EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Blame Jalen Reagor, sure.
Blame him for dropping the would-be game-winning touchdown pass that would have two-handedly changed the narrative surrounding his tenure as an Eagle thus far. Blame him for dropping the next one, too.
In the waning moments of the Eagles’ desperate attempt to erase the squalid four-turnover performance that led to their 13-7 deficit with 31 seconds left, Jalen Hurts heaved the ball off his back foot down the left sideline. Hurts had struggled all day, throwing three costly interceptions. He had only completed two passes downfield all afternoon. But this throw was perfect. Giants rookie cornerback Aaron Robinson trailed a step behind and seemed to grab Reagor early, but the ball was perfectly placed. It hit Reagor in the facemask at the 3-yard line before ricocheting off his hands.
Advertisement
“It was a good pass by Jalen (Hurts),” Reagor said after the game. “I felt like it was kind of on my back, but … those are just plays that we have to make.”
On the next play, fourth-and-10 from the Giants’ 27-yard-line with 25 seconds left, Hurts scrambled around in the pocket while surveying the scene downfield. For his prayer, he again chose Reagor, the unlikeliest of would-be heroes. Reagor rose up into the air around the 2-yard line. Again, the ball was perfectly placed. Again, it bounced off his hands.
“Just two drops that I would say are very uncharacteristic,” Reagor said. “But I just have to go through the highs and the lows and go to the next week and make those plays.”
If Reagor had caught the first pass, the Eagles would have been an extra point away from an improbable win that would have erased the day’s ugliness. They would have been 6-6 and favored by the oddsmakers to make the playoffs with five games remaining. If Reagor had caught the second pass, he would have scored or been tackled just short of the goal line. The Eagles would have scrambled to spike the ball and had two or three chances just shy of the goal line to achieve the same improbable win. So, yeah, blame Reagor.
But it’s not Reagor’s fault he was put in that position in the first place. Blame Hurts for the three interceptions. Blame Boston Scott for his costly fumble on the drive that preceded Reagor’s drops. More to the point, blame Nick Sirianni for a bewildering offensive game plan that seemed to throw away what had become the Eagles’ skeleton key. Rarely does a team rush for a disappointing 208 yards, but that was the story of the Eagles’ play calling against the league’s 30th-ranked run defense. And blame both Hurts and Sirianni for targeting Reagor so much. Seven of Hurts’ 31 passes were thrown in Reagor’s direction, while DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert combined for seven targets between them.
Advertisement
In between Hurts’ last two passes, amid the game-on-the-line frenzy, Smith barked from the field to Sirianni that he wanted the ball. He had only been targeted once in the second half.
“He wants the ball in a critical situation like that,” Sirianni said. “They were playing two-man in that scenario and they had played it three snaps in a row, and it was two-man on that one as well. The type of play that he wanted in that scenario wasn’t going to be good. But I love the fact that he wants the ball in crunch time and wants it on his shoulders when the game is on the line. That’s what he was telling me, and I respect that. We had to do what we thought was best for that one with the coverages they were playing. We didn’t execute.”
Before Hurts hurled his final pass downfield to Reagor, Smith raced across the field from right to left before turning up the sideline with his hand raised and a defender in his wake. He was open, but Hurts had to step up in the pocket to avoid the rush. After that final pass fell from Reagor’s hands to the ground, Smith galloped off the field furious and fired his helmet into the team’s bench in frustration. So blame Reagor and Hurts and Sirianni for their shared role in the No. 1 receiver’s absence from Sunday’s game plan.
And blame Howie Roseman. A season and a half into their respective careers, it has already become trite to lament the selection of Reagor over Justin Jefferson, who has established himself as one of the best wide receivers in the league. That criticism is not just hindsight. The very first question posed to Roseman by the Philadelphia media after Reagor’s selection was why the team had passed on Jefferson.
