That was one of the best defensive performances you’ll ever witness. Full stop. I don’t remember ever seeing a team stop another FIVE TIMES on 4th down before. Throw in the 5 batted passes and Jared Goff running for his life the whole game and it was jarring to watch such domination (the high-low hit on Goff was especially violent and memorable). Yet, that was only half of the action from the game. Let’s go through all of last night’s talking points, both good and bad.
Officiating
It’s a shame that a great game had to end with such a tic tac call for pass interference. It was a bad whistle and any Eagles fan worth his salt probably had flashbacks to Super Bowl 57 when we were on the other side and robbed of a chance to win. Games shouldn’t end like that. However, it was a karmic make-up for a game that was otherwise terribly biased against the Birds.
AJ Brown was called for a 15-yard personal foul penalty earlier in the game for an illegal low block. He clearly gets his feet tangled with the turf and falls to the ground. Maybe by the letter of the law that’s a penalty, but in spirit accidents like that are NEVER called.
Both those Brown calls were at least defensible. The false start on Tyler Steen was not. Steen was called for movement because he was literally hitting a defender’s hand that was in his zone, lined up offsides. Officials are supposed to be watching that. This was a 4th and 1 Tush Push situation. What this tells me is that the officials are purposely not watching on this play. I’m going to go full conspiracy theory for a second but bear with me. The NFL wants to eliminate the play, that’s clear. It was aesthetically displeasing at first, then it was unsafe, and now it is impossible to officiate (despite being officiated extra tight in years past). All are bullshit. However, this time, they are invested in getting the play wrong. Last night was blatant, it just went against the Eagles this time.
AJ Brown
I heard a lot of chatter about how they were forcing the ball to AJ last night. Since when did that become a bad thing? They SHOULD be forcing the ball to Brown! Other teams get the ball to their best players regularly, why is it a story when we finally do it with Brown?
That being said, Jalen threw a deep ball to Brown late in the game that looked like he simply checked up. The broadcast made no mention of it, but it looked clear as day to me. I don’t know what is going on in his head, but (and I know this is incredibly obvious) it needs to be cleared out.
My stance on his whole situation is that he isn’t wrong, even if I disagree with how he goes about showing it. He has never been a diva receiver, no matter the stereotypical narrative surrounding him. He knows that he is an unguardable force that is not being utilized. He obviously was not being listened to early in the year and voiced his displeasure. It is more a cry for help than a negotiating through the media contract discussion (like most other receivers).1 That being said, he needs to be the example
Kevin Patullo and the Offense
I try not to weigh in on this too much, because I know contracts way more than I know ball, but there was something that really stood out last night. The Lions have a defense that is very, very good, but the Eagles’ defense is clearly a level above. That being said, on a few occasions the Lions had easy completions. I know Gibbs and Williams are both fast, but it was more about scheming open the right play and matchup. That literally doesn’t happen for us. Ever. JoeyBets made a comment last night saying, “why does it always have to be so hard for us?” Everything is a grind. We couldn’t find a way for an easy completion against a depleted secondary? How is that possible? If the Lions could do it against our defense, it should have been a field day with our talent against theirs.
It’s very easy to yell FIRE PATULLO from the internet, but in reality, it’s not that easy. First, who would replace him? You can’t bring in an outsider at this point in the season and expect positive results. It’s clear something needs to happen though. Second, I’ve heard talk of bringing in an advisor. That’s adjacent to the first point and would basically castrate the man. Things like that do not work in NFL locker rooms. Just look at Carson Wentz after BDN stepped in. This has more potential for chaos than stability. Third, do we just give play calling duties to Sirianni? He wasn’t exactly good in this role the first time we tried it. At the very least, he seems to have a desire to pass more than run, so that’s a good thing (lol, time is a flat circle). Finally, the best and most likely solution is that Howie Roseman and Jeff Lurie might have to come in and make a power play for the team philosophy. It would be them saying to get their heads out of their ass and change. We would never hear about the meeting, but it would be clear that Patullo can either win another Super Bowl or find a new job. I don’t mean it’s Super Bowl or bust, rather that’s the floor of this team with a competent offense. Steal plans from other teams, get crazy, just do something! This team is too talented to have to win so hard every week.
