Tag: 10 awards

The Philadelphia Eagles won another football game on Sunday, this time against the Detroit Lions, but as usual, they gave their fans plenty to complain about in the process. As always, win, lose, or tie, we hand out 10 awards.

1) The ‘Masterclass’ Award 🧙‍♂️: Vic Fangio

The Lions were 3 for 13 on third downs in this game, and 0 for 5 on fourth down, resulting in five turnovers on downs. Getting five stops on 4th down in one game is kinda nuts.

Fangio’s defense started to dominate teams around this time last season, and we’re seeing that trend repeat in 2025. The defensive line is getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks, the linebackers are flying to the football, and for the most part, the defensive backs are contesting catches and forcing incompletions.

In two consecutive weeks against the Packers and now the Lions, the offense didn’t do much of anything and needed the defense to pick up the slack, which they did, and then some.

2) The ‘Brick Wall’ Award 🧱: The Eagles’ run defense

Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery form arguably the best running back tandem in the NFL. They combined for 18 carries for 66 yards, or 3.7 yards per carry. As noted in our Eagles-Lions preview, if you can stop the Lions’ rushing attack, you’re probably going to beat them. The Lions are now 0-4 when they fail to rush for over 100 yards, 6-0 when they go over 100.

Before tonight, the Lions had gone 40 straight games scoring double-digit points. 

3) The ‘Volleyball’ Award 🏐: The Eagles’ pass breakups

Jared Goff completed just 14 passes on 37 attempts for a 37.8% completion percentage. Goff completed 72.4% of his passes in 2024, and heading into this matchup, he led the NFL with a 74.0% completion percentage.

Jordan Davis had 3 batted passes, and Jalen Carter had 2. Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean also had 2 pass breakups apiece, and Adoree’ Jackson chipped in with an important one of his own on fourth down late in the game. (Video via @DiBonaNFL)

Jameson Williams got loose for one long catch and run, and Gibbs had some electric runs after the catch, but otherwise the Eagles shut down the Lions’ potent passing attack.

4) The ‘Bad Things Happen in Philadelphia’ Award 🕺: Amon-Ra St. Brown

St. Brown did the “Trump dance” last Sunday against the Commanders. On Sunday night, the Eagles’ secondary slapped a tariff on his ass, as he had just 2 catches on 12 targets.

5) The ‘Thank You’ Award 🙏: Dan Campbell

Campbell had a bunch of questionable game management decisions in the first half: 

• On a night in which he went for five other fourth downs, he punted from the Eagles’ 40 yard line on a 4th and 6. He tried to draw the Eagles offsides and took a delay of game penalty when the Eagles didn’t jump. He then punted and the Eagles got the ball at their own 15 yard line, for what was essentially a 25-yard net (if you don’t count the delay penalty).

• He ran a fake punt even though the Eagles kept their regular defensive personnel on the field instead of their special teams guys. I mean, in that situation, you either just punt it away, or call a timeout and put your offense back on the field and run a real play. What you don’t do is run a linebacker up the middle directly into Jordan Davis and Moro Ojomo.

• When the Eagles had 1st and Goal before the end of the first half, the Lions didn’t use any of their timeouts, and were left with just 10 seconds on the clock when they got the ball back. They basically cost themselves a possession.

The Eagles have seen bad coaching performances on consecutive weeks from Matt LaFleur and Campbell.

6) The ‘Alarming’ Award 🚨: The Eagles’ offense

For as dominant as the defense was, the game was still in question until the final seconds because the offense couldn’t get anything going whatsoever. They couldn’t run, they couldn’t pass, and they couldn’t catch. The only positive was that they didn’t turn it over.

Jalen Hurts completed 14 of 28 passes for 135 yards (4.8 YPA), and the offense as a whole gained a paltry 3.9 yards per play.

And that was despite the Lions being without three defensive back starters in Terrion Arnold, D.J. Reed, and Kerby Joseph.

Hurts force-fed 11 targets to A.J. Brown, who had 7 catches for 49 yards, and who just doesn’t look like the same player he was his first three years in Philly.

7) The ‘Wonky’ Award 🙃: The Tush Push

The Eagles had four failed Tush Pushes Sunday night. Two were false starts, and the Lions stopped consecutive Tush Pushes on third and fourth and 1 with about three minutes to go.

