Eagles vs Jets: Philadelphia Grades, Notes and Quotes
The Philadelphia Eagles won their first game of the season behind strong defensive play as they defeated the New York Jets 24-17 at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
Philadelphia dominated the first half of the game, going into halftime with a 24-7 lead. Philadelphia showed a newfound commitment to the running game on the very first drive. The Eagles moved the ball down the field 59 yards on 11 plays before Cody Parkey opened the scoring with a 30-yard field goal. On the drive, the Eagles ran the ball five times for 40 yards.
In the second quarter, Darren Sproles provided a spark for this Philadelphia team. The 32-year-old running back returned a punt 89 yards for a touchdown. He showed patience, elusiveness and speed as he sliced through the coverage team before bursting down the sideline for the first touchdown of the game. Sproles' play jump-started the Eagles as they went on to score 21 points in the quarter.
The other running back also got involved in the action in the second quarter. Ryan Mathews caught a 23-yard pass from Sam Bradford to give the Eagles a 17-point lead. The Fresno State product burned a linebacker out of the backfield and Bradford delivered a perfect pass for the touchdown.
On the next possession, wide receiver Brandon Marshall caught a pass for a first down but then made a boneheaded play. Instead of going to the ground, Marshall tried to lateral the ball back for a trailing receiver. The ball hit Connor Barwin's helmet and then ended up in the hands of rookie linebacker Jordan Hicks.
The Eagles recovered the fumble and immediately marched down the field. Chip Kelly relied on Mathews and the running game to wear down the Jets defense. Then the offense increased the tempo and Sproles carried the ball in for a touchdown on 3rd-and-goal against a tired defense.
Philadelphia scored 24 unanswered points in the first half, but then did not score again for the rest of the game.
The New York Jets worked to get a touchdown with only six seconds remaining in the first half. Ryan Fitzpatrick found Marshall in the end zone between coverage from Barwin and safety Malcolm Jenkins. Philadelphia went into the half leading by 17 points.
After an exciting second quarter, both offenses came out flat in the second half, and neither team scored in the third quarter.
Philadelphia's defense fought hard to protect the lead throughout the second half. The Eagles defense forced three turnovers in the second half, four total in the game. However, Bradford and the rest of the offense could not move the ball at all in the second half. Mathews also fumbled the ball to give it back to New York with good field-goal position.
The Eagles battled to take Marshall out of the game with little success; he finished with 10 catches, 109 yards and a touchdown. With the attention on Marshall, Jeremy Kerley was able to grab a touchdown pass at the start of the fourth quarter. The Jets also managed a field goal to cut Philadelphia's lead to only seven points.
Despite New York gaining momentum in the second half, the Jets' comeback fell short as the clock ran out and Philadelphia's defense cut their drives short by forcing turnovers.
The Eagles battled their way to a seven-point victory over the New York Jets as they earned their first win of the season.
Position Grades for Philadelphia
1 of 6
| Position | Grades |
| QB | C+ |
| RB | A- |
| WR/TE | C |
| OL | A- |
| DL | B+ |
| LB | B+ |
| DB | B- |
| Special Teams | A- |
| Coaching | B- |
Quarterback
Sam Bradford did not win or lose the game for Philadelphia. The quarterback played a mediocre game and helped to score just enough points to earn the victory.
Bradford finished the game completing half of his 28 attempted for 118 yards and a touchdown. The main improvement for the 27-year-old came from not turning the ball over. He threw two interceptions in each of the first two games, but none in this game.
The offense still failed to find open space as Bradford struggled to push the ball deep down the field. Without the threat of a deep pass, cornerbacks stick tight to receivers and jump routes. Bradford threw the ball directly to aggressive defenders a few times against the Jets.
Running Backs
Philadelphia had its best game running the ball so far this season, despite the absence of DeMarco Murray. Instead, Kelly relied on the legs of Mathews and Sproles.
Mathews finished the game with 108 yards on 25 carries and a receiving touchdown. Sproles added 17 yards and a touchdown on the ground and 19 yards through the air. Both players earned tough yards against this New York defense.
The running backs would have had nearly perfect games if both of the tailbacks did not drop wide-open passes. On two separate occasions, Mathews and Sproles ran wheel routes out of the backfield, and Bradford delivered a perfect ball. With acres of space in front of them, both running backs took their eyes off the ball and dropped the passes. These two plays could have resulted in two more touchdowns for Philadelphia.
Wide Receivers
Philadelphia's wide receivers were largely absent throughout the entire game. Jordan Matthews continues to be the only receiver to make an impact on the game. Matthews led the team with only six catches for 49 yards.