An underrated aspect of this team’s lack of offensive success is the miserable run blocking. It’s putrid. Just a total failure to not be able to run the ball without 6 offensive lineman and even then, it’s still not good. Is this a Stoutland problem, a scheme problem, or a talent problem? I refuse to believe it is a Stoutland thing because of past experience. If it’s the scheme, that would be an easy answer and easy solution, but almost too easy, right? If Jeff Stoutland is in charge of that kind of thing, and I believe he is, it would have been fixed. That leaves talent. Last year, our front five was intact basically all year. This year, not so much. Jurgens, Dickerson, and Johnson have all been in and out of the lineup all season. Not only do we lose continuity, but this screams that even when they are in the lineup, they are not 100%. Maybe Lane Johnson at 75% is good enough. Cam Jurgens though, not so much. We might see Willy Lampkin as soon as next week.
UPDATE: literally as I was typing this paragraph it was announced that Lane Johnson will miss 4-6 weeks
To Go for It or Not to Go for It, That is the Question
Last week against Green Bay the Eagles went for it on 4th down late in the game. The pass to Brown went incomplete and people were mad at the choice. To me it seemed like there were 3 options and none were very good. Going for it seals the game or gives the Packers a short field. A field goal could also seal it but it was freezing and could give the Packers an even shorter field. Punting makes the field even shorter, but not by much and gives no chance to seal the game. Honestly, that’s 33% on each. No right moves, no wrong ones.
Last night was completely different. With the Eagles up 10 and on their own 28, the play call was to go for it on 4th and 1. My first thought is that this is not a “cowardly” punt situation. Up two scores, you punt and make them go 90 yards fast twice. That’s the move. Going for it could have sealed the game, but the Lions were already in field goal range by failing. That’s simply the wrong time to be brave.
The Defense
Let’s finish with the fun stuff. I mentioned it in the beginning, but other than the Super Bowl last night may have been the best defensive performance I’ve ever seen. The Lions were the top offense in the NFL and they couldn’t do ANYTHING. It was an all-around effort too, not just one pass rusher wrecking the game:
- Jordan Davis is the biggest man I’ve ever seen. I irrationally love the guy ever since college and I’m happy he is getting his flowers this season. He batted down 3 passes last night. He seems like an unreplaceable force that must be extended. Here is what that might look like.
- Quinyon Mitchell locked up Amon-Ra St. Brown so bad last night that you would think he was inactive. Even after last night, he ranks 6th in the league in receptions and 8th in yards. The man was a prisoner in Quinyonimo Bay.
- Jalen Carter has received criticism for being out of shape, but he can still get to the QB at will when he’s not being held. Speaking of which, last night may have been the first time they actually threw a flag for holding #98. He plays damn near 90% of the snaps on defense. If he starts heating up, the offense won’t even need to score.
- Jaelan Phillips was rescued by Vic Fangio from Miami. For a 3rd round pick, the Eagles basically got Myles Garrett lite for a fraction of the cost. He has been relentlessly wreaking havoc in the backfield. As far as midseason pickups go, few players have ever fit so seamlessly as Phillips after 2 weeks (and against 2 great offenses too). Later this week I will try to find him a new contract.
- Jared Goff was more flustered than a competent QB should ever be. He had nothing. I think I read he completed only 2 of his last 18 passes. WTF? That’s the kind of performance that makes Detroit rethink everything. If the playoffs started today, they would be out. Worse than that though, they would know they are dead in the water against this defense.
- The best for last, Nakobe Dean. In his final year at Georgia, Dean was the best player on the field despite sharing it with Davis, Carter, and #1 pick Travon Walker. He was everywhere AND leading the others too. Obviously, the NFL is a different monster where everyone is bigger, stronger, and faster. Dean slipped in the draft because of injury concerns and everyone thinking he would never be able to be that player again with better competition. Well, they were wrong. What we have seen this season is max-level Nakobe Dean. He is everything we saw at Georgia and more. He was running with Jahmyr Gibbs stride for stride last night while also absolutely leveling blockers on blitzes. It was unreal. This Nakobe Dean can be the best LB in football. He is the best problem to have right now…
I’m sure I am missing something from the game. I woke up this morning and my brain was buzzing. Despite a low scoring affair, last night was one of the more interesting games to dissect. I could probably write another 2000 words about it. Alas, now it’s Dallas week.
- I’m not against this either. Make your money! ↩︎
Philly Front Office 
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