By Paul Macrie, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 
After dropping a second consecutive division road game on Sunday, there has been, by no surprise, negative reaction surrounding the Eagles and where this season is likely advancing towards.
Despite the continued questionable coaching decisions in crucial situations, this past Sunday's offensive approach was a step in the right direction. The final outcome still resulted in a loss, but several statistics indicate the Eagles outplayed the Giants.
Yes, ultimately wins and losses is the most important stat. The Eagles lost another game, falling to 4-4 and now 0-3 in the NFC East. It is very difficult to put a positive spin on the play of the team during the last month. But after failing to produce big plays on offense for weeks, the improvements against the Giants were exactly what the team needed.
After failing to produce an offensive play of more than 14 yards against Dallas, the Eagles mustered seven plays of 20-plus yards against New York thanks to taking more shots downfield. Through the first seven games, the "dink and dunk" offense was the team's identity, but head coach Doug Pederson dialed up more pass plays designed to get the Giants' defense off the shorter routes.
The most notable pass play against the G-Men was a 58-yard strike downfield to Bryce Treggs. The speedster from Cal was making his NFL debut, and he didn't disappoint. He beat safety Nat Berhe who was late to help in zone coverage over the top after corner Janoris Jenkins let go of Treggs after he got about 15 yards downfield on the route. It was a refreshing big play for the Eagles, and a solid throw from Carson Wentz as well.
Pederson made sure to get his tight ends more involved in this game, too, in particular Zach Ertz and Trey Burton. Ertz had a season-high eight catches for 97 yards, while Burton caught all three of his targets for 55 yards, including a his longest catch of 32 yards. Wide receiver Jordan Matthews was targeted 10 times, catching six balls for 88 yards. It was an encouraging effort from the Eagles pass catchers, though there were more drops that continue to persist.
There has been a lot of numbers thrown out in this piece so far, but these team stats might be the most important. The Eagles outgained the Giants, 443-302, plus they ran 74 plays to the opponent's 61 and produced six yards per play to New York's five. They also had a time of possession advantage of more than five minutes. It was a much improved offensive approach than previous games.
The downfall of the Eagles against the Giants has been widely discussed during the past 48-72 hours. Red zone inefficiency continued, and two notable fourth down failures cost the team valuable points, which ended up being the difference in the final result.
Pederson was criticized for being too conservative after the Sunday night contest against Dallas, but this past week, he was questioned for being too aggressive. Taking the points, especially early in a contest, is a smarter decision. Pederson opted to go for it on a 4th-and-2 (but a long two yards) and a 4th-and-1 in manageable field goal range. The play calls on those two fourth down attempts were even more questionable than the overly aggressive decisions to go for it.
Two other stats were critical in the Eagles' demise in Week 9. They were a pathetic 3-for-15 on third down conversions, forcing Pederson to make the decision to go for it on fourth down on four occasions in the game. Also, the team failed to score on either of the two turnovers forced in the second half. The Giants scored two touchdowns on the two first-quarter interceptions thrown by Carson Wentz.
As the Eagles get set to play the Falcons in Week 10, the downfield passing plays the team does attempt can be successful again. Atlanta is the 26th ranked defense in the NFL, and 31st in passing yards allowed (289.6). This week's opponent will have to respect the arm of Wentz. He has now shown he can take shots downfield, and is fairly accurate on the deep balls. Whether his pass-catching teammates can consistently catch those targets is an entirely different ordeal.
Concerns remain about where the Eagles' season is heading in the weeks ahead. The schedule is absolutely brutal. But if the offense can maintain this new effective approach to moving the ball downfield, then at least it can be said that they aren't as predictable as they have been.
Wentz deserves the opportunity to be unleashed in the passing attack. The "dink and dunk" ways are hopefully the thing of the past.
