Eagles save their Season with Comeback Win in South Philly

The Philadelphia Eagles saved their season with a fantastic come from behind victory over the divisional foe, the New York Giants, edging them out 22-21 to gain sole possession of 1st place in the NFC East. By no means was this a pretty victory, but the Eagles grinded it out and put together an amazing comeback late in the 4th quarter to pull out the win. Carson Wentz was clutch in the 4th quarter, as he led the team on back to back touchdown drives of 68 and 75 yards to carry the Eagles to first place in the NFC East.

This view of the game-winning TD is elite 🔥 @cj_wentz @BostonScott2 @Eagles pic.twitter.com/fPwcoVAq3e

— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) October 23, 2020

Game Recap

The Eagles offense started on fire on their first drive. The offense looked to get the returning Desean Jackson involved as he touched the ball on the first play. The Eagles drove right down the field and capped off a 75-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by Carson Wentz to lead 7-0. After a pair of 3 and outs by each team, the Giants capitalized on the field position game. Daniel Jones connected with former Eagle Golden Tate for a 39-yard touchdown reception to tie the game at 7-7. Golden Tate showed his affection towards Philly, making his best Vai Sikahema impression by punching up the goalpost’s Eagles logo.

Dreadful Second Quarter

The game would head to the 2nd quarter tied at 7-7. The Eagles would drive into the early moments of the 2nd quarter down into the red zone. The offense stalled out on the 13-yard line, and Jake Elliott would come in to connect on a 31-yard field goal to take a 10-7 Eagles lead.

This is where things got ugly in the football game, showing off why these teams only have one win each. Each team traded interceptions on back to back possessions. Wentz’s interception proved to be more costly as he threw a terrible ball into the end zone, where James Bradberry picked it off. Fortunately, the giants were unable to capitalize. Moving forward, the teams traded punts on the following possessions. Late in the 2nd quarter, the Eagles come up with a turnover in Giants territory after a fumble by Dion Lewis. The Eagles offense marches down to the 11-yard line to set up Jake Elliott for a chip shot, but he MISSED IT! The Eagles head to the locker room with a 10-7 halftime lead.

Second Half

The second half gets underway with each team exchanging a pair of 3 and outs and a very uneventful start to the 3rd quarter. Then, Daniel Jones breaks out for an 80-yard run that had everyone fooled! Fortunately for the Eagles, their 12th man emerged from the turf to trip up Jones before he reached the end zone. The Giants would get down to the 1-yard run, where Wayne Gallman would leap above the pile into the end zone to give the Giants a 14-10 lead. The Eagles make a push late in the 3rd quarter that included a 40-yard strike to Travis Fulgham, setting up a red-zone opportunity for the Eagles.

If the NFC East was a run play pic.twitter.com/qvw0alfTcF

— The Wooderboys Podcast (@wooderboys) October 23, 2020

An Entertaining 4th Quarter

The 4th quarter begins with the Eagles facing a 3rd and three from the 7-yard line. Carson Wentz attempted a QB draw, which was unsuccessful, bringing up a 4th and goal from the 3-yard line. Big Balls Doug decides to roll the dice and go for it on 4th down. What is he going to dial-up for this play? There’s plenty of options to consider, so what does Doug do? He calls for a jump ball to…Hakeem Butler? Hakeem Who? Butler is a hybrid Tight end who is mainly playing special teams. So, on a key a critical 4th and goal from the 3-yard line, Doug relies on a guy who just logged his first snap on offense? The play was unsuccessful, and the Giants take over on downs.

Now would be a grand opportunity for the defense to step up, force a three and out deep in Giants territory, and get the ball back to the offense. Instead, The Giants perform an impressive 97-yard drive, which finished with a Touchdown pass to Sterling Shepard to take a commanding 21-10 lead with 6 minutes to go in the ballgame. The Eagles have their backs against the wall and would need some heroics to pull out a win.

