Philadelphia Eagles Week 2 Slay and Bomb

The Philadelphia Eagles once again unnecessarily raised their fans’ blood pressure in a one-score affair that could have easily been a blowout if they were facing more favorable circumstances. Despite a bad Interception from Hurts and multiple injuries on the defense, the Eagles eked out a six-point win over the visiting Vikings. Some carried this team to a victory, and some fell flat and almost cost them the game. Who were they in this week’s edition of Slay vs. Bomb?

 

Philadelphia Eagles SLAYS

 

De’andre Swift

What could quite possibly be the greatest Eagles rushing performance I’ve seen since Lesean Mccoy in 2013, Swift put the offense on his back when the passing game stalled to the tune of 175 yards and a touchdown and 6.2 yards per carry. The Philly native showed out in the best way possible, and this display of consistency throughout the game should earn him the starting job in the future, as in the previous game, he was the backup to fellow running back Kenny Gainwell.

 

Devonta Smith

The Eagles didn’t pass much, but when they did, Devonta Smith was always there to wow the audience. The skinny receiver racked up a staggering 141 yards on just three catches and a touchdown. Including a beautiful ladder catch for 54 yards on the third pass of the game. And a game-changing 63-yard touchdown where zipped past the cornerback on one-on-one coverage

Ever since his stellar sophomore campaign, the N.F.L. world questioned if he is a top 10 receiver alongside his teammate A.J Brown. With this performance, it’s clear that the argument has a considerable amount of merit.

 

Run Defense

 

The Big men up front once again dominated the trenches as they allowed nine attempts for just 28 yards, equalling 3.6 yards per carry. This premier run-stuffing forces Kirk Cousins into pure passing situations for most of the game. This, however, is a double-edged sword due to the inexperienced and battered secondary being outplayed by a top 3 receiver in Justin Jefferson and a top 10 tight end in T.J. Hockenson. 

All things considered, this is still a massive improvement from last year, as the Eagles’ Run defense was considered a liability for most of the 2022 regular season.

 

Philadelphia Eagles BOMBS

 

Brian Johnson (For The First Half)

 

 

I’ll never understand the Eagles offensive coordinator’s abusive relationship with himself and one-yard screen passes. For the first two quarters, the projected top ten offense was infuriating to witness as QB draws and bubble screen passes were a majority of the plays that Brian Johnson called. Even in pure passing circumstances such as third and medium or long, QB draws were still called for no gain.

It took a while, but Brian Johnson finally realized that this offense’s main strength was using the best offensive line in football to run the ball down their throats with no theatrics involved. He also found out that Jalen Hurts likes to go vertical. You can see it when he reads the field; he loves to extend the play and make big throws to his speedy and beefy receivers, regardless if they’re open or not. It will be utter insanity if Brian and Jalen open the next game up with multiple screen passes because they never work.

On a side note, it’s obvious that Jalen Hurts does not want to take the big, impactful hits that take years off of a career. You can see when he slides and gives up at the L.O.S. or behind it. So it’s counterintuitive to commonly call QB reads and draws when Jalen Hurts wants to avoid getting hit where you can just give it to the running back, whoever it is.

 

The Secondary

 

This isn’t surprising. You’re facing one of the best receivers in the league. Two defensive backs were ruled out before the game, and a third went out due to injury in the middle of the game. It may excuse the terrible performance, but the terrible performance still occurred nonetheless. The young and battered secondary gave up 364 yards and four touchdowns, with a 71 completion percentage.

Given how this is under the leadership of rookie defensive coordinator Sean Desai with half the secondary injured, I wasn’t expecting a lockdown game. But the secondary is still a liability and by far the biggest reason why the game was as close as it was. As the season progresses and the team gets healthier, I expect better performances. But if all starters are on the field and they’re still allowing 300 passing yards a game on average, that big red panic button needs to be pressed.

See also: Philadelphia Eagles Week 1 Slay and Bomb