The Lions are the only team on the Eagles’ schedule this season who voted not to ban the Tush Push during the 2025 offseason. “Respect,” Nick Sirianni said of the Lions for their vote, and for their ability to stop the play.

8) The ‘What the Hell, Dude’ Award 🤨: Nick Sirianni

Last week in Green Bay, facing a 4th and 6 from the Packers’ 35 yard line, Sirianni opted to go for it, and Hurts misfired on a low percentage deep shot to A.J. Brown down the left sideline. The Packers got the ball back with 27 seconds left and only needing about 25 or so yards to get into reasonable field goal range. As it turned out, the Packers only got 18 yards, and then missed a potential game-tying field goal attempt.

A week later, Sirianni made a similarly crazy call, when he went for it on 4th and 1 from his own 29 with a 10 point lead and only three minutes to play. Normally, that type of aggressive call might be applauded, but as noted above, the Tush Push had been wonky all night, and the defense was absolutely dominating.

The Eagles failed to convert the Tush Push, and even though the defense held the Lions to a three-and-out — and a loss of 7 yards, at that — on their ensuing drive, they kicked a field goal, turning a two-score game into a one-score game.

Once again, the Eagles survived anyway, partly because of an atrocious pass interference call on the Lions’ Rock Ya-Sin.

Sirianni has developed a weird habit of making conservative calls throughout the game, and then getting wildly over-aggressive in the last two or three minutes.

9) The ‘Tiebreaker’ Award 👔: The Rams, Buccaneers, Packers, and Lions

The Eagles aside, most would consider the other top teams in the NFC to be the Rams, Buccaneers, Packers, Lions, and Seahawks. The Eagles have beaten all of those teams except the Seahawks, who are not on their schedule this season. The Eagles have a 7-1 conference record, compared with the Seahawks’ 4-3 conference record.

Though arguably not as talented as the above teams, the Bears are also in the mix, at 7-3. The Eagles will play them at home on Black Friday. In emoji form:

🐏: ✅
🏴‍☠️: ✅
🧀: ✅
🦁: ✅
🐻: TBD

10) The ‘Magic Number’ Award 🪄: 4 and 7

If the Eagles are able to win four of their remaining seven games this season, they will clinch the NFC East. They only need three more wins if one of them is against the Cowboys next Sunday. The Eagles also “control their own destiny” to earn the 1 seed in the NFC. If they win out, the will get a first round bye and home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

So, you know, it’s not always pretty, but they just win. And they also beat their best competition in the conference.

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The Philadelphia Eagles got their asses kicked by the New York Giants a couple weeks ago. On Sunday, they returned the favor. As always, win, lose, or tie, we hand out 10 awards.

1) The ‘Reborn Bullies’ Award 💪: The Eagles’ trenches

The Eagles got flat-out bullied by this Giants team Week 6. It was one of the worst performances we have seen from the Eagles’ trenches in recent memory, as the Giants’ defensive line dominated the Eagles’ offensive line, and the Giants’ offense ran all over the Eagles’ defense.

In Week 8, the big boys on both sides of the line for the Eagles played with pride, and outclassed the Giants.

As a team, the Eagles outgained the Giants 276 to 68 on the ground, while also sacking Jaxson Dart five times. The Eagles have hung their hat on line play during their successful stretch from 2017 to the present day, but we haven’t always seen that this season. Sunday was a vintage Eagles performance in the trenches.

2) The ‘It’s Been a While’ Award 😌: Saquon Barkley

On the second play of the game, Barkley ripped off a 65-yard TD run. 

Credit Brett Toth, Landon Dickerson, Jordan Mailata, and DeVonta Smith on that play for blocks that helped spring the TD run, and credit Barkley for blowing past safety Tyler Nubin like Nubin had cinderblocks for feet.

In 2024, Barkley had 17 carries of 20+ yards. His longest run of the 2025 season before his 65-yard gallop on Sunday was 18 yards. Today was confirmation that Barkley can still break a big one.

After Barkley’s last carry of the day — a 28-yard sprint down the right sideline — Barkley pulled up at the end of his run and looked gimpy heading off the field before taking a trip to the medical tent. The team later announced it was a groin injury. 