“We were just trying to find the right fit for our football team. A lot of good players at that position and a lot of opinions about how good these players are,” Roseman said. “You’re talking about really good players, and it’s just the fit. It’s how the coaches envision these guys being used and what they’re looking for to fit our quarterback skill set. So that was what we were trying to do, find the right fit for the Philadelphia Eagles and where we are as a football team and be a complement to the other players we think we have on offense.”
Advertisement
After his two catches for 31 yards Sunday (including an impressive 21-yard grab late in the first half), Reagor has 56 catches for 597 yards in his 23-game career. That’s fewer yards than six of the next seven wide receivers drafted. After catching a 55-yard pass in his NFL debut, he has yet to top 55 receiving yards in a game since. Among all wide receivers, tight ends and running backs drafted in 2020, Reagor entered Sunday ranked 26th in 2021 receiving yards.
“I would say when we talked with Coach (Doug Pederson) and he was talking about the explosiveness with the ball in his hands and you saw him on jet sweeps, we had a chance to look at all his runs in the backfield as well,” Roseman said on Reagor’s draft night. “So that’s something that we can always add, and I know Coach, when he talked to us about what he was looking for in the offseason, about a guy who can make plays with the ball in his hands. Whether getting him the ball in jet sweeps, quick screens or down the field. Obviously, we have (DeSean Jackson), one of the best all time in doing those sort of things. …We have these two tight ends (Zach Ertz and Goedert) that do a great job in the intermediate area. Alshon (Jeffery), J.J. (Arcega-Whiteside), Greg (Ward) and then our runners are just complementing skill sets here. We’re trying to just build the best team and not just collect talent.”
One year later, only Goedert is still a relevant member of the organization. They could use the talent.
Roseman, of course, also drafted Smith. He has been in charge long enough that his draft record is filled with a long list of hits and misses. With three first-round picks likely in the Eagles’ coffer this offseason, well, they might need another wide receiver.
As for Reagor, it’s to his credit that he opted to speak to the media following the game, “just to take ownership of what happened in that scenario.” It’s also hard not to view Sunday as something of an end to the hope that he’ll be an important part of the team moving forward.
Before the Eagles’ final drive, the Giants lined up to punt with 1:19 remaining. This was familiar territory. Like the miracle makers before him, Reagor waited to field a punt that could turn into a lasting memory. Instead, he caught the ball and sprinted 9 yards out of bounds. It was a fine return, even if the Giants’ willingness to punt the ball directly to him was an insult — just like their strategy throughout the game to kick off short of the goal line to goad Reagor into a return. By the end of the game, Reagor’s company in Eagles history was not Brian Westbrook and Jackson but Nelson Agholor and J.J. Arcega-Whiteside.
Arcega-Whiteside caught his second pass of the season Sunday while playing a season-high 21.5 percent of the snaps. That constitutes a success story for the former second-round pick in his third season with the team. For Reagor, it’s a harrowing example of what could be to come.
Advertisement
“As Jalen (Hurts) always says, everything is still in front of us,” said Reagor.
Can someone please explain … what Hurts was thinking on his interception at the end of the first half?
Can I explain it? Not really.
“It’s a bad mistake by me,” Hurts said after the game. “Simple as that.”
Hurts finished 14-of-31 for 129 yards and three interceptions to go along with 77 yards rushing. His EPA per dropback was a season-low minus-0.63. The first of his three interceptions was borderline defensible because Hurts expected Quez Watkins to continue running across the field, but Watkins stopped short after being held by Darnay Holmes. His third interception came after Hurts checked to a shot play at the line of scrimmage. He was late throwing the ball, while Xavier McKinney easily hustled over from his safety position for the pick. At least it was downfield in search of a big play. That second one, though, there’s no defense for. Zach Berman has much more on a disquieting performance from the Eagles quarterback.
Number that matters
1,078, which is the Eagles’ rushing total over the last five games.
