By Chip Keagy, AATSN Co-Host
Watch Chips and Dish every Monday at 9pm
For the first time in a long time, the Philadelphia Eagles went up against an opponent they were supposed to beat easily, and beat them easily. The Detroit Lions are a winless football team with very few positive things going their way. The Philadelphia Eagles have pieces in place that are supposed to click and today, they did. I, Professor Keagy, grade the Birds 44-6 stomping of Detroit.
Coaching Staff: A
All week long, the Philadelphia (and national media) fanbase has been clamoring for a few things. 1)Balance between the run and pass game. 2) Aggressiveness on defense. 3) Attacking the weak spots of an opponent. The game plan that the landscaping coaching staff came up with did all of those things. Jalen Hurts threw the ball 14 times today. The RUNNING GAME was responsible for this victory. Sirianni sticking to the plays that were working instead of panicking when Reagor went down. Jonathan Gannon's defense had an exceptional game and the only score they let up was in garbage time with the backups in. This coaching staff did the job they were supposed to today.
Quarterback: B+
Jalen Hurts, the passer, was above average today (9-14 for 60ish%). But Jalen Hurts the leader and athlete? He was fantastic. When the commitment to the run game makes the RPO a real threat, this team found an extreme amount of success and Hurts could pick his spots.
Minshew played too. 2-2 so that's great. His sleeve game needs some work.
Running Backs: A
WOW! With Miles Sanders out, who would've predicted that Boston Scott and JORDAN FREAKING HOWARD would be the winners on the day? Kenny Gainwell was relegated to a lot of the bench today because the passing game wasn't the primary focus. Scott and Howard with 2 rushing touchdowns each? I will take it every week and hopefully when Sanders comes back it can continue.
Wide Receivers: C
They didn't get a lot of chances today. And they didn't have to be great. Which is good. Because they weren't. Devonta Smith's drops are becoming too frequent for my liking. The group had a total of 4 catches of the 9 passes that were completed today.
Tight Ends: B+
Dallas Goedert, when his number was called, did exactly what he needed to do. There is a glaring spotlight on him right now and he turned in a 6-72 stat line. That is top notch work for him today.
Offensive Line: A-
236 rushing yards?? It's ALMOST like this group enjoys run blocking because they get to be on the attack!!! Mailata didn't have a great game. Herbig stepped in when Driscoll left with injury. Lane Johnson won the entire day with his Jay Glazer interview. Dickerson is getting better weekly and Jason Kelce is a future NFL HOFer.
Defensive Line: A+
6 sacks! 2 by Josh Sweat, 1 by Derek Barnett, and even the rookies got involved. This group DOMINATED all day. The strongest part of this defense finally played that way. Even held a very talented D'Andre Swift to an embarrassing stat line! the Dline made me happy today!
Linebackers: B
When Eric Wilson was a healthy scratch, I was concerned as he was the most experienced LBer on the roster. It was the right call. TJ Edwards and Davion Taylor were very good as was Shaun Bradley. They did still allow TJ Hockenson to have a pretty good game (10-89) but they were able help stop this Lion offense.
Biggest shock for me: ZERO tackles from Alex Singleton. His biggest plus is that he is always flying to the ball. Today he didn't.
Secondary: A
Good for Avonte Maddox and Darius Slay JR to have a huge game in their return home! Those are the stories that you love to hear. Maddox caused a massive fumble and Slay scored a defensive TD from it. These two showed UP today. No receivers for the Lions had a great game either. The secondary locked it down this afternoon!
Special Teams: A
Elliot was 3/3 and had a total of 14 points. Sipos had to punt the ball one time. The special teams did their job very well today.
OVERALL GRADE: A
The Eagles dominated a bad Lions team. They did not take their foot off of the throttle and gave their starters a chance to rest by putting it away early. YES it was only the Lions but you have to play who's on your schedule. Today, the Eagles left no doubt.
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