford threw for 295 yards and one touchdown. I thought Bradford played well for the most part tonight. He was accurate, didn’t give the Dallas defenders many opportunities to make plays on the ball, and was able to find open receivers.
- DeMarco Murray ran for 83 yards and a touchdown, but made his biggest plays during the overtime period, ripping off several big runs to help set up Bradford’s touchdown pass to Matthews.
- Ryan Mathews received a proper workload this week, and delivered 67 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries, ripping off an average of 6.1 yards per run.
- Zach Ertz caught five passes for 44 yards, but the rest of the team’s receivers were non-factors.
- Riley Cooper was held without a reception. Josh Huff caught two short passes, and allowed a ball to bounce off of his hands that could have been intercepted. Miles Austin caught one pass.
- Nelson Agholor was inactive again, despite practicing all week. Agholor has now missed three games, and the latest comes despite having the bye week to heal.
- I thought Chip Kelly’s playcalling was extremely suspect at times in the first half.
- During the team’s first touchdown drive, the Eagles were marching down the field on the shoulders of DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews, but once they got to the goalline, Kelly put the ball in the hands of Sam Bradford and the shaky passing game, resulting in two incomplete passes. It forced the Eagles to go for it on a fourth and one, where fortunately DeMarco Murray was able to punch the ball in.
- To Kelly’s credit, he made the correct call in overtime on a fourth and one, electing to go for it rather than punt the football away.
Defense
- Malcolm Jenkins led the team with nine tackles, but struggled to cover Cole Beasley out of the slot throughout the night.
- Big game for Brandon Graham, who registered two tackles and forced two fumbles on Matt Cassel.
- Mychal Kendricks and Connor Barwin also picked up sacks.
- Byron Maxwell played his best game as an Eagle, and I thought he did a nice job taking away Dez Bryant. He was flagged for several highly questionable pass interference calls down the stretch.
- The Eagles allowed Darren McFadden to run for over 100 yards, and allowed two 100-yard wideouts as well.
Special Teams
- Props to Caleb Sturgis for coming through with a big 53-yard field goal to give the Eagles a late lead. Ever since his rough start, Sturgis has settled in and provided the Eagles with some stability at the position.
- Linebacker Brad Jones was a healthy scratch for the first time all year, but both Najee Goode and Marcus Smith were active over him. This to me signifies that Goode may have moved ahead of Jones not only on the linebacker depth chart, but as a special teamer as well.
Final Thoughts
If there are no other bright spots to this Eagles’ season, there will be the fact that the Birds were at least able to deliver the knockout punch to a desperate Dallas Cowboy team that needed a win to keep their hopes alive.
However, problems remain.
The slow starts continue to hurt the offense, and at this point I don’t think that its a problem that the team will be able to solve this season.
Luckily for the Eagles, they were up against an opponent that was unable to take advantage of their early struggles. And even more fortunate is the fact that the Eagles have a couple of games on the horizon against more incompetent teams.
The opportunity is there for the team to get back into the playoff mix, and hopefully this is an effort that they can build on moving forward.
Follow Denny Basens on Twitter, @DennyBasens
yeah…yeah…I know we dont want to give Bradford too much credit…even though he was the key reason for the win today…
Its just like I called it! Bradford is getting better as the season is going on…and he stepped up
While the guy we got rid of Nick Foles others are starting to see why we got rid of his ass…
Here is a very good article by Benjamin Hochman
Hochman: Foles looks like weak link
MINNEAPOLIS • The truth was in the dare.
“I was telling the boys — ‘Are they serious, do they really want to give us the ball?’” recalled Rams receiver Kenny Britt, in what surely sounded like loquacious squawking.
But they were serious — the Vikings dared Nick Foles to try to beat them with a touchdown … and Nick Foles responded like Nick Foles.
Yup, the Rams signed a guy to be a franchise quarterback, and Rams opponents want him to have the ball in overtime.
Even an overtime win Sunday wouldn’t have masked the overall issue — Foles is flimsy and fallible, and the Rams’ offense has been reduced to surviving with him at the helm.
Ugh, it’s hard to hear that the franchise quarterback, who’s paid as such, needs to continue to grow. But on Sunday, the Rams entered their biggest game since 2006 — they were in the playoff picture, but it appeared they didn’t have a playoff quarterback.
Maybe it’s on the receivers, too. And the offensive line. But Foles infuriates with ill-timed passes and floppy floaters toward St. Paul. From the very first play of the game, when the quarterback missed a preposterously wide-open Britt, Foles didn’t seem all there.
And later, it appeared that even coach Jeff Fisher lacked confidence in Foles.”
I dont want to hear another word about lame ass Foles…now you and others are seeing why we dumped him and picked up Bradford!
Your Greg Hardy jersey come in yet?
Pretty solid game in all 3 aspects. Bradford made good decisions for most of the night and the offense got the run game going early. The defense got some big stops and turnovers at critical points in the game. And special teams played well (minus the Lucky Whitehead return) as Donnie Jones was pinning them in their own 20 all night and Sturgis hits a season saving 53-yard field goal.
I will say though, I think we would benefit more from Ryan Mathews getting the first 5 carries of the game as it seems like he is much better on first down. Too many times this season we’ve seen the first drive start with two Demarco Murray 1-yard runs. CANT HAPPEN. we need to be able to generate more first downs on opening drives.
Also, we need Brandon Graham to play this angry each game. He was a beast out there against arguably the best OT in the game and was constantly battling and getting pressure all night. Billy Davis needs to utilize him as a pass rusher more heavily down the stretch.
Jordan Hicks defensive ROY?