Jalen Hurts threw more passes today (31) than Lamar Jackson did in any of those Ravens games. The Eagles need to embrace who they are.
— Bo Wulf (@Bo_Wulf) November 29, 2021
Potent quotable
“Just a tenacious dude. He’s the embodiment of this team. He’s the embodiment, in my opinion, of Philadelphia. Just gritty, nasty. You might knock him down, but he’s gonna get right back up. He’s gonna work hard. Blue-collar. Like, he embodies the city, man. And so, he’s definitely a big-time leader. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him and how he’s been able to contribute over the years. It’s just incredible to watch, incredible to see.
“And so, whenever I make dumb mistakes like that, it really hurts me because guys like that have been in the league for such a long time and, you know, you don’t know how many years they have left. And so, just, guys like that make me wanna give my all.” — Boston Scott on Jason Kelce (who left the game with a knee injury and eventually returned) and his costly fourth-quarter fumble.
Advertisement
Game ball: Offense – Jordan Mailata
Sirianni has said the offensive line gets the game ball any time the team rushes for over 200 yards, which it did Sunday for the fourth time in five games. But Sirianni doesn’t give out game balls after losses, so let’s single out Mailata, whose bruising power was on display against the Giants. No one on the team, including Smith, has a higher upside.
Game ball: Defense – Derek Barnett
Barnett was active Sunday with two tackles for loss, including a drive-killing tackle for a 13-yard loss when the Eagles needed a defensive stop. He made a pair of tackles pursuing on the back side of plays, too. But Barnett did not finish the game, perhaps because of an as-yet-undisclosed injury. Avonte Maddox was also particularly feisty against the Giants.
Five thoughts and leftovers
1. When the players make as many mistakes as they did Sunday, it’s difficult to pin the loss at the foot of the head coach. Sirianni did not turn the ball over four times, nor did he make Reagor or Greg Ward drop touchdown passes. Jack Stoll blew a block on the second-down Hurts run from the 2-yard-line that preceded his baffling interception at the end of the first half.
Still, I found the offensive game plan mystifying. The Eagles embraced the challenge last week with the Saints’ No. 1-ranked run defense and fully committed to blowing them off the ball. Sunday, against a Giants defense that ranked 30th against the run by DVOA, they passed the ball on 11 of their first 16 offensive plays. This was not just a case of the Giants stacking the box either. New York had at least eight defenders in the box 24.6 percent of the time against Hurts and the Eagles, according to TruMedia, which is the second-lowest percentage the Eagles have seen over the last five weeks.
It took until the fourth drive of the game for the Eagles to break out what has become their bread and butter offense, which resulted in the 92-yard drive that ended on Hurts’ interception. On their first possession of the second half, the Eagles turned the ball over on downs after two incomplete passes on third-and-2 and fourth-and-2. Still, they ran for 208 yards on the afternoon while Miles Sanders and Scott combined for 5.3 yards per carry. It felt like they could have easily rushed for 250 yards. This was not a game in which tendencies needed breaking.
2. Kudos to the defense for holding the Giants to 13 points on the road. Quarterback Daniel Jones struggled for much of the day, completing 19-of-30 passes for 202 yards. Unlike Hurts, however, he properly protected the ball.
This was not necessarily an inspiring defensive performance, though. Jonathan Gannon blitzed 24.2 percent of the time, per TruMedia, which is right about on par with what he’d done since the Las Vegas debacle in Week 7. But against a Giants team depleted at wide receiver, Gannon leaned heavily on zone defense. The team played in zone coverage 77.6 percent of the time, per TruMedia, the team’s highest number since Week 5. They also let the Giants bleed over seven minutes of valuable clock in the fourth quarter on a 12-play, 70-yard drive.
