Eagles Get Their QB Back; Now Prep For Title Run
On Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles did what they were supposed to do. In their 22-16 win over the New York Giants at Lincon Financial Field, the team finally secured the elusive number one seed in the NFC Playoffs and the NFC East crown. Now the road to the Super Bowl will have to go through Philadelphia.
It wasn’t the prettiest, but they were able to secure what they’ve worked so hard for all season. Finishing with a conference-best 14-3 record and a bye week. For the first time in two weeks, the Birds took the field with MVP candidate Jalen Hurts back at the quarterback position. He completed 20 of his 35 pass attempts, throwing for 229 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. He played the entire game when most thought the Eagles would be able to make quick work of the Giants who ran out a full complement of backups since they had already clinched their playoff spot as the sixth seed. New York put up a good fight and head coach Nick Sirianni never felt comfortable enough with their lead to remove the Pro Bowl QB.
As expected, Hurts was a little rusty for his first action. If the gameplan was to make sure he didn’t take any unnecessary hits while out there making plays – they succeeded. Careful on his own decisions to run, no designed play calls by the coaching staff for him to use his legs out of the pocket. Smart move. Unfortunately, he had to be out there because of the two failed attempts to lock in the top seed in the two weeks prior. It played out the way it did… no need to complain about it now. It’s done.
And now the planning begins. Philadelphia has the luxury of having the first week of the postseason off with time to plan for their next opponent. But most importantly, they’ll also be able to rest their leader, get left tackle Lane Johnson ready to play in two weeks. And hope the same can be said for slot corner Avonte Maddox. This is what they’ve worked so hard for. It’s now time to capitalize on a great season and prepare for a championship run.
