4 key plays that masked a blowout victory for the Philadelphia Eagles against the New York Giants

The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New York Giants last night 33-25 in a one-score victory that easily could have resulted in a blowout.

Last night was a perfect example as to why the final box score isn’t a good indicator of how the game actually unfolded. There’s nothing that’s actually great about beating a now 5-10 New York Giants team that literally had Tommy DeVito as their starting quarterback.

The Eagles were in control for pretty much the entirety of yesterday’s game and provided a great example as to why the final box score isn’t always the best indicator of how a game actually unfolds. Really, there were four key plays that prevented the Eagles from a massive blowout victory against the Giants. 

4 Plays that masked a blowout win for the Philadelphia Eagles

1. Jalen Hurts staying inbounds before the half 
2. Olamide Zaccheaus runs into Boston Scott on kick return
3. Dallas Goedert falling over 
4. Reed Blankenship cooked by Darius Slayton 

The final drive before the half was filled with miscues. Nick Sirianni’s clock management was reminiscent of Andy Reid as he failed to call a timeout, essentially wasting 20 seconds of clock and preventing the Eagles from having enough time to put more points on the board. 

That was paired with Jalen Hurts’ boneheaded decision to say in bounds and the result was the Eagles ending the half with a field goal rather than an opportunity to score a touchdown. Really, the field goal wouldn’t have even been possible if the Giants didn’t commit a boneheaded delay of game, stopping the clock for Jake Elliott.

Jalen Hurts doesn’t stop clock, Giants delay of game allowed the Eagles to kick the FG

Cash the first half Over 20.5 ✅

Jalen Hurts doesn't go out of bounds ending the half, but a Giants delay of game allowed the Eagles to kick the FG.

The Eagles take a 20-3 lead to end the half 🤯pic.twitter.com/0vdZwUht37

— DraftKings Sportsbook (@DKSportsbook) December 25, 2023

Nick Sirianni on Clock Management before Halftime

“I think Jalen and I both made mistakes on that drive. I didn’t call a timeout and then the clock was going and I probably wasted 15 seconds there. That’s bad on my part. Really bad on my part.“

“And Jalen not going out of bounds. Those combined for us not being able to get a full seven. It starts with me. I make that mistake, then Jalen makes that mistake. We have to be better in that two-minute drive. We’ll learn from that.“

“I got to bang one of those timeouts and he has to go out of bounds and we got a chance for probably another play to see what happens.” 

[Zach Berman, PHLY]

The result was a 20-3 lead at halftime for the Eagles, before the other three plays above made last night’s game look competitive. The Giants caught the first of a few really big breaks on the kickoff after halftime, when Olamide Zaccheaus ran into Boston Scott on the Eagles’ kick return forcing a fumble that was recovered by New York. 

Olamide Zaccheaus runs into Boston Scott, Giants recover fumble

Jalen Hurts actually played well last night. Again, the box score really doesn’t show the full story. Hurts completed 24-of-38 passes for a touchdown and an interception. On the ground, he rushed 8 times for 34 yards and a touchdown. On the night, Hurts racked up 335 yards of total offense and the Eagles as a team, nearly eclipsed 500 total yards of offense.

It wasn’t a “bad game” by any means for Hurts and his lone interception should have never even happened but Dallas Goedert slipped on the route to give Adoree Jackson an easy pick-six to give the Giants a fighting chance. 

Adoree Jackson Pick-6 off Jalen Hurts to give Giants life late in the 3rd quarter

ADOREE' 👏 JACKSON 👏

📺: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/478r0KflH4

— New York Giants (@Giants) December 26, 2023

Side Note: I’m more pissed at Brian Johnson for running what felt like a million screen plays last night against the Giants. This Eagles’ offense is boring and predictable.

The final play that made this game seem a lot closer than it actually was happened when Darius Slayton burned Reed Blankenship on a 69-yard touchdown reception with just over five minutes left in the fourth quarter.  

Burnt Toast: Reed Blankenship on Darius Slayton

Tyrod Taylor tossing a dime to Darius Slayton 🎯

📺: #NYGvsPHI on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/2Mgsj0ajbL pic.twitter.com/Uzdw0ahxJp

— NFL (@NFL) December 26, 2023

So yes, the Eagles pretty much dominated the New York Giants last night and the performance was hidden by a box score that showed a one-score game.

There’s definitely a handful of miscues that have to be cleaned up and in no way am I moving the goal posts on what the “standard” is for this team entering the final two weeks of the regular season and playoffs.

This is supposed to be a Super Bowl contending football team and the way the Eagles are currently playing, they’ll be lucky to reach the NFC Championship Game.

At the same time, the Eagles are 11-4 on the year and with losses by both the 49ers and Cowboys over the holiday weekend, the No. 1 seed in the NFC is back on the table and the Birds are in control of the NFC East. 

NFC Playoffs: Every Scenario for the Eagles with just 2 weeks remaining in the regular season >>

Things still look messy for the Eagles through 15 games this season, but self-inflicted wounds can be healed. As for the offensive play calling, I’ll go the AJ Brown route in saying that “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all” and decline to comment at this time. 

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