Advertisement
3. On the injury front, Kelce was the story during the game. He hobbled off the field in the first half with a knee injury and initially tried to talk the team’s doctors out of examining him under the on-field medical tent. Eventually, he relented and, after that initial exam, jogged into the locker room while Nate Herbig took over at center. Later in the half, Kelce returned to the sideline and tried to put pressure on the knee while walking through snaps and blocks against his teammates. Discouraged at the weakness of the knee, he stayed on the sideline and watched while Herbig played.
After halftime, Kelce remained off the field. Then, as if summoning the fortitude out of thin air, he entered the game on the Eagles’ second drive of the second half and finished the game. At 34, Kelce’s body has been through a lot. He remains as tough as they come.
Meanwhile, starting right guard Jack Driscoll left the game with an ankle injury and did not return. He has struggled to stay healthy at times. Herbig replaced Driscoll at right guard (notable because Sua Opeta replaced Landon Dickerson mid-game at left guard two weeks ago in Denver).
Sanders also seemed to have a flare-up with the ankle injury that sidelined him for three weeks, though Sirianni did not blame that entirely for Sanders’ absence from the game down the stretch.
Said Sirianni: “Miles wasn’t in in that particular case right there because we felt Boston was going good, and that he was a little bit dinged.”
4. Penalty-wise, I did think the Eagles had a case for pass interference against Reagor on the first of his two end-of-game drops even if he should have caught the ball anyway. In comparison to the pass interference that was called against Steven Nelson in the end zone which set up the Giants’ only touchdown, there seemed to be more than enough contact to merit a flag.
Still, this was the last game in which the Eagles should complain about the refs. I can’t remember ever feeling like a team had less to do with its own win than the Giants in this game. The Eagles soundly and completely beat themselves.
Advertisement
5. We joked on “Birds With Friends” after the draft that the Eagles would mercilessly target Robinson because he was one of the two players picked after the ballyhooed Milton Williams trade down. Enjoyable to see it play out exactly that way in the first matchup between the two parties. … Herbig, for the first time in a while, had no snap issues at center in place of Kelce. … Kenny Gainwell played three snaps before the game’s final drive and still somehow finished as the team’s leading receiver on the day with three catches for 32 yards as Hurts’ checkdown friend with the game on the line. … I did not think the Eagles necessarily needed to spike the ball when they did on that final drive. There were 38 seconds left when Hurts spiked the ball from the Giants’ 27-yard-line. Even if it took them another five seconds to call and run a play, there was enough time to not waste a down. The Giants also seemed ready for the next play, when Hurts threw incomplete to Goedert on what has become a go-to corner route. … Zero catches for Goedert is either bad offense or bad contracting. … Alex Singleton led the Eagles with 12 tackles while playing full time in place of Davion Taylor. … Say what you will about the Eagles’ recent draft mistakes, but at least they didn’t draft Saquon Barkley second overall. Barkley ran 13 times for 40 yards with a long of 32. That’s hard to do. … The next play-calling craze sure to sweep the league? Flea-flicker screens. … Even at 5-7, the Eagles are still very much alive in the NFC wild-card race. Minnesota, at 5-6, is the current No. 7 seed, while four other teams are within a half-game of them, five if Washington wins Monday night.
Bird lines
• Miles Sanders’ total offensive yards (64) over Saquon Barkley’s total offensive yards (53)
• Jalen Hurts’ longest completion (21) over Daniel Jones’ longest run (13)
• Jalen Hurts’ incompletions (17) over Jalen Hurts’ rushing attempts (8)
• Eagles punts (3) over Eagles sacks (1)
• DeVonta Smith receptions (2) over Kadarius Toney offensive touches (0)
Wulf: 5-0 on the week, 34-22-3 on the season
Advertisement
Berman: 1-4 on the week, 30-26-3 on the season
Up next
The Eagles do it all over again on Sunday, Dec. 5, with another 1 p.m. game in the New Jersey swamplands. This time, it’s Joe Flacco, Elijah Riley and the New York Jets, who are coming off a 21-14 win over the Houston Texans. The Eagles open as seven-point favorites.
(Photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)