The Comeback

The Eagles would have 6:17 to pull off an improbable comeback in South Philly and save their season. Can it be done? Carson Wentz and the Eagles attempt to save the season from their 22-yard line. After an illegal contact penalty, Carson Wentz decides to take a shot downfield, which has been non-existent all game. Wentz finds John Hightower down the sideline for a 59 yard gain, and now the Eagles are in business! Three plays later, Wentz finds Greg Ward at the Pylon for a touchdown! The call is to go for two, which was unsuccessful after the Giants defense denied a shotgun QB Draw. The Eagles cut the lead to 21-16 with 4:38 to go in the game.

The Giants get the ball and picked up consecutive first downs while chewing valuable time on the clock. They had a crucial 3rd down with an opportunity to put the game away, and Evan Engram let the game slip through his fingers. The Eagles get a HUGE break and would have one more chance to complete the comeback with 2 minutes remaining.

Wentz Finishes It Off

Carson Wentz started the drive with consecutive completions to 3rd sting TE Richard Rodgers. The Eagles would get down to the 3-yard line before a Jason Kelce face mask penalty pushes the ball back to the 18-yard line. First and goal from the 18, Carson Wentz dropped back, scrambled right, and threw an absolute dime to Boston Scott for the go-ahead touchdown with 40 seconds remaining! The 2 point try was unsuccessful, and the Eagles miraculously lead the game 22-21! The Giants would have one last shot to get the victory. Brandon Graham had other plans. He comes around the edge and forces a fumble with Vinny Curry securing the ball on the turf. The Eagles steal one from the Giants! The Eagles are still alive in the 2020 season!

Offensive Takeaways

• Carson Wentz completed passes to 8 different receivers. He spread the well around the offense.
• The Eagles didn’t miss a beat from the tight end position. Richard Rodgers contributed with six catches for 85 yards. He was clutch on the final drive.
• Travis Fulgham lead all players with 11 targets from Carson Wentz. He turned that into five catches for 73 yards and remains a key ingredient to the Eagles offense moving forward.
• DeSean Jackson made his return Thursday night. After a productive first drive for him, he disappeared for the rest of the night until he fielded a punt late in the 4th quarter. He exited the game after getting injured on the play. Jackson is out 6-8 weeks with a non-displaced fracture in his ankle.
• Jason Huntley looked impressive in limited action. He carried the ball two times for 13 yards. Huntley showed some burst in his few runs.
• The offensive line needs to get healthy quick! The depth on the offensive line is running thin. Sua Opeta was overwhelmed all night long. Howie needs to get on the phone and make some calls. I heard Quintin Spain is available.

Defensive Takeaways

• Brandon Graham continues to play at a high level! Brandon Graham leads the team in sacks. Thursday night, he finished with four tackles, 2 for a loss, and one crucial strip-sack to seal the game for Philadelphia.
• Jalen Mills: Despite the interception, I don’t view him as a safety for this team.
• Nickell Robey-Coleman: He continues to play awful. I’m just not impressed at all with his play on the field. I consider him a liability when he enters the game.
• Nate Gerry: He led the team in tackles. He delivered a sack on a nice blitz. However, the overall play from the linebacker is pretty foul. He gets sucked in on almost every play-action or fake the opposing offense dials up. Go back and watch the Daniel Jones 80 yard run. Gerry was nowhere to be found on a play the Giants run all the time.
• Alex Singleton is looking more like an NFL linebacker as the season goes on. Singleton completely mauled Devonta Freeman on a blitz. I’m very impressed with his play lately.

Special Teams

• Each week, Jake Elliott proves why it was an awful decision by Howie Roseman to give a kicker an extension on a contract. If they had to cut Elliott, the Eagles would be on the hook for 7.9 million. That’s ridiculous. Jake Elliott is becoming very consistent at being a very inconsistent kicker for the Eagles. He can’t miss chip shot field goals like the 29 yarder he missed this week. Can’t Happen!
• The Kick and Punt game remain abysmal. The Eagles need a spark from the back end, and Greg Ward / Boston Scott doesn’t provide anything back there.

The Eagles are in sole possession of first place after their victory on Thursday night. The Cowboys play Washington on Sunday. Eagles fans will be fans of the Football team as they hope to remain in first place through Week 7. Philadelphia has ten days off to prepare for a showdown in South Philly on Sunday Night Football against Dallas to grab control of the NFC East!