No other wide receivers caught passes from Bradford on Sunday. Bradford targeted both Nelson Agholor and Miles Austin four times but did not complete a pass. There is a major lack of chemistry between the quarterback and his receivers.
Zach Ertz had little impact on the game but caught the two passes thrown his way for 30 yards.
Offensive Line
The offensive line received a lot of criticism for their play and Philadelphia's slow start in the first two weeks of the season. However, the big boys up front turned it around in this game.
The offensive line created holes for Sproles and Mathews and were a large part of Philadelphia's success on the ground. New York's defense hit Bradford six times, but Philadelphia's offensive line only allowed one sack against a talented New York front.
The main concern for Philadelphia will be the health of Andrew Gardner and Jason Peters. Gardner left the game and did not return after injuring his right foot on Sproles' one-yard touchdown run. Peters also picked up an injury in the fourth quarter and did not return.
Defensive Line
Philadelphia's defensive line did not make too many big plays but played sound defensive football throughout the entire game. With Cedric Thornton out, Vinny Curry and Brandon Bair stepped up.
The line consistently got a push and forced Fitzpatrick to make errant throws. Bair also deflected three passes on the day, and one led to an interception. Curry also drove back a New York offensive lineman in the first half to force Fitzpatrick into the waiting arms of Barwin.
In combination with a stellar performance by the linebackers, Philadelphia limited New York to just 47 yards on the ground on 16 carries. The Jets definitely missed Chris Ivory this week.
Linebackers
The status of the linebackers was in question heading into Sunday with Kiko Alonso and Mychal Kendricks both ruled out due to injuries they suffered last week against Dallas. However, DeMeco Ryans showed his veteran leadership and plugged holes in the running game all day.
Jordan Hicks also had a monster game with a fumble recovery and an interception. Hicks also led the team with 10 tackles on the day. Connor Barwin registered the only sack of the game and hustled all game to make plays around the line of scrimmage.
Defensive Backs
Safety Malcolm Jenkins may be the best player for Philadelphia so far this season. The veteran safety flies around the field making big plays. In the first quarter, Jenkins flew up and threw Marshall down for a loss on a second down.
The secondary also forced two turnovers on the day with interceptions from Walter Thurmond and the rookie Eric Rowe. Rowe saw his first action of the season as he marked Devin Smith in dime packages. Rowe blanketed the receiver deep down the field and fought for an interception in the end zone.
Byron Maxwell showed signs of improvement in the first half as he played physical bump-and-run coverage. Maxwell jumped up on receivers to break up passes or limit their gains. But in the second half, Maxwell played softer coverage and gave up several chunks of yards to receivers.
Special Teams
Special teams scored the first 10 points of the game for Philadelphia and helped spark the offensive unit. Sproles ran back his sixth career punt return TD, and his third while in Philadelphia, for a career-long 89 yards. He continues to show his versatility and his ability to impact the game. The return was the first touchdown the Eagles scored in the first half this entire season.
Parkey converted his only field goal of the game as he knocked the ball through the posts from 30 yards away. In an uneventful game for the kicking unit, Parkey had one blemish as he kicked the ball out of bounds on the kickoff following his field goal.
Coaching
Chip Kelly returned to what gave him success in his first two seasons, as he focused on the running game. Not only did it run the ball, but Philadelphia also abandoned the shotgun formation at times. The Eagles looked to have more success running the ball from under center rather than from the shotgun.
Kelly and the offense did a good job varying the tempo of the offense in the first half to keep the defense on its heels. The play-calling from Kelly did lack a little creativity in the second half when his team was clearly struggling.
Important Note No. 1: Jordan Hicks
2 of 6
The strength of Philadelphia's defense coming into this season was expected to be the linebackers, particularly the inside linebackers. But few probably thought that rookie Jordan Hicks would be the biggest playmaker on the defensive side of the ball for Philadelphia.
Philadelphia traded for Alonso and signed Kendricks to a long-term deal this offseason, so it looked like the Eagles would have athletic linebackers in the middle of the field. Unfortunately for the defense, both Alonso and Kendricks missed the game against the Jets after suffering injuries against Dallas the week before.
Left to fill the gap is third-round pick Hicks. The Texas product came in halfway through the game last week and made the play of the game. He had a strip sack on Tony Romo that also forced the quarterback out of the game.
This week, Hicks made his first career start and made an impact in a major way. The 23-year-old led the team team in tackles with 10. He also recovered a fumble and had an interception from a deflected pass in the second half. With Alonso's timeline for return uncertain, the Eagles will need Hicks to continue to play beyond his experience.
