It was purely David versus Goliath. The NFL leading 6-1 Philadelphia Eagles hosted the winless 0-7 San Francisco 49ers in Philly. The Eagles were immense favorites going in and did not disappoint when the game first kicked off. The Birds dominated the miners from San Francisco in dominating fashion, winning 33-10.
Coming in, the Eagles were coming off a Monday night victory last week over the NFC East rival Washington Redskins that put them firmly in first place in the NFC. The 49ers, while playing just about each game close this season, hadn’t been able to lock down a victory and got demolished last week by the Dallas Cowboys.
In Sunday’s game, Carson Wentz threw for 211 yards and two touchdowns. The defense locked down all windows and doors and harassed 49ers rookie starting quarterback C.J. Beathard. Here are the biggest takeaways from the Eagles victory.
Week Eight Philadelphia Eagles Takeaways
Defense Was Sharp All Around
Philly came into this game leading the NFL in rushing yards allowed per game (around 66 per game). The Eagles held the Niners to just under 100 yards Sunday, as San Fran only ran for 94 yards and their leading rusher was Beathard on scrambles.
The front seven of the Eagles has been solid all year long, but Brandon Graham, Vinny Curry, Fletcher Cox and company harassed Beathard and each running back that touched the ball for San Francisco.
The strong front seven pressure made life easier for the secondary, who stepped up and made big plays. Cornerback Jalen Mills jumped in front of a Beathard pass and took it to the house.
Imbalance on Offense
Even though the final box score will say 32 passes and 31 runs for the Eagles on offense, for the lion share of the game the Eagles passed significantly more. At one point in the third quarter, the Eagles had ten more passes than runs and most of their runs in the fourth quarter came on the last drive with the starters out and trying to milk the clock.
Obviously, the pace of each game will dictate play calling and one offensive strategy could work better than others. This was somewhat surprising, considering how good Doug Pederson has been this season play-calling a balanced offense to keep the opposing defense off guard.
Regardless, the Eagles offense still did well enough and Pederson called a nice game.
Weather Made a Difference on Special Teams
It was a rainy, wet and soggy game all day at the Linc and it made a difference in the kicking game. For as good as rookie kicker Jake Elliott has been for the Eagles, he needs a good hold to make a successful kick and that was not the case twice today.
Donnie Jones twice could not make a good hold off two extra point tries and Elliott’s two kicks sailed wide left.
Teams usually make it a priority to practice in wet weather leading up to a weather filled game. Hopefully this trend doesn’t continue when the weather not only gets colder but there is the threat of freezing rain or snow.