But at least it comes at the right time, with the Eagles on their bye Week 9.

3) The ‘Tank You Very Much’ Award 🪖: Tank Bigsby

After Barkley went down, Bigsby took over at running back and kind of crushed it. He finished with 9 carries for 104 yards (11.6 YPC), including this badass run that put him over the century mark on the day (video via @Eaglesfans9): 

I think Eagles fans can get behind that kind of effort.

4) The ‘Efficiency’ Award 🎯: Jalen Hurts

Hurts had to carry the Eagles to a win in Minnesota a week ago. Against the Giants on Sunday with a comfortable lead for most of the day, Hurts merely needed to be efficient, and that he was.

Hurts finished 15 of 20 for 179 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs, and a QB rating of 141.5.

Over the last two games, Hurts is 34 of 43 for 505 yards, 7 TDs, and 0 INTs, for a QB rating of 155.2.

5) The ‘End Zone Magnet’ Award 🧲: Dallas Goedert

Goedert had just 3 catches for 28 yards, but two of his receptions were for touchdowns. 

Goedert previously never had more than 5 TD receptions in a single season. He now has 7 TDs in 7 games played this season.

6) The ‘Who Needs Him?’ Award 🤷‍♂️: A.J. Brown

Well, the Eagles need him, frankly. But for one game, they didn’t.

7) The ‘Blood Pressure’ Award 🤯: Brian Daboll

Giants head coach Brian Daboll leads the NFL in blood pressure. His head nearly exploded several times throughout this game:

But also, he made a few asinine decisions on Sunday. To begin, he threw a challenge flag on a play in which Jalen Hurts was stripped on a Tush Push. The referees blew the whistle, and ruled that Hurts’ forward progress had stopped.

To be fair, it was a bad call. The Giants were hosed out of a turnover, and the Eagles would finish that drive with a touchdown. Daboll had a right to be upset. But after the referee announced that it was an unreviewable play, Daboll threw his challenge flag again, like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum.

The Giants were stripped of one of their timeouts, which they could have used at the end of the first half.

Then later, on a 2nd and 11 play, Hurts completed a 5-yard pass to Goedert, but Jordan Mailata was flagged for being an ineligible receiver downfield. The Giants declined the penalty, lol. They chose a 3rd and 6 over a 2nd and 16. 

Before the next play was run, the referee looked at the Eagles’ sideline and shrugged, like, “I don’t understand that decision either.”

And then of course, on the next play, this happened: 

If I were the Giants’ owner, Daboll would be a goner. I mean, he’d have been a goner a long time ago if I were their owner, but whatever.

8) The ‘Separation’ Award 🛣️: The Eagles, in the standings

With this win, the Eagles inched closer toward becoming the first NFC East team to repeat as divisional champs in more than 20 years. The updated NFC East standings:

As of this writing, the Cowboys are losing 30-17 to the Broncos. The Commanders play the Chiefs on Monday Night Football, and are double-digit underdogs.

Meanwhile, the Eagles gained ground on the other 5-2 NFC teams who had byes this week, like the Lions, Rams, and Seahawks, as well as the previously 5-2 49ers, who lost to the Texans.

9) The Rest Up Award 🛌: The Eagles, on their bye week

The Eagles will be on their bye Week 9. They pretty badly need to heal up physically and mentally. The next time they take the field will be November 10, in Green Bay. By then, important players like WR A.J. Brown, C Cam Jurgens, EDGE Nolan Smith, and EDGE Brandon Graham could be ready to play again.

10) The ‘It’s Your Show’ Award 🤝: Howie Roseman

Before the Eagles play another game, the trade deadline (November 4) will come and go. Roseman will probably make a trade or two. Will it be for an edge defender? A cornerback? Will they do something crazy? We’ll find out over the next nine days.

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The Philadelphia Eagles got back in the win column on the road over the Minnesota Vikings, 28-22, after two straight losses to the Denver Broncos and New York Giants.

As always, win, lose, or tie, we hand out 10 awards.

1) The ‘Almost Perfect’ Award 🎯: Jalen Hurts

Hurts had one of the best games of his career, going 19 of 23 for 326 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs and the highest possible QB rating of 158.3.

