Eagles: My Three-for-Three, with Stars, Stats, Plays

The Eagles won their second straight game of the season to lift their record to 3-2 with a 31-6 victory over the New York Jets at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday.

Here is my three-for-three:

THREE STARS

Orlando Scandrick. The veteran Eagles cornerback was in Los Agneles spending time with his family for most of September until the Eagles called. They were in dire straits with injuries to Ronald Darby, Sidney Jones, and Avonte Maddox. Scandrick had been with the Eagles in training camp so his phone rang and he was back.

All he did on Sunday was record a pair of sacks, forcing a fumble both times. The ball bounded out of bounds on the first strip sack but his second one he made sure that didn’t happen by ripping the ball out of Luke Falk’s hands and raced 44 yards for a touchdown that completed the scoring with just over seven minutes left in the game.

“I was just finishing the play and not being satisfied with the sack,” said Scandrick. “I wanted to finish it and the first thing towards finishing the play is forcing the fumble, then once the fumble is out, just to put points on the board as a defense.

“I’m so happy to be back. Like I said, it was a humbling experience just being home for those four weeks. I’m just happy we won.”

Brandon Graham. The veteran defensive end put up a career-high three sacks. His previous best in a game was 2.5 back in December of 2012. He got the first sack of the game and the ball started rolling from there.

“It felt good,” said Graham of his performance. “Honestly, I’m just happy we all went out there and had one of those games we’ve been dreaming about as a defensive line. We’re coming together at the right time, especially after all of the emotional games we have played. We need one like this.”

Jordan Howard. Somebody from the offense has to make this list, and I’m going with the running back that scored his team-leading fifth touchdown of the season. This one came on a one-yard plunge that opened the scoring in the first quarter. Howard ended with 62 yards on 13 carries for a 4.8 yards per carry average.

“I didn’t feel like I did a great job in the first half outside of the touchdown,” said Howard, “but I feel like I was able to pick it up in the second half a little bit. Our pass game is going pretty well, but if they have the run game to complement that, it makes us even harder to stop.”

THREE STATS

Interceptions. The Eagles picked off two passes and now have six on the season. Linebacker Nathan Gerry had his second pick of the season. This one, though, he took to the house from 51 yards away to give the Eagles a 14-0 lead.

Safety Rodney McLeod had the other. His came with just over two minutes to play in the first half and the Eagles ahead 14-0. McLeod returned the pick 23 yards to set up the offense at New York’s 42. The Eagles cashed the turnover into points, getting an 11-yard touchdown throw from Carson Wentz to Zach Ertz, and with 38 seconds left in the second quarter, the Eagles went up, 21-0.

It was McLeod’s first interception this year and seventh since joining the Eagles in 2016.

“I told Malcom during the week we safeties have to get on the (interception) board this week some way, one of us, and I was glad to do that, credit to Fletcher (Cox) for the rush,” said McLeod. “I was just there to make a good play for us and change the momentum. It felt good to be at home get the crowd into it. We feed off them, they bring the energy and we felt it.”

Sacks. The Eagles rang up 10 of them, which are tied for the second most in franchise history after getting 10 against the Detroit Lions on Sept. 23, 2007. The most the franchise ever had in a game was 11. That game was on Sept. 15, 1991 against the Dallas Cowboys and Troy Aikman.

“They have been chomping at the bit to get those numbers,” said Eagles center Jason Kelce. “Obviously, we weren’t playing the same team we were playing last week (the Green Bay Packers), but this is all about getting better and improving.

“The bottom line is, when you are getting 10 sacks, it doesn’t matter who you are playing, you are having some really good rushes so kudos to our defense.”

Third downs. The Eagles led the league in third down conversion efficiency at 56.1 percent, but converted just 38 percent of their third-down tries (38 percent).

“We had some penalties (nine for 76 yards), we had some miscues, miscommunication, and some things we have to get ironed out,” said quarterback Carson Wentz. “Some of the bigger things like stay ahead of the chains. We were in too many second and really longs. Those are tough to convert.”

Three Plays

The high snap. The Eagles’ first touchdown drive was nearly foiled by a bad snap from Kelce after the Eagles were set up with a first-and-goal at the 6. Wentz tracked the ball down near the 28, but instead of falling on it, he threw the ball in the direction of Mack Hollins for an incomplete pass.

“At that point, it was just get the ball and try to throw it away,” said Wentz. “Fortunately, (Hollins) was trailing the play so we had a receiver there. Obviously a situation you never want to be in, but we were able to salvage it and get in the end zone a couple plays later.”

Nate Gerry’s pick-6. It was the first of Gerry’s young career, but it gave the Eagles a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. It’s rare when the Eagles actually score any points in the first quarter (only twice in five games) let alone 14 of them. The play came on a fourth-and-one for New York.

“We screwed up as far as what we were supposed to do and (Brandon Graham) was not supposed to be in our face,” said Jets coach Adam Gase. “The ball should’ve been out a lot earlier and (Jets quarterback) Luke (Falk) had (Graham) in his face, which shouldn’t have happened.”

The 11-yard touchdown pass to Zach Ertz. Not only was it the tight end’s first touchdown of the season, but it sent the Eagles into the locker room with a 21-0 lead since the scoring play came with just 38 seconds left in the second quarter.

That was the Eagles’ most points while shutting out an opponent in the first half since Nov. 26, 2017 against Chicago (24-0 lead). It was also their third-largest first-half point differential under head coach Doug Pederson, behind the game against Chicago in 2017 and Nov. 5, 2017 when they led Denver 31-9.