PHILADELPHIA – So what do we make of this Eagles team, potentially one week away from clinching a playoff spot after such a brutal start to this season and a brutal first half Sunday?
There the Eagles were, stuck in a 3-3 tie with the hapless Giants. It seemed like they couldn’t have played worse if they had tried.
Unless you harken back to four weeks earlier, when the Eagles self-destructed to the same Giants in a flurry of interceptions, fumbles and penalties.
Only this was shaping up to be worse.
The Eagles were playing for a playoff spot, and the offensively-challenged Giants were down to their third quarterback. And yet, the Eagles had already fumbled twice deep in their territory – they recovered twice – a Jalen Hurts interception was overturned by video review, and they punted the ball four times in the first quarter alone.
One pulverizing second half later, and the Eagles were celebrating an easy 34-10 win Sunday, one that put them into the final NFC playoff spot with two games remaining.
“Good teams win games however they need to win games,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “If we have to grind this out and be grimy and let the defense carry the weight the whole time, we’ll do it that way. But, hey, just have that next-play mentality of forget the first half.”
The Eagles had so much to forget.
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They were playing for the second time in five games after their game against Washington last Sunday was moved to Tuesday because of a COVID-19 outbreak among the Football Team.
This after they had begun the season 2-5, seemingly in disarray both on offense and defense after a humiliating loss to the Raiders on Oct. 24.
Look at the Eagles (8-7) now. They have won 6 of 8 games since that loss in Las Vegas. They have averaged 29.9 points per game since then. They have rushed for at least 175 yards in seven straight games, the longest such streak in the NFL since 1985.
The streak ended on Sunday with just 130 yards on the ground. But it was more than enough to bury the Giants in the second half.
It would be one thing if Sirianni went into the locker room at halftime, overturned some tables, yelled and screamed and so on.
He didn’t have to. That sort of fiery speech was given the night before in the team meeting by center Jason Kelce.
The speech was reported to be impassioned, and Sirianni and some of the players said the gist of it was simply, “Press on.”
“Bad things happen, press on,” Sirianni said, recounting Kelce’s speech. “Press on, press on, press on. He was awesome talking to the team (Saturday) night. He’s just such a great leader.”
So the Eagles pressed on – through Kenny Gainwell’s fumble on the opening kickoff that J.J. Arcega-Whiteside recovered. On Hurts’ third-down interception on the first possession that was overturned by a video review. Or Hurts’ fumble that was recovered on the next series.
On at least five dropped passes and 11 penalties, one of which negated a touchdown.
“I think we just stayed calm because the last thing you want to do is panic,” running back Boston Scott said. “You don’t want to get emotional. You don’t want to feel like you have to do anything over the top.
“We keep it calm and keep it focused.”
Just like that, everything changed.
Rodney McLeod intercepted overmatched Giants quarterback Jake Fromm on the second play of the second half, setting the Eagles up at the Giants’ 21. They scored a few plays later on Scott’s 3-yard run.
They added a field goal after Jalen Reagor’s 39-yard punt return again set the Eagles up at the Giants’ 21.
Then DeVonta Smith made an incredible 4-yard touchdown reception, somehow dragging the toe of his second foot inbounds before falling on his backside out of bounds on a play that was actually reviewed twice.
“I kind of felt like Michael Jackson,” said Smith, who had 5 catches for 80 yards, about Jackson’s famous moonwalk.
Throw in a touchdown catch by right tackle Lane Johnson, a pick-6 by linebacker Alex Singleton, and the onslaught was complete.
Hurts had a brutal first quarter when he completed just 3 of 10 passes for 11 yards. He ended up 17-for-29 for 199 yards and 2 TDs.
“I think that’s a combination of just how our entire offense played,” Sirianni said about the first half. “(Hurts) definitely missed some throws in the first half that he’s going to want back.”
Later, Hurts cut off a questioner asking about how the Eagles got themselves into a playoff position after such a brutal start – to the season, and to this game.
“I’m not in the business of talking about anything other than being in the moment,” Hurts said. “We know that as a football team, if we control the things that we can control, we should be alright.
“So, any external factors, any rat poison out there, I don’t really care for it.”
The Eagles can clinch a playoff spot with a win over Washington next Sunday, along with losses by New Orleans (either Monday night or next Sunday) and Minnesota (to 12-3 Green Bay), and a win by San Francisco.
That possibility seemed remote after the loss to the Raiders on Oct. 24 and the Giants last month, or as unlikely as Johnson’s touchdown in the corner of the end zone. It was the first time an Eagles offensive lineman scored a touchdown since Todd Herremans in 2010.
And yet, here the Eagles are – on the verge of the playoffs after overcoming so much, both on Sunday and all season.
“It took a lot of hard work to put us back into this position,” McLeod said. So far, it’s paying off.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
