By Connor Donald, Sports Talk Philly Contributing Writer 
Another week and another week of media abuse for the Philadelphia Eagles who continue to struggle to play a full 60 minutes on both sides of the football. Carson Wentz stepped up in front of his teammates during the week and took responsibility for his poor play, so now that that’s out of the way time to see him prove to everyone taken responsibility isn’t just words, but followed up with actions. A Lambeau miracle is what the true action would be for Wentz and the Eagles.
The first half started with promise with a huge field goal to start the game with a 15 play, 41 yard and 7 minute drive and then the defense made a nice three and out stop that netted the Packers -4 yards and took two minutes and twelve seconds off the clock. From there the offense produced nothing, 49 yards on three possessions and the defense allowed touchdowns on back to back possessions to Devante Adams on one and Robert Tonyan on the other.
The second half started with a 14-3 deficit, the ninth game this season the Eagles trail by double digits, the season long question hanging over our heads to start the second half, can the Eagles comeback? The Eagles started off with a nice three and out on Rodgers and the Packers offense and then the Eagles returned the favour going three and out, but burying the Packers with a huge punt that put them starting at their one yard line. Cue the 99 yard touchdown drive, no really, the Eagles defense would give up a 99 yard touchdown drive capped by a Devante Adams touchdown. Jalen Hurts would then be inserted in for an entire possession, which we saw a beautiful catch by Jalen Reagor, but ultimately another empty offensive possession.
The injuries started to pile up yet again as the fourth quarter began with Davion Taylor and Jason Peters being ruled out for the game and Darius Slay leaving for the locker room as well. The Packers would tack on a field goal before Jalen Hurts came out again and put together the best drive the Eagles had all game and created a touchdown connection with Greg Ward. The Eagles defense then held up forcing a punt which would be taken 74 yards to the house for a touchdown to make it a one possession game! Despite the miracle looking to be within reach, Hurts would then go three and out before Aaron Jones burst off a 77 yard touchdown run on the Packers next possession to make it a two score game. Jalen Hurts would end up throwing an interception late to wrap things up.
The Best
The Jalen connection was nice, real nice for one play. Jalen Hurts came out for one full offensive possession without Wentz on the field with him and he made an incredible throw to Jalen Reagor for 34 yards. The first round and second round picks from the 2020 Eagles draft class might have a future doing that in Midnight Green, but lets be real when we consider that as we are just entering into the start of Wentz’s new deal. Jalen Hurts finished with a line of, 5/12 for 109 yards and a touchdown with an interception.
I am not prepared to believe that we have a quarterback controversy, but it was absolutely nice to see Pederson make Wentz have to clean up his act because Hurts showed you can produce in this offense. He moved out of a collapsing pocket, made some dime like throws and provided a spark not seen since Nick Foles was brought in.
The Good
I have never wanted to type something like this when there are so many other options to choose from, but one of the top elements of Eagles games week in and week out is on the special teams and it is likely our Most Valuable Player, that is punter Cameron Johnston. Cam delivered five punts for an average of 42.2 yards including three inside the 20 yard line, one of which buried the Packers all the way down to their own one yard line. Sad but true.
Dallas Goedert had another really nice night giving the abysmal circumstances on offense. Should the Eagles choose to move on from Ertz as a cost saving measure giving that he is looking for a new contract, Goedert is a fine replacement as the Tight End #1 in Philadelphia plus Rodgers has flashed as a cheap option and the draft could provide options as well. Goedert finished with five receptions on seven targets for 66 yards.
The Bad
The offensive line was horrendous yet again, rolling out their 11th combination in twelve games. Carson Wentz found himself under pressure for much of the game, yet again. Wentz was also sacked three plus times for the tenth straight game, both the above stats vomit inducing. Carson Wentz ended up sacked four times and Hurts self induced a sack by running out of bounds short of the line of scrimmage and was taken down by the Packers for two. The quarterbacks were hit eleven times in the game, but the pressure numbers and scrambling out of the pocket tells a further ugly story of this offensive line.
The Ugly
I don’t want to say Darius Slay was ugly because he is in the middle of running a gauntlet of stud wide receivers, Metcalf last week, Adams today, Michael Thomas next week and Deandre Hopkins in two weeks. So I will put this bad on Jim Schwartz, yes Slay is a shutdown cornerback and that’s what we brought him in for, but he needs help. Slay shadowed Adams on 21 of 25 plays and gave up five receptions on six targets for 76 yards and two touchdowns. Even great shutdown corners need support once in a while to not shatter their confidence. A safety over top once in a while might also help with giving up big play after big play. This may become a reality next week as Slay left the game early in the fourth with an injury, we will see what transpires through the week.
I have not seen an Eagles team rally around, what we can assume is Hurts entering the game, since Nick Foles. This spells controversy in Philadelphia at the quarterback position, I don’t think so, but the media will blow it up as such. The Eagles nearly got their Lambeau Miracle, but Aaron Jones broke the hearts of Hurts truthers and Wentz haters all around the world. We will see what Pederson says this week and who they will go with, but for now the Eagles slide to 3-8-1 and the NFC East is looking more and more out of reach with the fourth straight Giants win tonight to put them ahead two games.
