Adversity No Problem for Eagles, Plus Some More Nuggets

PHILADELPHIA – The Eagles are in the playoffs as of right now.

Right now, of course, doesn’t matter, though, because there are still two more weeks in the regular season, but Philadelphia can clinch a playoff berth next weekend by beating Washington then have a few other things happen.

First, Minnesota needs to lose to Green Bay next week.

Second, the Saints need to lose once, either to Miami on Monday night or next week against Carolina.

Third, the 49ers have to beat the Texans next week.

All doable.

Imagine that. A playoff berth in their grasp.

From 2-5 to this, a three-game winning streak after overcoming a sluggish first half against the hapless New York Giants to score 31 points in the second half to win going away, 34-10.

“I think it’s another week where we’ve come out and obviously not executed like we wanted to,” said QB Jalen Hurts, who was 3-for-10 with 11 yards in the first quarter but finished 17-for-29 with 199 yards and touchdown throws to Lane Johnson and DeVonta Smith.

“I’ve always admired, from day one, the fight of this team, the resiliency of this team, the grit, and perseverance of this team. You look at this football team right now and I just think we have so much character. So much character in how we do things, how we operate, what we strive for, how we work every day, and how we’re able to overcome. I was very happy about that (Sunday).”

The Eagles have overcome adversity most of the season starting with just two wins in the first seven games.

They lost RB Miles Sanders for three weeks, lost their head coach, Nick Sirianni, this week when he was put on the COVID list for four days prior to the game, and had a game postponed from last Sunday to this past Tuesday, leaving them on a short week.

“We stuck through it. You know, two games in five days is hard and we came out fighting,” said CB Avonte Maddox.

“It feels good. We control our destiny and it’s always been that way from the beginning of the season.”

Here's my look back at Sunday’s win:

GAME BALL

T.J. Edwards. The Eagles linebacker didn’t have a flashy pick-six like Alex Singleton, or a touchdown catch like Lane Johnson, but he did have 16 tackles. It surpassed his career-high by two. If you’re looking for a reason that the Giants could only muster an anemic 192 yards of total offense – which is a season-low against this defense – look no further than Edwards.

TURNING POINT 1

Rodney McLeod’s interception. The safety picked Jake Fromm on the second play of the second half and returned it 24 yards to put the Eagles in business at the New York 21.

“It was huge,” said McLeod of his first pick of the season and 15th of his career. “Coming out in the second half, to be able to put our team in a position that I was able to, I think it created a lot of momentum. That is what we talked about at halftime; coming out and showing who wanted it more. I think we responded the right way. My interception helped. We just kept rolling from there.”

The Eagles turned that into seven points when Boston Scott scooted in from three yards.

“It was very important that we got that,” said left tackle Jordan Mailata. “It was a very crucial moment of the game, and we had to make sure that we capitalized on it. We get gifted a pick like that, we can’t let it go to waste. Momentum definitely shifted from then on, and we pressed on.”

TURNING POINT 2

Jalen Reagor’s 39-yard punt return. The much-maligned WR, who gets booed every time his name is announced in the stadium, did a nice job taking a 33-yard punt near midfield after the Eagles' defense held the Giants to a three-and-out following Scott’s score, and bringing it back to, where else? The New York 21, same place McLeod delivered the ball to on his pick.

The Eagles could only manage a field goal, with Jake Elliott making good from 37 yards, but the play helped give the Eagles a 13-3 lead with 7:52 left in the third quarter.

BIGGEST PLAY

DeVonta Smith’s 4-yard TD. Lane Johnson’s TD is a close second, but Smith’s was dazzling. The WR somehow was able to control his body and get both feet in bounds. The play survived some kind of weird replay where it was ruled a touchdown on the field then said the pass was incomplete after checking replay then they went back to replay again and it was ruled a TD.

“DeVonta has been really good on the back-line and on the sideline all year, and that's something you got to learn, right?” said head coach Nick Sirianni, “because you only have to have one in, in college, right? So, he's just been really good and clean with his footwork on the sideline for his first year."

BY THE NUMBERS

1. Touchdowns this season by Lane Johnson, more than two WRs who took the field for the Giants on Sunday – Kenny Golladay and Kadarius Toney.

2. Sacks by the Eagles, with Josh Sweat getting his sixth of the season to tie his career-high from 2020, and rookie Milton Williams notching his second.

11. The number of penalties against the Eagles that totaled 79 yards.

17: The number of field goals Jake Elliott had made in a row until his miss from 41 yards.

26. Total touchdowns Jalen Hurts has accounted for this season, with 16 passing after his two-TD performance against the Giants, and 10 rushing.

30: Seven times the Eagles have scored more than that this season. they are 6-1 when they do.

130. Rushing yards for Eagles. Not bad, but it wasn’t 175, the number they had reached in seven straight games. That streak is over for the NFL’s top-rushing team.

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.