Philadelphia Eagles Shock The World, Somehow Find A Way To Hold On And Beat The Panthers
Emilee Chinn. Getty Images.Winning. It's the main driving force of life. From the dawn of time, it's the only way that anything has ever been able to survive. If you're not winning, then you are dying. It doesn't matter how you win. It doesn't matter what it looks like. All that matters is that you survive, you advance, and you continue to win.
Would it have been great if the Eagles gave the city of Philadelphia a nice, stress-free afternoon today? Of course it would. Shit pumping the Panthers right out of the gates and getting most of the 2nd stringers in the 2nd half would have been delightful. But the Carolina Panthers are a team with nothing left to lose, which makes them dangerous.
It makes them especially dangerous when the offense looks like absolute shit all afternoon (besides Saquon). The Eagles had 8 drives on the day, 4 of them ended with a punt, and one ended with a missed field goal. We legitimately need to have a conversation about Jake Elliott right now because I don't see how you can go into the playoffs with a guy who hasn't hit a single field goal of 50+ yards so far this year. Jalen Hurts seemed like he was content to just be in cruise control today. The offensive line had miscommunications all day long. It was a game I think everyone on the offensive side of the ball would love to forget about, but also a game that'll go down in history since Saquon broke the franchise single season rushing record. With 4 more games to go.
The defense would have looked great today if it weren't for 2 things. 1) Adam Thielen needs to retire already because this son of a bitch is a 4th down cheat code. Every time Carolina's drive was knocking on death's door, here comes Adam Thielen with another catch to keep it alive. And 2) Bryce Young was covered in baby oil or something out there today.
Bryce Young was a damn magician out there. Adam Thielen turned back the clock. And the Eagles just need to thank whatever god they believe in that Xavier Legette absolutely hates catching footballs, or else this game has a different ending.
It was ugly. It was so frustratingly stressful up until the final 30 seconds of the game. But this was always in the "this game is going to make absolutely zero sense at all" territory. An Eagles team that has won 8 in a row playing against a non-division opponent who has nothing left to really play for. It's one of those games that you can 100% see Eagles teams of the past losing. Last year's Eagles team finds a way to lose this game by 10. But this year's team gets it done. They barely hung on to win, and it was a pitiful performance at time. But in a game like this, a win is a win. And now that's 9 in a row for the Philadelphia Eagles men's professional football team. The Miracle on Broad Street, some are saying.