He was efficient in the short-to-intermediate areas of the field, and he was deadly when he ripped shots down the field.

The green dots above are completions, the white dots are incompletions, and the blue dots are TD passes. I don’t know if that white dot on the left side is past the 20-yard marker, but if not, Hurts was 5/5 on throws over 20 yards down the field.

Hurts was decisive when the Vikings blitzed; he was patient when they only rushed three and dropped eight into coverage; and he made a number of off-schedule plays after escaping pressure with his legs.

Hurts was awesome on Sunday.

2) The ‘Happy Again’ Award 😊: A.J. Brown

It’s no secret that Brown has been less than thrilled with his usage in the offense, but he was a major factor against the Vikings, making 4 catches on 6 targets for 121 yards and 2 TDs. 

He opened the scoring on the day with a 37-yard TD reception…

…and he closed the game with a 45-yard kill shot.

In between, he hauled in a 26-yard TD pass.

If the Eagles are going to make any kind of run at a Super Bowl repeat, they’re going to need Brown to play at a high level. He made a bunch of big plays in Minnesota.

3) The ‘Also Happy’ Award ☺️: DeVonta Smith

Smith had an even bigger game than Brown, making 9 catches of 11 targets for 183 yards and the following 79-yard TD:

On a side note, former Eagles CB Isaiah Rodgers had a tough day.

4) The ‘Maybe Just Let Them Coach Themselves’ Award 📋: The players

DeVonta Smith lobbied for the play that would become the 79-yard touchdown.

“He came in advocating for that play,” Jordan Mailata said. “He and [Landon Dickerson] were talking about it. Landon figured out the play that he was talking about — because DeVonta doesn’t know what we’re doing up front and what protection it is, he just knows his routes — and they got on the same page, and Landon advocated for that Smitty play, and shoot, the next drive we came out… (and scored).”

“He was chirping about it and it ended up getting called,” Hurts added.

Additionally, Hurts claimed after the game that he pushed for more plays from under center, which were very successful, at least in the passing game.

And on the other side of the ball, Moro Ojomo credited rookie Ty Robinson for pointing out a Vikings O-lineman’s technique vulnerability, which led to a key Ojomo sack.

5) The ‘EDGE Redemption’ Award 📈: Jalyx Hunt and Josh Uche

The Eagles’ edge rushers have come under fire of late, as they have struggled getting to the quarterback. On Sunday in Minnesota, they made a bunch of plays.

To begin, Jalyx Hunt made one of the biggest plays of the day, when he dropped into coverage, picked off Carson Wentz, and ran it back for a touchdown. 

Additionally, Uche had a sack, and Hunt would have had another if Wentz hadn’t thrown the ball away for an intentional grounding penalty.

The Eagles still need help on the edge — and it’s very likely Brandon Graham is coming out of retirement to provide some help — but on Sunday, they played well.

6) The ‘Thanks Old Friend!’ Award 🙏: Carson Wentz

Wentz sucks. I mean, holy crap. There was a sequence of three Wentz throws that went:

1. Pick-six
2. Backwards throw out of bounds for a loss of 8.
3. Interception

And this intentional grounding throw, lol (video via @TGLMSports)

Note the wide open FB in the flat. 

He also made a poor throw to a wide open T.J. Hockenson that should have been a touchdown, but instead resulted in an incompletion. The Vikings have a good team, and they might have otherwise won this game if not for Wentz’s many mistakes.

7) The ‘Still Waiting’ Award ⏲️: The Eagles’ rushing attack

Saquon Barkley had 18 rushes for 44 yards (2.4 YPC) and a long run of 9 yards. The Vikings loaded the box and dared the Eagles to beat them through the air, which, you know, they did.

But we wait another week for the run game to look anything at all like it looked a year ago.

8) The ‘Walking Wounded Award 🩼: Cam Jurgens, Adoree’ Jackson, Azeez Ojulari, and Jeremiah Trotter

Jurgens, Jackson, Ojulari, and Trotter all left the game with injuries and did not return.

The most concerning injury is Jurgens’. The dropoff in play at center from Jurgens to Brett Toth was significant, and that’s with Jurgens already not playing at his best because of a lingering back injury.