Dude, too many first down incomplete, 2nd down Murray for 1-2 yards and then 3rd down and long. They also keep trying to get Murray on the edge. He can’t make it there without a lead blocker. Stop running that damn play. Also, was it me or did it take forever to get Biggers on effin Cole Beasely. That lil dude was murdering Jenkins all night. And they sure gashed the defense on the run last night. Made the D-line look pretty pedestrian.
Those PI calls were ridiculous and embarassing for the league frankly.
For the positives. Bradford played well, but I was more excited to see Jordan Mathews go off finally last night. Hopefully the confidence just builds there and the dropsies are over. The other Mathews continues to dominate when he is in the game. That dude can get to the edge and run through a guy or two. Jordan Hicks is making play after play. Looking like a solid pick in the 3rd round. Much more solid than our 1st rounder who can’t catch or stay in the game.
We can’t go over board on Bradford yet but he has played two nice games in a row. He has looked more confident in the pocket and trusting the line more and more.
Love the two tightend sets as that seems to help the run gane AND get another playmaker on the field in ertz. Best of both worlds and I would use that as my base offense if I were chip.
As far as the run game …I think there system is perfect. People call for more Mathews but I prefer punishing the D with Murray and then hitting them with Mathews as change of pace. Quietly this has been a top 5 rushing offense the past 5 weeks. Mathews as the feature makes him less effective and more likely to get injured.
I wonder if the 2 TE sets were the result of Riley Cooper being injured and out for most of the Game.. Many of us have been screaming for more 2 TE’s and 2 Back Sets than we’ve seen so far this Season
The 2 TE sets were done because of Peters injury and the Kelly’s inexperience at tackle. Both Johnson (except for the 2 penalties) and Kelly did a good job against a good defensive front. If the 2 TE set will allow us to establish the run like that, then I am all for it. They have been rushing the ball well for the past 5 weeks. With Bradley playing as average as he is, for this team to be successful they will need to have a strong running game.
Cantakeitanymore, the reality is that everyone went overboard with the Bradford bashing. “Bradford sucks” was the persistent cry you heard on this forum..Chip Kelly was an “arrogant idiot” for getting rid of Nick Foles.
You cant go overboard on Bradford on this one…because when the whole city was bashing him, the talking heads and “experts” were dogging him…
Bradford came through in the clutch, under pressure in a way that we haven’t seen a Quarterback here do in years!
This wasn’t a game where receivers were running wide open, free and clear
Bradford had a number of passes to covered receivers…the pass to Ertz was a beauty…the game winning pass was thrown before Matthews made his break so it hit him in stride, on the money…while Bradford had stepped into the pocket with Hardy bearing down on him
Clutch, Money time, Pressure situation with all the naysayers and haters doubting you…
Bradford stepped up, in the clutch and performed
Bradford delivered the dagger shot that killed the Cowboys
Give him his due…Bradford deserves it!!
Kelly showed the same vanilla offense for most of the 1st half. Got better calling the game as it went on. Davis still didn’t blitz enough, Cassel was too comfortable in the pocket.
The pick 6 by Hicks was huge!
Bradford was hanging in the pocket, waiting to last possible moment to release the ball before being hit…occurred on many occasions….Being hit on the game winning TD pass to Matthews was a perfect example of that. Sturgis with a big time field goal.
That game shouldn’t have been that close.
Eagles were SUPPOSED to win that game. NO ONE thought they would lose. It shouldn’t have been that hard.
This is still NOT a good team. Not even close.
TS I agree. I am happy for the win, but I still am not hype over it. I expected the defense to be able to limit them, Castle should not have 3 TD passes. The offensive line played better than I anticipated, nice to see Matthews get back on track..Chip has hurt the WR corps. Bradford played well all things considered, still has to score a TD before OT though…no picks though..that was good.
“still has to score a TD before OT though”
This.
All Day THIS.
The Eagles are not blowing any Team out TS and each game will be a struggle in terms of “looking good”. It’s how they are and play and every game will be a work in progress.. Its who they are in 2015 .. Nothing will come easy..
Eagles are an Average Team (4-4) with the chance to get better which is about all you can ask for and expect for them with the Turnover they have had on this Roster..
Seriously GOD DAMMIT! Did we fucking win the game or lose? Damn!! Every week it’s the same damn Debbie downers and cry babies over analyzing everything. Division games are rarely blow outs. You are too familiar with the teams you play in division. We beat the hell out of the saints. They put up 50 on the Giants who could not score more than 7 points on us. We beat the vaunted jets defense. We got 5 sacks and 2 fumbles and a pick 6 on the vaunted Cowgirls O line and defense with Lane at OT for the first time in the NFL and Kelly at RT. SHEESH ENJOY THE DAMN WIN. DAMN!!!
I think people underestimate Cassel. This is only the third game he played after being traded. He has had success in the league and is a competent backup QB in a new system. A QB of his skill set can succeed behind an O-line that protects as well as Dallas does. If this was Weeden, I think the game is a 10 point win. Biggest problem was the D that made Cole Beasley look like Wes Welker…
Good points richcow…I didn’t underestimate Cassel, I remember what he did to us when he played for the Vikings! So everyone calling this an easy game was delusional…Sometimes you have to look beyond records and look at matchups…Dez Bryant was back with a QB that gave us fits…he opened up their offense, their offensive line is still a beast and their defense always gives us problems.
That was a tough, gut check win against a division opponent in their house!
The same guys who armyprince rightfully calls “debbie downers’ want to rob the win of any value!
Now if the Eagles lose that game…they would have been out in full venom reminding us of what they previously stated-Bradford sucks, Kelly is an idiot, blah, blah, blah….but the Eagles win…and the win is dismissed and we are treated to more of their BS “analysis”
LMAO