The Eagles wouldn’t dare ruin Christmas, would they?
Four questions that will determine whether we need to spike the egg nog.
‘Twas the Night before Christmas, and all through the city
The Birds were prepping to play. Oh what a pity!
You’ve heard of must-wins. This one is a can’t-lose.
As in, the Eagles can’t possibly lose this one, can they? At home? On Christmas? Against a third-string quarterback who still lives at home with his parents? Who plays for the Giants?
No. I don’t think they can.
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A month ago, that wouldn’t have counted as a particularly bold statement. What a difference a 92-yard game-winning drive by Drew Lock makes. The cocky-distraught meter isn’t just in the red, it’s twirling counter clockwise and giving off smoke. The Eagles don’t just need to get themselves right. They need to save Christmas.
Or, at least avoid ruining it.
Four big questions as the Eagles put their three-game losing streak on the line in a Yuletide matinee against the Giants. . .
1) Does it matter that the Eagles won’t have access to their Slay on Christmas?
The impact of his absence goes much deeper than holiday puns. While the Eagles have remained tight-lipped about the long-term return-to-play timeline for their top coverman, we do know that he’ll miss his second straight game after having a knee scoped last week. They clearly missed him in last week’s 20-17 loss to the Seahawks, never more than on the aforementioned game-winning touchdown drive orchestrated by Lock. Of Seattle’s 92 yards, 87 came on receptions by wide receivers DK Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
At the same time, plenty of credit goes to Metcalf, who made a couple of tremendous grabs in traffic, something that he is known to do regardless of who is covering him. The Giants do not have a DK Metcalf. They probably don’t even have a Jaxon Smith-Njigba or Tyler Lockett. Their leading receiver is on pace to finish the season with 621 yards (Darius Slayton).
The hope is that Darius Slay’s absence is actually a good thing. One of the big reasons for the Eagles’ secondary struggles is that Slay hasn’t been himself when he is on the field. The decision to address the knee with six weeks to go before the NFC championship game could end up paying major dividends. Assuming the Eagles get there, of course.
2) Is Aaron Morehead going to have to simulate the sun?
The graphics guys at the local network affiliates are going to be calling up a strange looking symbol for the game-day forecast. It is round and orange and rather pleasant looking. Legend has it that our ancestors used it to denote a day where it was not supposed to rain. This was back before it rained whenever a football game was played.
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Last week, Sirianni mentioned that he was going to have wide receivers coach Aaron Morehead throw water at his ball-catchers to simulate wet conditions ahead of a potentially sloppy game in Seattle. Frankly, the Eagles were getting to a point where they might have considered holding every practice in the sprinklers at Wild Water Kingdom. Monday’s loss to the Seahawks was their fourth straight (outdoor) game where it rained the day of, and the third in which conditions impacted play. It wasn’t the Chiefs or Bills slopfest, but it was quite cold and damp.
Which brings us to Monday, where temperatures are forecast to be in the 50s beneath mostly sunny skies. We’ve seen enough of Jalen Hurts in lousy weather to know that he is much more effective in pleasant conditions. If the sun does indeed come out on Christmas, it’s even more reason to bet on the Eagles.
3) Can Hurts feed A.J. Brown without force-feeding him?
Last week, Brown reacted angrily to a suggestion that Hurts had been forcing balls to him.
Whatever the reality, Brown has seen a significant dip in his production over the last five weeks. He hasn’t had a game of 125-plus yards since his record streak of six straight in September and October. In fact, he’s reached the century mark just once in his last five games, averaging 5.8 catches and 62.5 yards in that window. He’s still been plenty good. Project those “bad” numbers over the course of a 17-game season and it equates to 99 catches, 1,062 yards, and six touchdowns. Over the last three weeks, he has 22 catches for 264 yards.
With DeVonta Smith’s status up in the air, the Eagles could really use a vintage game from Brown.
4) Can jolly old Saint Nick Sirianni show that he still has firm hold of the reins?
Full disclosure: I think Sirianni has more than earned the benefit of the doubt regarding both his leadership ability and his organizational decision-making skills. Shane Steichen’s emergence as one of the sharpest head coaches in the league speaks volumes about Sirianni’s unique decision to give up play-calling midway through the 2021 season. Clearly, he knew that the Eagles would be the best version of themselves with Steichen calling plays.
There are some similarities between that 2021 situation and this year’s demotion of Sean Desai and promotion of Matt Patricia to defensive play-caller. Regardless of the way Patricia’s Eagles debut ended, the defense looked like a far more competent unit.
But hey, results matter. The Giants are the quintessential “get-right” opponent. Great teams win this game in impressive fashion. That’s the goal for the Eagles on Monday. Style points count, at least in this case.