9) The ‘Chutes and Ladders’ Award 🛝🪜: The Eagles, after ending their slide

After dropping two games to the Broncos and the lowly Giants, the Eagles pretty badly needed to put an end to their slide. 

Did you ever play Chutes and Ladders? 

You’re going to hit a chute (or slide or whatever) at some point. It’s just a matter of how devastating the slide will be. Like in 2023, the Eagles hit an “87 to 24” slide, as shown above. This slide was more like a “93 to 73” slide.

10) The ‘Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk’ Award 🗣️🚶‍♂️: The Giants

The Giants did a lot of talking after stomping the Eagles Week 6. And, well, it’s understandable why. They beat the reigning champs, and a team that has absolutely owned them over the last 15 or so years. 

The Eagles will have a chance to get a bit of revenge on the Giants, as they’ll face their division rival twice in three weeks. And then… a much-needed bye.

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The Philadelphia Eagles lost to one of the worst franchises in the NFL on Thursday night, and they looked awful in all three phases in the process. As always, win, lose, or tie, we hand out 10 awards.

1) The ‘Bully’ Award 🐂: The Giants

The Eagles got their asses kicked at the line of scrimmage in this game, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Rookie RB Cam Skattebo rushed 19 times for 98 yards and 3 TDs, while Jaxson Dart slithered out of the grasp of pass rushers and made off-schedule plays for nice gains all night.

On one play, Andrew Mukuba got shoved five yards down the field, and Zack Baun got run over by Skattebo.

This is what the Eagles did to teams all last year. And now they’re having it done to them by… the Giants? Oof.

The Eagles were without Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith, arguably their two most hard-nosed players on defense, and it showed.

2) The ‘Missed Connection’ Award 😖: Jalen Hurts, to DeVonta Smith

On the first drive of the second half, on a 3rd and 6 down by 3 points, Hurts had DeVonta Smith WIDE OPEN deep down the field… and he missed him.

That should have been a touchdown. Instead, the Eagles punted, and the Giants scored on the ensuing possession to go up 10.

In Week 5 against the Broncos, Hurts had a wide open A.J. Brown, but Brown stopped running on his route, and the ball fell harmlessly to the turf.

For whatever reason, Hurts has simply not been able to connect with his elite wide receiver duo this season.

3) The ‘Bad Ball’ Award 👎: Jalen Hurts

In the fourth quarter, the Eagles were driving and were still in the game. And then Hurts threw his first INT of the season: 

“Bad ball,” Hurts said of the play. 

And yep, it was certainly a bad ball, but it was also a crappy rounded-off route by a receiver who likely did not think the ball was coming his way, because, well, it never comes his way.

Also, I don’t know what the progression is on the play above, but A.J. Brown is wide open for an easy TD throw from the right slot.

4) The ‘Unclutch’ Award 😰: The Eagles, on third down

The Giants were 11 for 16 (0.688) on third down.

The Eagles were 1 for 9 (0.100) on third down.

The Giants made plays in key moments; the Eagles did not. You’re not going to win games when that happens.

5) The ‘Invisible’ Award 🫥: The Eagles’ second half offense

The Eagles scored zero points in the second half, and they only scored seven points in each of their two prior games against the Buccaneers and Broncos. 

Whether it’s opposing defenses adjusting to what the Eagles are doing offensively, or the Eagles’ offense failing to adjust to opposing defenses, it’s a trend that looks really bad for the coaching staff.

6) The ‘Outgained’ Award ⚖️: The Eagles, in every game this season

The Eagles have been outgained in every game so far this season: 

The Eagles have a yardage differential of -407 this season. In 2024, they were +1510 in the regular season and +115 in the playoffs.

7) The ‘Benched’ Award 🪑: Kelee Ringo

Ringo started again at CB2, and yes, he played poorly in coverage, but he also had a play in which Giants WR Wan’Dale Robinson caught pass and went to the ground; and Ringo didn’t touch him down. Robinson got up and gained another 7 or so yards.

Ringo was benched for Adoree’ Jackson, and only entered the game again after Quinyon Mitchell got hurt.

8) The ‘WTF Was That Trade?’ Award 😵: Tank Bigsby

When the Eagles traded a couple of 2026 draft picks (in the fifth and sixth rounds), the team’s messaging was that Bigsby was acquired to return kicks.

