The New York Jets[3-3] defeat the Philadelphia Eagles[5-1] 20-14. Next week, the Eagles host the Miami Dolphins while the Jets play the Giants.
1st Quarter: Eagles Quarterback Jalen Hurts runs in a 3-yard touchdown.
2nd Quarter: Jets Kicker Greg Zuerlein kicks a 43-yard field goal. Jalen Hurts throws a pass which is tipped and intercepted by Defensive Tackle Quinnen Williams. Jalen Hurts throws a 9-yard touchdown to Running Back D’Andre Swift. Greg Zuerlein kicks a 42-yard field goal. D’Andre Swift fumbles the ball and Jets Linebacker Quincy Williams recovers at their own 49-yard line. Greg Zuerlein kicks a 35-yard field goal. Eagles up 14-9 at halftime.
3rd Quarter: Greg Zuerlein kicks a 38-yard field goal.
4th Quarter: Jalen Hurts is hit and throws an interception to Jets Defensive Back Bryce Hall who gives the Jets the ball at their own 38-yard line. Eagles Kicker Jake Elliott misses a 37-yard field goal. Jets Running Back Breece Hall runs in an 8-yard touchdown(2-point conversion is successful with a throw to Wide Receiver Randall Cobb). The Jets won 20-14.
Eagles Notes:
Player Miscues-Let’s start with Jalen Hurts. Early on in the game, Hurts was making some of the most incredible throws I have seen him make on the run but eventually, he was not able to continue this trend. He was getting hit when Lane Johnson got hurt which resulted in one interception. A tight end screen on third down gets popped out of Goedert’s hands before he can secure the ball and is intercepted by Quinnen Williams. A freak play all around. The final interception was completely on Hurts. He tried looking off Tony Adams playing the middle of the field but Adams did not bite and Hurts paid for it. The play design in general was bad but we will get to that later. I can not comment on the run game if we only see 14 carries from running backs. D’Andre Swift fumbled which was shocking to see from anyone on this team. A.J. Brown missed a long touchdown if he did not slow down in a deep route he ran. No receiver should be slowing down and they teach you to keep running your route. If Hurts had underthrown the ball then it would have been on Hurts but A.J. slowed down and cost the Eagles points. He did have a great game outside of this one specific play. DeVonta Smith had his worst game in his career this week. Multiple drops at different areas of the field. I have never seen him look like this and it added to the issues in the game. When Lane Johnson got hurt, Jack Driscoll came in and was an immediate issue. I know Driscoll is better than this but he was not good at blocking for the run and was getting beat or pushed into Hurts on nearly every play. Sua Opeta was already in for an injured Cam Jurgens so the right side of the O-Line was forcing Hurts to roll out the entire game. D-Line was decent in this game. Against running backs, the Eagles allowed 56 rushing yards on 16 carries. The secondary was unable to cover Garrett Wilson but a lot of that had to do with Josh Jobe covering Garrett Wilson and I will get to that later. A lot of injuries to the secondary so there is not much I can speak about there. When Jake Elliott missed a field goal I knew where this game was headed. The defense did enough to win this game but the offense and special teams failed to produce enough points.
Injuries-Entering this game the Eagles were without Defensive Tackle Jalen Carter, Cornerback Darius Slay, and Safety Sydney Brown. The Jets going into this were without D.J. Reed and Sauce Gardner so both teams were without key starters. Throughout the game the Eagles lost All-Pro Right Tackle Lane Johnson, Goedert was hurt and went in and out of games. Reed Blankenship, Bradley Roby, and Eli Ricks all got hurt in the game which led to practice squad Cornerback Mekhi Garner playing Safety.
Brian Johnson-This was the game that hopefully forces the coaches, front office, and players to tell Brian Johnson that he needs to change what he is doing. Only 14 carries by running backs. He commented on this earlier today by saying that some of the pass plays they have are supposed to be extensions of the run. That is not how that works. You need to actually run the ball with your running backs. As we have seen most of this year, Hurts designed runs are not working. If you want to run QB draws then you need to build up to them by throwing consecutive passes and running a no-huddle offense. After looking at the All-22 plays, the last interception thrown by Hurts had 2 guys in the middle running curls, a receiver on the left running a 16-yard curl, and a receiver on the right running a streak. There was no running back to check down to and there was nobody open quick enough for Hurts to throw to and get the first down. There was a potential first down to the deep curl but only if the O-Line could have held their blocks for around 6 seconds. During the final offensive play which was a deep incomplete pass, DeVonta was the only receiver at any point that could have gotten a first down but there are only a few QBs in league history who could have made the throw. The running back was running a short curl which on 4th down was not going to do anything. A receiver was running a crossing route to the left side of the field but with a defender next to him was never going to get the first down. Another receiver was running a corner route with 4 Jets defenders around him. Finally, another receiver ran a delayed slant which turned into a post into the receiver running a corner route. None of these players were open but for a very short frame DeVonta Smith could have been hit and Hurts did see this but just a fraction of a second late. Awful play designs by Brian Johnson.
Sean Desai-Desai is constantly improving but he still has his issues. Josh Jobe should have never ever been on Garrett Wilson at any point in the game but for some reason, he was covering him the majority of the game. James Bradberry does exist. Also, there was a constant rotation of Zach Cunningham, Nicholas Morrow, and Nakobe Dean which was an issue in the game because there were inconsistencies in stopping the run and covering from the linebacker position. With all the injuries I do think it is time for the Eagles to trade for a Safety to play next to Reed Blankenship.
-Jordan Burden