Postgame Report: Eagles Embarrass In First Trip To Las Vegas

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By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor

The Eagles entered the half down in a massive crater following an offensive and defensive collapse in the second quarter.

Of course, the coaching staff finally decided that it’d be a good idea to let Miles Sanders run the ball and this lead to a strong opening drive and the only even remotely successful drive in the first half. Shortly thereafter, Sanders was carted to the locker room with an ankle injury.

The box score makes this game seem much closer than it was, however.

The offense only got going during that first drive and then in garbage time. It’s surprising that that strategy didn’t lead them to a win.

Really hard to pick anyone here. It would have been Miles Sanders had he not left the game. After he left, there were only a few positive plays. Goedert caught two passes for 48 yards in the span of the game that actually mattered. He did get some padding stats once the game was already lost and the Raiders weren’t playing, but his play during actually important drives was still the best of anyone on the team.

Not sure there was anyone to pick. Maybe Hargrave for providing pressures, but Maddox had a pick and a decent game in coverage. He absolutely whiffed on some tackles, though, so this wasn’t a banner game for Maddox, either.

• Sirianni seemed to have a good game plan in place for the offense this week, but a single injury to Miles Sanders and the plan was trashed in favor of more garbage play calling and leaning into Hurts’ inaccurate passes.
• Dallas Goedert is a top tight end. I have no idea why the coaches and/or Hurts refuse to utilize him more. He’s still the best receiving option on this team until Smith can clean up his drops.
• This was a bad day for the trade Miles Sanders crowd. Not only was Gainwell less effective without Miles Sanders to change pace, but he committed the fumble that essentially sealed the loss in the second quarter. The Eagles need Sanders to stay competitive and it was with his utilization that Hurts looked the best he has all season.
• The defense was brutalized by a backup tight end and missed tackles. Johnathan Gannon needs to do something because what he is rolling out there is an absolute embarrassment half the time. So much for being a rising star; right now, he looks more like a collapsing star.
• Speaking of tight ends, Richard Rodgers is back with the team. They like Stoll. Tyree Jackson could be a star in the making. This may still be the most impressive position group on the offense and yet no one is ever utilized. Has Sirianni ever heard of the position? Maybe he thinks it’s a position no one else uses and has gone the way of the fullback because the Eagles offense appears to pretend they don’t exist.
• Devonta Smith needs to clean up these drops. I understand Hurts is missing him despite his being wide open, but he has had a pair of bad drops for a few weeks in a row now. He can’t let that keep happening.
• I understand the reasoning behind not benching Hurts so that he can develop, but this team now has a new coaching staff. At some point, they may need to bench Hurts for Flacco or Minshew to try and evaluate the coaches. If there’s significant improvement with better reads, fewer missed passes, fewer keeps on RPO’s, etc. then we can conclude Hurts is a major issue. If there isn’t a real change, we’ve got solid proof that the coaches are to blame for most of this mess on the offensive side.
• By the end of the game, Lane Johnson was on the bench and Dillard was back at left tackle with Mailata at right. There hasn’t been an official word on the move, but if the Eagles plan to play Dillard over Johnson moving forward, obviously he isn’t getting traded for anything less than a clear overpay.

Philadelphia Eagles at Las Vegas Raiders – October 24, 2021