I ignored that messaging, because why would a team trade two draft picks for a kick returner? My assumption was that Bigsby would have some kind of role on offense.

But, nope. It appears that the Eagles did indeed trade two picks for a guy whose only role is as a kick returner, and he’s not even good in that role. 

At the end of the first half, Bigsby muffed an easily fieldable ball at the 3 yard line. The ball trickled into the end zone, where Bigsby retrieved it, before returning it back to the 7 yard line, where he was gang tackled. That was not how Nick Sirianni wanted to start an end of half drive:

And sure enough, that drive stalled short of field position, and the Eagles squandered an opportunity to steal some points before halftime.

After his muff, Bigsby was replaced by A.J. Dillon, who also muffed a kickoff that went out of bounds at the Eagles’ 5 yard line, lol.

The Eagles didn’t just suck on offense and defense in this game. They also sucked on special teams.

9) The “Found Their Guy?’ Award 👀: Jaxson Dart

Dart was impressive in this game. He wasn’t perfect as a passer, but he seems ultra competitive, and he has some pretty obvious mobility. If the Giants have found a long-term answer in Dart at quarterback, the Giants won’t be the pushover the Eagles have been used to for the last 15 years.

10) The ‘Rescue Me?’ Award ⛑️: The Eagles’ mini-bye

Last year, the Eagles’ season could be broken up into three parts:

1. Pre-BYE: They were kind of a mess, looking downright bad in three of their four games before their bye.
2. Post-BYE: The figured out their identity, and began to play a lot better.
3. Playoffs: They just destroyed.

After getting stomped by the Giants, the Eagles will now have a mini-bye before their next game against the Minnesota Vikings Week 7.

Maybe they will figure some things out… or maybe they have way bigger problems this year than they did this time last year.

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The Philadelphia Eagles lost. That’s not something they’re used to doing of late, and frankly their loss was a little overdue. The Denver Broncos were the team that was finally able to take advantage of the Birds’ mistakes.

As always, win, lose, or tie, we hand out 10 awards.

1) The ‘Different Books’ Award 📗📘: Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown

Late in the third quarter still holding onto a 14-point lead, the Eagles called a shot play — a “dagger,” as Jalen Hurts called it during his postgame press conference — and it was wide open.

Brown looked up for the ball but when he didn’t see it initially, he stopped running on the play for a moment, before realizing that Hurts had indeed let it rip. The ball sailed harmlessly over Brown’s head for an incompletion on what should have been a game-sealing touchdown.

Execution mistakes happen, but what was more alarming was Brown’s and Hurts’ commentary about the play after the game.

Asked if he talked to Hurts after the play, Brown said, “No.”

Hurts was asked during his press conference what corrections or adjustments he’ll make with a receiver on the sideline after that type of play, and he more or less didn’t answer the question.

“In that situation, that play was a shot,” Hurts said. “So, you either hit it or you don’t and we didn’t hot that one. So, we’ll watch the tape when we get the opportunity to and learn from it. But in that moment in the game it’s about finding a way to put the dagger in them, and that could have been the dagger.”

It is clear that Hurts and Brown do not have the same personal relationship they once did, but if they can’t discuss what is happening on the field in-game — and for the record,  we can see from the press box that they are not communicating on the sideline — that’s a big problem.

It’s not that Hurts and Brown are not on the same page. They’re not in the same book right now.

2) The ‘Nah’ Award 🙅: The Eagles’ rushing attack

Hurts attempted 38 passes in this game, and Saquon Barkley only had 6 carries. He did run through a big hole for a gain of 17 on one run, but otherwise carried 5 times for 13 yards. 

That’s perhaps normal in a game that the Eagles are losing, but they led almost the entire game.

I remember a time when the Eagles got a big lead, and the entire stadium knew they were running it but were able to run it anyway. That has not been their reality this season. They can’t run it, and now they won’t run it.

3) The ‘Out of Gas’ Award ⛽: The Eagles’ defense

For most of the day, the Eagles’ defense was excellent. The Broncos’ first eight drives of the game went like so:

1. Punt
2. 55-yard field goal
3. Punt
4. Punt
5. Punt
6. Punt
7. Punt
8. Punt

Against the Buccaneers Week 4, the offense kept putting the defense in bad situations with quick three-and-outs, but the defense repeatedly bailed them out.

