The Philadelphia Eagles bounced back in stunning fashion by knocking off the fellow 5-1 Dolphins on Sunday Night. Having faced the #1 offense that seemingly broke records every week, many people including myself were expecting a much more exciting and closer affair than what we got. Fortunately for us, some birds put the team on their backs and flew the squad to victory, while some couldn’t keep up and crashed down.
Let’s review it in this week’s edition of Slays vs Bombs.
Philadelphia Eagles Bombs
Former Eagles Safety Terrell Edmunds (26)- John McMullen/ Eagles Today
Terrell Edmunds
This defense needs all the flowers we can give them. Coming into the game, the Eagles were missing both starting safeties and were down to their 3rd string slot corner. They held the best offense in the league to a pedestrian 244 total yards and 10 points. As good as the defense in general was at holding the offense at bay, there were a few slip-ups that kept the game competitive.
One of these slip-ups was a touchdown allowed by James Bradberry and Terrell Edmunds. Being they got beat by the best receiver in the league, Tyreek Hill, I’ll give them some slack.
But what puts Edmunds on the bombs list is the obvious position to prevent the deep ball to Hill in the endzone and he was still beaten due to him just reacting late on the route. Overall, like with all other games, he was pretty pedestrian outside of the usual big play he gives up.
Philadelphia Eagles Slays
The D-Line
Have a day, Sweaty J! And everyone else on the D-line who allowed just 44 rushing yards on the #1 rushing offense in the N.F.L. The immovable object defeated the unstoppable force as the D-line totaled four tackles for loss and four sacks in a dominating performance in the trenches.
Even the rotational players got a piece of the pie as Georgia second-strings Jordan Davis and Nolan Smith combined for a sack and a half, a tackle for loss, and two quarterback hits.
This defensive line is the heart and soul of this defense as was the biggest reason why the Eagles held the Dolphins to their worst offensive performance.
Darius Slay
Darius Slay’s name was called quite often on Sunday night than usual for most of the right reasons. The Pro Bowl veteran had his hands full with Waddle and held his own on his side of the field for a good part of the game. Recording a few pass deflections and even a red zone interception.
Jalen Hurts
The most inconsistent quarterback in the league, Jalen Hurts was once again very hot and very cold in a back-and-forth outing that saw him clock in a 109.7 passer rating despite giving up two turnovers. Apart from the two turnovers that resulted in 10 points for the Dolphins, Jalen played an exceptional game that saw him complete over 70 percent of his passes and throw for over 270 yards, his fifth straight week in a row doing so.
But I put Hurts on the slays list in that instead of sulking and letting the turnovers get to his head, he brushed it off and threw two touchdown passes following each turnover to extend the Eagles lead.
The turnovers are the biggest reason why Jalen and this team are not being seen as good as they were last year which is completely fair. But I admire Jalen’s mental and physical resilience to not allow bad plays to affect how you play in the future.
AJ Brown
Speaking of inconsistent, let’s talk about the exact opposite of that in A.J. Brown. For the fifth consecutive time this season, AJ Brown has amassed more than 125 receiving yards in a game, tying Calvin Johnson’s record. The chemistry of his best friend Jalen Hurts along with exceptional route running and catching abilities makes Brown the perfect receiver for both short and deep passes.
The value he brings to the team is incomparable to the value that was given up to get him and it’s hard to see the offense doing just as good without him here.
