It wasn’t a pretty game for the Birds, but it was a win nonetheless. They jumped out to a big lead over the Lions, but they let them get back into game. To be honest about it, defensively it was a pathetic performance. You would’ve liked to have seen the Eagles come out with dominating victory in the first game against the hapless Detroit Lions, but the Birds defense couldn’t stop Jared Goff and the Lions offense. They’ve got to get better.
For the first three quarters, the game was dominated by the arm and legs of Jalen Hurts, who threw for 243 yards, while completing 18 of 32 passes and he ran for 90 yards on 17 carries with one touchdown. The Lions came at him with numerous blitzes and different alignments and he used his legs and savvy to neutralize the aggressiveness of the Detroit “D”. They had a game plan to confuse Hurts by sending blitzing safeties and cornerbacks. Numerous times Hurts just took off when they blitzed. It neutralized their game plan. Ultimately the young quarterback was able to make the plays necessary to put 31 points on the board and do what was necessary for the Birds to come out with the win in the first game of the season.
Things have got to get better for the Birds defense. Jonathan Gannon’s crew must get their act together. They’ve got to do a much more effective job against both the run and the pass. They let D’Andre Swift run for 144 yards on just 15 carries, which is nearly 10 yards per carry. Goff threw for two touchdowns and 205 yards. The Eagles pass rush, which was something that they thought they had improved by acquiring Hassan Reddick, was awful. They did get one sack from Fletcher Cox, but for the most part they were missing in action. The Birds front office figured Reddick was going to be a big shot in the arm for the Eagles, but their pass rush did not get it done versus the mediocre Lions.
I didn’t like the idea of rushing CJ Gardner-Johnson into the lineup at the starting safety position, despite fact that he hadn’t played there very much in his career. He was caught out of position on numerous Lions big plays, eventhough he made a number of good plays during the game. I think if they had let one of the other safeties start or have kept Anthony Harris for a few more weeks, they would have had a better defensive performance.
I will give them credit for a big interception by James Bradberry, which he returned for a touchdown. Linebacker Kyzir White did a great job on the play by getting his hands on the football, then making a good block to help Bradberry find his way into the end zone.
The Eagles first scoring drive was all Hurts. He scrambled when necessary because Detroit sent the house at times to get pressure on him. The young quarterback was able to pull the ball down and make plays with his legs and his arm. On the first drive, he outmaneuvered the Detroit pass rush, found the opening and took off. They couldn’t keep him in the pocket. Ultimately, he ran the ball into the end zone on fourth down for the first score for the Eagles. Throughout the game, he would pull the ball down and utilize his legs to get first downs and keep the sticks moving.
Hurts also did a great job of getting the ball to his number one target, A.J. Brown, who set a career record of 10 catches for 155 yards. You can see that he’s going to be the key to the Birds passing game. Brown is a physical specimen, when it comes to wide receivers. He’s big strong and fast. The former Titan catches the football with his hands and not with his body, so that gives him a bigger catch radius. He’s very difficult to tackle and he’s very comfortable working in traffic. A lot of times he was catching balls over the middle on slant routes and crossing routes.
Eagles running back Miles Sanders had a big game with 13 carries for 96 yards and a big 24 yard run to put the game on the ice. Sanders had been sidelined with a hamstring injury for the most of training camp, but he was available against the Lions and he was a great addition to the offense. Sanders, Boston Scott and Kenneth Gainwell all ran for a touchdown during the game.
Unfortunately they weren’t able to get DaVonte Smith involved in the in the game plan and he didn’t catch a single pass in the contest. Tight end Dallas Goedert was able to catch 3 passes for 60 yards.