That same trend continued against the Broncos, and the defensive dam finally broke. The Broncos’ last three possessions:

1. 10 plays, 64 yards, TD
2. 6 plays, 72 yards, TD + 2-point conversion
3. 11 plays, 50 yards, FG

The Eagles’ defense was fresh out of bailouts.

4) The ‘Didn’t Help’ Award 🦓: The Officials

During the Broncos’ final drive, Bo Nix was wrapped up by Jalyx Hunt, and he threw the ball away into the ground. The officials huddled up and decided that Nix should be flagged for an intentional grounding penalty. 

The officials placed the ball at the spot of the foul at the Broncos’ 29yard line, where Denver would face a 3rd and 24. Then suddenly, the referee announced that Broncos TE Adam Trautman was in the area, and it was instead ruled an incomplete pass.

They re-spotted the ball at the Broncos’ 47 for a 3rd and 6, which Denver then converted.

Intentional grounding calls are reviewable in two ways:

1. Was the quarterback in the pocket?
2. Did the ball travel past the line of scrimmage?

What is not reviewable is whether there was a receiver in the area of the pass.

Pool reporter Zach Berman interviewed the officials after the game. Here was their explanation: 

“So what happened there, we have an O2O – that’s our official-to-official communication system. My O2O was not working. Grounding is a teamwork foul. I had intentional grounding. The line judge had that there was a receiver in the area – 28 – but I didn’t hear the information over O2O so I threw the flag. The line judge came in and let me know that 28 indeed was in the area, and that’s why we picked up the flag.”

That all sounds like bullshit to me, if I’m being honest. We’ll have much more on that soon.

5) The ‘Chance To Win, Part I’ Award 🤞: The Eagles’ poor offensive operation

Down 18-17, the Eagles had a chance to either score a TD (plus try for a two-point conversion) or kick a lead-changing field goal. They faced a 4th and 4 from their own 49 yard line and made a bold call to go for it.

Hurts hit DeVonta Smith down the left sideline for a 30-yard gain down to the Denver 21. But… OH NO!… They were called for an illegal shift. A procedural penalty. OOF. 1st and 10 from the Broncos 21 became 4th and 9 from their own 44. They then punted instead.

The Eagles have taken pride in their ability to limit those kinds of mistakes, and usually they’re very sound in that department. Not today.

6) The Chance to Win, Part II Award 🤞🤞: The officials, again

The Eagles got the ball with 1:06 left in the game at their own 26 yard line. They drove down to the Denver 29, when Hurts threw to Dallas Goedert. Denver S JL Skinner was pretty clearly guilty of pass interference on the play:

No flag. Egregious no-call. The Eagles should have had the ball inside the 5 yard line with one chance to win the game. Instead, they had to settle for an ill-fated Hail Mary attempt.

7) The ‘Baby Steps’ Award 👶: The passing game

The end result aside, the passing game did seem to make some strides. Smith had 8 catches for 114 yards, the offensive line often gave Hurts all day to throw, and there were some big plays open down the field, some of which they hit, some of which they squandered. But it did seem like a step in the right direction in some ways.

8) The ‘Rest Up’ Award: Landon Dickerson

Dickerson injured his ankle in the first half, and was ruled out for the rest of the game early in the second half. It feels like he could miss some time. And really, he hasn’t seemed healthy all year so far. Injuries are never good (#analysis), but in this case, perhaps the rest of Dickerson’s ailments can heal while he is out with his injured ankle.

In other words, given the circumstances, if Dickerson were to return… ohhhh, saaayyyy, after the bye, maybe that’s not the worst thing, especially with the easiest part of the Eagles’ schedule upcoming.

We’ll find out soon enough the severity of his injury.

9) The ‘Bad Weekend’ Award 😖: Philly fans

The Phillies blew a 3-0 lead to the Dodgers in Game 1 of the NLDS and the Eagles blew a 14-point fourth quarter lead for their first loss of the season. Tough two-day stretch!

10) The ‘Get Right’ Award 🆘: The Eagles, maybe, over the next month

Big picture, the Eagles are through their hardest stretch of the season and they’re 4-1. If you’re an Eagles fan and you were asked if you’d sign up for that before the season began, you’d probably say yes, right?