Important Note No. 2: NFC East Standings
3 of 6
The track record for teams that start the season 0-2 is grim, but Philadelphia still has hope following its first win of the season. The NFC East is still wide open and full of inconsistent teams.
After three games, the Cowboys are at the top of the division with two wins. But the loss of Tony Romo and Dez Bryant provides an ominous forecast for Dallas during the next two months. Dallas lost its first game without its stars as it fell 39-28 to the Atlanta Falcons.
Meanwhile, the Giants, Redskins and Eagles sit with one victory apiece through three games. The Giants defeated the Redskins on Thursday night as Kirk Cousins had a rough night. The Giants blew victories in their first two games.
Philadelphia heads down to Washington D.C. next week for a big divisional game against the struggling Washington Redskins. Despite a bad start, the Eagles can still win the division if they continue to improve.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Quote No. 1: Malcolm Jenkins on Turnovers
4 of 6
"That’s the difference. It's a 7-point game. You take away one or two of those turnovers, and we probably don’t win,” Malcolm Jenkins said, per the Philadelphia Inquirer's Zach Berman.
Winning the turnover battle is one of the most important factors for coming out on top in a football game. No matter the scheme or philosophy, turning the ball over always hurts the team.
Last season, the Eagles led the league in turnovers with 36, and they looked just as reckless with the ball through the first two games this season. Coming into Sunday's game against the Jets, the Eagles had already turned the ball over five times. However, the Eagles corrected that flaw as they only had one turnover against New York on a Ryan Mathews fumble.
On the other side of the ball, Philadelphia's defense forced three turnovers and one was gifted to them. Marshall inexplicably tried to lateral the ball to a teammate and Jordan Hicks recovered it. The other three turnovers were interceptions by Hicks, Eric Rowe and Walter Thurmond. The three interceptions came in the second half when the Jets were mounting a comeback.
With Philadelphia's offense unable to move the ball late, these turnovers won Philadelphia the game. The interceptions stopped possible New York scoring drives short in a narrow seven-point victory for the Eagles.
Quote No. 2: Chip Kelly on Running the Ball
5 of 6
"We have to be able to run the ball when everybody knows we're going to run the ball," Chip Kelly said, per Berman.
Sunday's game against the New York Jets was by far the best running performance of the season for Philadelphia. The Eagles finished the game with 39 carries for 123 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
The problem for the Eagles is most of those yards came in the first half. Philadelphia led by 17-points going into halftime after scoring 24 unanswered points. The offense was unable to score any points in the second half.
Part of the blame falls on Bradford's inability to move the ball deep down the field, but it also falls on the running game. Late in the game, the opposing defense knows the other team is going to run the ball if it has the lead. Philadelphia was unable to get a push from its offensive line, and it was unsuccessful in milking the clock late in the game. Part of the blame may also come from the offensive scheme.
"I like running the ball from the shotgun, but I think I can see the field a lot more when the QB is not in the shotgun," said Mathews, according to Berman.
The offense had success running the ball through the first half when Bradford took the snap from under center. In the second half, most of the plays were run from the shotgun and the running game struggled.
Luckily for the Eagles, they only needed one first down on the final possession to run out the clock, and the Jets gifted them a penalty on 3rd-and-long to end the game. However, Philadelphia will need to find a way to successfully run the ball late in games or in short-yardage situations even when the opposing team knows the run play is coming.
Quote No. 3: Chip Kelly on Darren Sproles
6 of 6
"We probably still haven't utilized him as well as we can...He can change the game as a returner, also as a running back," Kelly said about Sproles, per Berman.
Sproles is no spring chicken, but he still has plenty of quickness in his legs. The 32-year-old showed his ability to break tackles and make a big play on his 89-yard punt return for a touchdown against the Jets.
The 5'6" running back also featured heavily on the offensive side of the ball with 11 carries for 17 yards and four catches for 19 yards. Sproles also added a one-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. The Kansas State product could have had an even bigger game if he had caught a perfectly thrown ball from Bradford in the second half. The tailback ran a wheel route and had acres of space in front of him due to a blown coverage, but Sproles dropped the ball.
Sproles provides something different to Mathews and Murray, but the Eagles still need to figure out how to use the running back. He has the ability to pick up first downs in short-yardage situations because of his ability to get leverage. He can also catch the ball out of the backfield or even line up as a receiver.
Sproles' impact will continue to increase as he develops chemistry with Bradford and Kelly designs more ways to include the playmaker. The value of a tough player like Sproles is immense, especially with a struggling receiving group like the Eagles currently possess.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
