Philadelphia, PA
- The Great Wall of Philadelphia rose again. Say what you will about how the Eagles had a hard time stopping Aaron Rodgers or Davante Adams on Thursday, but the Eagles defense was very clutch in the biggest of moments at Lambeau. Philly managed to stand up the Packers twice on the goal line, stopping eight total plays in the fourth quarter from inside the ten-yard line.
The climax of the game was a Rodgers throw to Marquez Valdes-Scantling on a quick slant. It was deflected by cornerback Craig James, who was only playing because of how ravaged the Eagles secondary was by injuries. Nigel Bradham would catch the deflected ball for the interception and would seal the second win of the season for the Birds.
Similarly to last year, the Eagles can’t avoid the injury bug, particularly in the secondary. Ronald Darby and Sidney Jones both continue to be injured, and Avonte Maddox was carted off the field on a helmet-to-helmet collision. That leaves Rasul Douglas and FA pickup Orlando Scandrick as the presumed starters outside, with Craig James handling slot duties. While the New York Jets have a less than threatening air attack, there still is concern about how the secondary will hold up.
For New York, they enter at 0-3, coming off an early, but helpful, bye. Their promising young quarterback, Sam Darnold, has been sidelined with Mono and is still going to miss the game because of it. The Jets’ offense has sputtered under the reigns of Luke Falk in the past two weeks, and I don’t see it getting much better for them. The Jets have had a shaky offensive line, unreliable receivers, and their best player, running back Le’Veon Bell, has not been able to break out.
Defensively, the Jets haven’t been bad, but I wouldn’t expect the Eagles to light up the scoreboard. They did see great things from running back Miles Sanders and Jordan Howard last week, so I expect that duo to continue to be productive. I think the Eagles defense will terrify Falk early and often and will make life miserable for New York.
Final Score: Eagles, 27. Jets, 10.
Sam Woloson
Sports Writer
PhillyBite sports contributor and Philadelphia Eagles Writer.
