It was an ugly game, but you don’t have to be Miss Universe to win.
Week 1 Philadelphia Eagles Slay and Bomb
Did the Philadelphia Eagles win? Yes, as they should. Did they make it harder than what they needed to? Absolutely. There were plenty of Eagles where they’re the sole reason why they won today. And there were many others who held the team back from clinching a more comforting victory. Let’s go over them, shall we?
SLAY
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Eagles CB Darius Slay (2) – Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images
Darius Slay
It’s on brand for Darius Slay to be on the Slay side of things to guide the Birds to their first win of the season. Ever since 2021, Darius Slay always has had one game that puts him in the top-5 conversation. Despite being 32 and turning 33 on New Year’s Day, Darius Slay once again outperformed his fellow defensive backs and shut down his half of the field. The cornerback registered a 70-yard pick-six and a beautiful pass breakup that should’ve been a second pick. Several pass breakups and more close INTs throughout the game helped the Eagles grind out the 25-20 win.
Run Defense
The run defense was the only unit that was consistently performing to a high standard today. The D-line along with the linebackers and even the safeties, made impactful contributions in stuffing the run. Not only did Jordan Davis force a fumble on a screen pass at the Line Of Scrimmage, but they also held the former cowboy to just 29 yards on seven carries. The rushing offense as a whole only had 3.5 yards per carry and 76 rushing yards.
Jalen Carter
I couldn’t have wished for a better debut for our 1st round rookie. Jalen Carter made a stunning seven pressures throughout the game and even recorded a sack. Jalen Carter stepped up while his fellow pash rushers were lackluster at best, and his relentless in the fourth quarter helped the Philadelphia Eagles keep the lead despite the team hanging on the ropes on multiple occasions.
BOMB
Eagles QB Jalen Hurts (1) – Matt Rourke/AP Photo
Jalen Hurts
By the time I was drafting this article early in the fourth, I wasn’t thinking about adding Jalen Hurts. He definitely wasn’t the reason why they won, but he didn’t make any impactful mistakes that hindered the team’s chance of winning until the fumble late in the fourth quarter. Thank god the defense did their job when they needed it because if this were an average team, the Eagles would’ve lost.
Let’s hope this was just week one jitters against a good defense in muggy conditions. Jalen Hurts was paid elite money to be an elite player that uplifts a team and makes them better. And he didn’t do it today.
Brian Johnson
Oh, how I miss the blissful ignorance of thinking that clueless QB draws out of nowhere and bubble screen passes on third and long would be a thing of the past with a new O.C. Unfortunately, this was not the case.
Multiple screen passes and inside runs on third downs. Calling plays where Jalen hurts, he has to use his shoulders as a battering ram. And overall conservatism that allowed the Patriots to make the game closer than what it needed to be. Only after the second half and the rain subsided did Brian Johnson start calling plays to actually push the ball down the field with the intention to score.
I’ll cut him some slack since it is his first game, and it was raining for a quarter and a half. But with his ultra-safe playcalling and his lack of assorting the runningback room, this was not a pleasant debut for the Eagle’s new play-caller.
Pash Rush/Edge Rushers
Similar to last year’s week one match-up, the pass rush vanished from the game. Only being effective during the last few minutes to get a game-changing sack on the last few drives of the game. While showing up in the most essential part of the game when you’re needed most sounds impressive, disappearing for two and a half hours of the game is infuriating.
Also, having the reputation as one of the most dominating D-line in the modern era, only getting two sacks(One of which was a defensive tackle) sounds very underwhelming.
Final Thoughts
I usually take week-one mistakes with a grain of salt. It’s the very beginning of a long, grueling season, so field rust is common. Especially with most of our starters sitting out the preseason, key players like Jason Kelce and Josh Sweat have not seen any real action since the Super Bowl. Jalen Hurts, and the edge rushers are expected to perform better than their debut later down the line.
