Three-and-Out: The Drive, the Fearlessness, and the Balance

Travis Fulgham's TD catch was a big part of the win, but the plays that led up to it were big, too, plus Doug Pederson stayed aggressive, and the game plan was solid

It was gutty, it was resilient, and it was much needed.

Talking, of course, about the Eagles’ first win of the season, a 25-20, heart-stopper that wasn’t over until a Hail Mary pass from 33 yards landed incomplete on the ground.

Here’s my three-and-out look back:

FIRST DOWN

The drive to take an 18-14 lead with 5:50 to play

This is what happened after that Cre’Von LeBlanc barreled into QB Nick Mullens, knocking the ball loose with the crown of his helmet for Malik Jackson to recover at the SF 42:

Jalen Hurts ran for four yards to the 38, but oh, it was supposed to be much more. The rookie QB rolled right and was looking to throw to his left to…quarterback Carson Wentz. Except San Fran sniffed it out and Wentz was covered.

On second down, Wentz threw incomplete to Ward.

On third down, Miles Sanders made a two-yard catch, bringing up a fourth-and-four.

“We wanted to stay on the field,” said head coach Doug Pederson. “We needed to get that first down right there.”

And they did when Wentz hit rookie John Hightower on a quick slant for nine yards.

“Coach had a great play call on the fourth down to get John open,” said Wentz. “John did a great job creating separation. And that was a huge play for us to keep that drive going.”

On first down at the 27, rookie Adrian Killins took a reverse pitch but was swallowed up for a 12-yard loss.

On second-and-22, Wentz made a great play to keep the play alive, scooting and stumbling to his right and, just before he went out-of-bounds, firing a 17-yard bullet to Boston Scott. The 49ers were caught holding and Pederson accepted the five-yard penalty and automatic first down rather than face a third-and-five.

Still, the Eagles insisted on shooting themselves in the foot once again, this time with Hurts fumbling a somewhat wide snap from Jason Kelce for a loss of eight to the 42.

Undaunted, Wentz hit Travis Fulgham down the left sideline for a 42-yard TD on a play that the two players only repped once during practice.

“Working with Carson has been great,” said Fulgham, who had two catches for 57 yards. “At practice, we hit on that. It was a perfect throw then in the game, he doubled back with that and gave me a perfect throw and made it easy for me.

“For me, that’s a regular play. Ball’s in the air, see ball, go get it. For me and Carson, the first play we did in practice was perfect, so we just had to do the same thing again.”

SECOND DOWN

Fearless Doug was back. A week after coming under fire for punting away any chance of winning against the Bengals, and settling for a tie, Pederson twice faced fourth downs. The head coach went for it and dialed up a play that led to a conversion.

Pederson also went for a two-point conversion after Wentz opened the scoring with an 11-yard TD run with 3:51 to play in the opening quarter, though the coach would not say why he chose to do that.

“My decision to go,” he said. “I’m not going to spend a lot of time on the whys. I just elected to go. We executed the play and got the two.”

The first thought was, oh no, Jake Elliott is hurt now.

The coach’s first fourth-down decision came with the Eagle needing a yard at the SF 31 and after a replay reversed (correctly) what had looked like a first-down run on third-and-nine from Wentz.

The Niners’ stout defensive line was packed tightly inside inches away from Kelce and guards Nate Herbig and Matt Pryor, knowing a Wentz sneak was coming. Wentz lined up under center then backed into a shotgun formation and the San Fran defense loosened up.

The QB then ran back under center, took, the snap, and before the 49ers defense could fully react and get back into its tight formation, Wentz bulled forward for the one yard he needed.

The play kept alive a drive that led to a 35-yard field goal from Elliott with 55 seconds left in the third quarter to pull the Eagles to within 14-11.

The second fourth-down call required four yards for a first and that was when Pederson dialed up a play for Hightower, keeping a drive alive that led to the go-ahead TD on the 42-yard throw to Fulgham.

Pederson could have settled for a potential game-tying field goal from about 54 yards.

“I just decided to go … trust your players, trust the decision that I made, and you just trust the call,” said the coach. “Guys executed well and stayed on the field.”

THIRD DOWN

The balance. With Wentz electing to use his legs a little bit more, the Eagles’ offense was perfectly balanced, with 28 rushing plays and 28 passing plays. The QB ran seven times for 37 yards with a touchdown and threw for 193 and a TD.

The Eagles had just 93 yards on the ground, but it not abandoning it, and letting Wentz throw more felt like the right recipe to win this game.

“I don’t go into a game thinking that it’s time to scramble or anything,” said Wentz. “Pocket sometimes breaks down. They do a good job in coverage, so sometimes they cover us up and you gotta make a play.

“That’s really something, the last two weeks, that I’m feeling good. Guys are doing a good job holding their blocks up front, so when we can extend plays like you saw, there are some big plays to be had down the field when things break down like that.”

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