Recap
The Philadelphia Eagles absolutely destroyed the New York Giants in the NFC Divisional round of the 2022-2023 NFL Playoffs. As impressive as the 38-7 score is, what makes it infinitely better is that 5 years earlier, on the same date, the Eagles beat the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship to advance to the Super Bowl. The Eagles came out firing against New York and truly never looked back; Hurts looked sharp and his shoulder didn’t seem to bother him. The offense looked well prepared and the defense played lights out. If the Eagles continue to play at this level, I don’t think any team can stop them. Let’s take a closer look at how the Eagles performed.
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Positive Observations
1.) QB1
There was some doubts surrounding Jalen Hurts’ health coming into Saturday’s game; only a few weeks removed from a sprained shoulder, some believed that he wouldn’t be able to perform as well as he did in the regular season. Hurts put those doubts to rest on Saturday, posting a stat line of a 66.7% completion percentage, 188 total yards, and 3 total touchdowns.
Hurts genuinely didn’t have to do much in this game, considering that the Eagles’ rushing attack could not be stopped, but he looked sharp and made the right reads throughout the game. When he needed to, he threw the ball well and silenced the critics that had doubted him coming into the game.
2.) Offense
The aforementioned rushing attack was on fire on Saturday; the Eagles rushed for 268 yards on 44 carries, with the big surprise being that Kenny Gainwell was the team’s leading rusher with 112 yards and a touchdown. The offensive line played extremely well and the running backs took full advantage of that.
As for the passing offense, the day was much quieter but still a good performance. Both DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert racked up 6 and 5 receptions respectfully; Smith was the team’s leading receiver with 61 yards and a touchdown while Goedert snagged a touchdown with a beautiful one handed catch. Overall, this was as good of a game from the offense that you could ask for.
3.) Defense
Much like the offense, the defense was outstanding. The Giants were held to only 227 yards offensively and they were a measly 5-13 on 3rd down conversions. The Eagles added to their already impressive sack totals on the season, racking up 5 sacks on the day in addition to holding Daniel Jones to only 109 yards passing. The defense was nothing short of outstanding; Gannon certainly prepared them well and the players executed the game plan flawlessly.
4.) James Bradberry
Bradberry has been such an incredible signing for the Eagles; after watching Steven Nelson at CB2 in 2021, seeing Bradberry lock down half of the field is a huge relief. Bradberry had the game of his life on Saturday; he was targeted 4 times, allowed 1 catch for 3 yards, had an interception, 2 forced incompletions, and allowed a passer rating of 0.0 (!!) when targeted.
5.) Howie Roseman
Speaking of Bradberry, I have to show some love to the person who brought him in- Howie Roseman. I’ll be the first to admit, I began losing faith in Howie during the 2020 season, but he has bounced back in an incredible way and his trade acquisitions & free agent signings have put the Eagles in a very favorable position. Hats off to him.
Negative Observations
1.) Consistency?
There’s not much to be angry about after a 38-7 victory in the Divisional round of the playoffs, but one thing that I’d like to see is the Eagles continue to be aggressive in the 2nd half. Maybe I’m being greedy, but there is some danger in letting your foot off the gas (i.e. Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Los Angeles Chargers). I’m definitely being nit-picky here, but the Eagles offense didn’t score a single point in the 3rd quarter. Against better teams, that might come back to bite them.
Upcoming Opponent
The Eagles host the San Fransisco 49ers on Sunday at 3pm. The 49ers are coming off of a close win over Dallas and look to upset the Eagles on the road. Although the 49ers are a great team, led by a fantastic defense as well as talented playmakers on offense, if the Eagles can get consistent pressure on Brock Purdy, I think that the Eagles have a decent shot at winning this game. When under pressure against Dallas, Purdy went 3-11 for 24 yards and was sacked twice. Although the 49ers will certainly try to keep the Eagles defensive line off balance with draw plays & screens, if the Eagles defense can get home, I think this game won’t be as close as people think.
Final Thoughts
I genuinely wasn’t sure how the Eagles would do coming into this season; while every fan has high hopes for their team, the Eagles at the time had a question mark at the Quarterback position. The question that everybody was asking was how good can Hurts really be? To say that Hurts has impressed is an understatement; he solidified his franchise Quarterback title with an MVP caliber season, and he truly has made the team better.
The Eagles have the most complete team in the NFL right now and they are simply fun to watch. They play for each other and that shows each and every week. Sirianni has done an incredible job with this group of young men, and I can’t wait to see what happens on Sunday. For the time being, enjoy the ride; this Eagles team is arguably the most dominant team that we’ve been able to watch, and I’m loving every second of it. As always, Go Birds!
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Nate Eichner is a featured writer at The Birds Blitz. For more from Nate, check out his archive and read through our Eagles articles for the latest news about the Birds.
The post State of the Eagles: NFC Championship (2023) appeared first on The Birds Blitz.
