Eagles Stock Report: Market Corrections for Jaguars
PHILADELPHIA - The Eagles persevered through a rough start to top Doug Pederson and Jacksonville, 29-21, in monsoon-like conditions at Lincoln Financial Field.
The story of that game was Philadelphia advancing to 4-0 for the first time since 2004 by market-correcting the Jaguars' early success in stopping the run and taking care of the football.
The Week 4 bulls outnumber the bears in Philadelphia, which is rapidly validating itself as one of the best teams in football.
THE BULLS
The Turnover T-Shirt - Jacksonville came in with the best turnover ratio in the NFL at plus-7 but the weather combined with a stifling Eagles defense to turn Trevor Lawrence into a turnover machine.
The demarcation line in the game came in the second quarter with the Jaguars up 14-0 and Doug Pederson trying to put his foot on the gas at 4th-and-3 at the Philadelphia 34 when a Lawrence unforced error resulted in a 14-yard loss and a short field for the Eagles.
Philadelphia cashed in there and scored 29 consecutive points at one point. Lawrence finished the contest with five turnovers: four fumbles, and a James Bradberry interception.
The Running Game - The Jags also came in as the NFL's top-ranked rushing defense, allowing just 55 yards per game. Philadelphia blew past that with 6:09 in the first half and finished the game by tripling that number and then some with 210 rushing yards and four touchdowns.
With no Boston Scott available, Miles Sanders ran for a career-high 134 yards on 27 carries, also a career-high. Jason Kelce and Issac Seumalo particularly dominated in the middle although the latter left last with an ankle injury.
A.J. Brown - The passing game wasn't a big part of things because of the wind and driving rain but Brown, fresh off the birth of his son Thursday night, was still dominant, snaring five of seven targets for 95 yards and plenty of YAC.
Fourth Downs - The Eagles weren't very good on third downs, finishing 4-of-13 but that number was helped by a 3-for-5 mark on fourth down, although the last failure was a strange decision by Nick Sirianni that gave the Jags life for about 10 seconds before Haason Reddick's second strip sack. Philadelphia's fourth-down acumen puts incredible stress on the opposition.
The Defense - The defense was certainly helped by the conditions but the bottom line was 219 yards allowed and only 14 points. That's a very effective effort for the third consecutive week and anytime you hold a QB to 11 completions with five turnovers and keep the top playmaking threat, who happens to excel in the slot, to two receptions in nine targets without your starting nickel cornerback complaining should be an indictable offense.
THE BEARS
Injuries - The Eagles lost Darius Slay (forearm), Jordan Mailata (shoulder), Patrick Johnson (head injury), Kyron Johnson (head injury), and Seumalo (ankle) in-game, and while Slay looked fine afterward and Mailata was working to get loose in the third quarter, the injured will need monitored this week with a road game in Arizona approaching.
Punting - Arryn Siposs finished with a 35.3 net average in a game where his counterpart, Logan Cooke, was at 52.7. The Eagles continue to lose the hidden yardage battle a little too much.
Quez Watkins - Watkins officially has lost his kick return job to Britain Covey, who is now officially part of the 53 and the speedy WR3 was a nonentity with the passing game largely shelved due to the weather, finishing with no receptions and just one target.
-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
