Analysis of ‘Bazooka Joe’ and the Birds, more lowlights from the Eagles-Giants broadcast on Fox
The Eagles' losing streak has reached seven, but edge rusher Jonathan Greenard, whom the Birds signed for nearly $100 million, recorded his first sack of the season.
On Sunday, the Eagles could not muster much offensively in a 19-11 loss to the New York Giants.
The loss marks the seventh consecutive for the Eagles, who have floundered in the absence of starting quarterback Jalen Hurts. This week, Nick Sirianni gave Joe Milton the starting nod, and a quarterback known for his strong arm completed 18 of 34 passes for 169 yards (66.9 rating) and was sacked seven times. The Eagles’ lone touchdown was on a 3-yard rush by Saquon Barkley in the first quarter.
» READ MORE: Grading the Eagles' loss to the New York Giants
With the loss, the Eagles fell to 2-7 on the season. The Giants, who picked up their first win at Lincoln Financial Field since 2013, improved to 5-2-1 and are first in the NFC East.
If you wrote off the Birds for the season or just couldn’t tune in this week, here’s what you may have missed from Sunday’s broadcast on Fox:
‘A crossover in Ann Arbor’
Sunday featured a matchup between quarterbacks who were not on their respective teams in Week 1.
J.J. McCarthy was making his second consecutive start for the Giants. New York dealt a fifth-round pick to the Minnesota Vikings for the former first rounder. Meanwhile, the Eagles picked up Milton off the Cowboys’ practice squad after Hurts was placed on injured reserve because of blood clots.
» READ MORE: What to know about new Eagles starting quarterback Joe Milton
As Fox play-by-play announcer Joe Davis noted, the two have a brief history. Milton played at Michigan from 2018 to 2020 before transferring to Tennessee. McCarthy, who led the Wolverines to a national championship following the 2023 season, enrolled at Michigan in January 2021.
“Everybody you talk to raves about the arm [of Milton],” Davis said. “J.J. McCarthy had a couple weeks with him, a crossover in Ann Arbor. [McCarthy] said he showed up to campus and saw Milton throw and thought, ‘Oh my God, I’m never going to be able to play at this level. I’ve never seen anything like that.’”
Milton is nicknamed “Bazooka Joe,” and has gone viral for his impressive arm strength. On the broadcast, Davis referenced the time the then-Volunteers quarterback threw an orange roughly 100 yards in 2022.
However, arm strength alone does not make an elite quarterback, as color commentator Greg Olsen made clear on Sunday.
“We talked in the first half, ‘OK, Joe Milton hasn’t gotten a lot of opportunities,’” Olsen said. “He’s played behind, obviously, two teams that had their quarterback getting drafted with Drake Maye in New England. Of course, behind Dak [Prescott]. … And, yes, throwing the ball 70 yards is great. All those throws are fun for us to highlight. But in the NFL, you’ve got to take the easy ones.”
Added Davis: “There’s got to be a reason, right? You can throw 70 yards and break the combine [record] and not get a chance over the first couple years.”
‘What they thought they were getting’
One of the only encouraging signs from Sunday was the Eagles’ pass rush. The Birds came away with six sacks, one from edge rusher Jonathan Greenard, who logged his first sack of the season.
The Eagles sent two third-round draft picks to the Vikings for Greenard before signing the 2024 Pro Bowler to a four-year deal worth nearly $100 million. Since then, Greenard had missed three games with pectoral and ankle injuries.
However, Sunday provided a glimpse of the player Eagles fans expected to see, as his sack forced the Giants into a 49-yard field goal.
“This is what they thought they were getting,” Olsen said. “He hasn’t practiced a lot. [Eagles defensive coordinator] Vic Fangio told us, he said, ‘I don’t know if I’ve ever had a marquee player who’s been out of practice so often. So as he gets healthy, we talk about this defensive line being able to rush the passer without bringing extra guys, and certainly his ascension is a big part of that.”
» READ MORE: The Eagles are so bad that all you can do is laugh through the seven-game losing streak | Mike Sielski
Nabers’ ‘body language’
Giants star wide receiver Malik Nabers was held to five receptions for 43 yards. Nabers, who had eclipsed 100 receiving yards in his previous four outings, made his frustration known. In the first half, he was spotted throwing his helmet at the Giants’ bench.
Olsen, a former tight end who spent nine of his 14 seasons with the Carolina Panthers, took offense to Nabers’ “body language” throughout the game. He pointed to the wide receiver not celebrating with his team following the Giants’ go-ahead touchdown, a 5-yard pass to tight end Isaiah Likely with 2 minutes, 25 seconds left in the third quarter.
“There’s a fine line,” Olsen said. “I’ve played with a lot of really good wide receivers, a lot of really good players. There’s never been a great wide receiver who hasn’t demanded the ball. That kind of comes with the territory. … But there is a very fine line between being demanding, being a competitor, and all those great things. That’s great. It just can never cross that it feels like it takes away from the success of your teammate. So when your teammate catches a wide-open touchdown, you need to be the happiest guy on the field.”
With the Eagles’ season gradually going up in flames, there’s been plenty of external fingerpointing. The offense, specifically the line, has drawn considerable ire, especially in light of the Eagles parting ways with longtime, beloved assistant coach Jeff Stoutland. Stoutland’s track record on the offensive line is Hall of Fame-worthy. This year, with Chris Kuper as Stoutland’s replacement, the line has regressed.
Should Kuper shoulder most of the blame? What really happened between Stoutland and the Eagles that caused their relationship to fall apart? The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane dives deeper into one of the biggest “what ifs” from a frustrating season, framing Stoutland’s exit around four key questions. Listen here.
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