Well, now they have the easiest stretch of their schedule ahead:

• Week 6: At Giants
• Week 7: At Vikings
• Week 8: Giants
• Week 9: BYE

To be determined if they can put aside personal feelings and start playing like a team again.

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The Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys played a weird, wild opening night football game on Thursday (and into Friday). The Eagles were fortunate to have more points than the Cowboys when there was no time left on the clock. As always, win, lose, or tie, we hand out 10 awards.

1) The ‘Spitgate’ Award 😗💦: Jalen Carter and Dak Prescott

After the opening kickoff, there was an extended delay while trainers attended to an injured Ben VanSumeren. Dak Prescott and Jalen Carter had an exchange of words, and Carter spit on Prescott. 

Carter was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct and ejected from the game before he ever played a snap.

The Eagles’ defense was clearly impacted by the loss of Carter. The Cowboys’ offensive line no longer had to worry about doubling an elite player all game, and the rest of the Eagles’ linemen didn’t get the favorable one-on-ones all day like they’re accustomed to. 

So why did Carter spit on Prescott? He reportedly perceived that Prescott spit at the Eagles’ defense. Video showed that Prescott did indeed spit in the direction of the Eagles’ defense, and then he smiled at Carter thereafter.

But obviously, you just can’t spit on another player. The NFL hasn’t traditionally suspended players for spitting incidents in the past. We’ll see if they break precedent here. At a minimum, Carter is certain to get a hefty fine, and deservedly so.

2) The ‘Efficiency’ Award: Jalen Hurts

Hurts was 19 of 23 for 152 yards, 0 TDs, and 0 INTs. He didn’t make mistakes and he made a bunch of plays with his legs, rushing 14 times for 62 yards and 2 TDs. I’m sure there will be some who find fault with Hurts’ performance because he didn’t put up gaudy yardage numbers, but if Hurts plays all season like he did Thursday night, the Eagles are going to win a lot of football games.

3) The ‘Strong Start, Slow Finish’ Award ⚡: The Eagles’ offense

In 2024, the Eagles’ offense didn’t score a point in the first quarter until Week 9. Before they finally put point on the board in the first quarter, they had 13 possessions, 59 plays, 175 yards (2.97 yards per play), 5 three-and-outs, 3 turnovers, and, of course, 0 points.

In 2025, the offense scored touchdowns on each of their first three drives, and looked as though they were going to score at will all night on the Cowboys’ defense. But once they got their sea legs, the Cowboys’ defense did a better job against the Eagles’ run game, they started generating pressure on Hurts, and both Nick Sirianni and Hurts credited their secondary with doing a good job of pattern matching. The Eagles punted on four consecutive possessions in the second half.

4) The ‘Slow Start, Strong Finish’ Award 🌩️: The Eagles’ defense

The Cowboys’ first four possessions:

1. TD
2. TD
3. FG
4. FG

Their last four possessions:

1. Fumble
2. Punt
3. Punt
4. Turnover on downs

With 4:44 left in the third quarter, play was suspended because there were lightning strikes in the area. The Eagles and Cowboys scored a combined 44 points before the suspended play, 0 points after.

5) The ‘Thanks, Old Friend’ Award 🙏: Miles Sanders

On the Cowboys’ first drive of the second half, Sanders broke into the open field and had a clear path to the end zone, but he was tracked down by Zack Baun, just inside the 10. 

Later in the drive, Sanders fumbled and Quinyon Mitchell recovered, earning the first defensive stop of the game, by either team.

Byron Young and Jihaad Campbell were both in on that forced fumble.

Baun and Campbell both made impressive plays on Thursday night. We’ll probably show that a little more in depth in a day or two.

6) The ‘Invisible Until It Really Mattered’ Award 🫥: A.J. Brown

During the first 58 minutes of the game, Brown didn’t get a single target. But on a 2nd and 11 from the Dallas 45 with under two minutes to play, Brown caught an 8-yard pass from Hurts, putting the Eagles in a manageable 3rd and 3, which they converted to seal the game.

Hurts called Brown’s 8-yard catch the play of the day. I wouldn’t go that far, but it certainly was a clutch play that helped the Eagles win.

It’s worth noting that Brown missed most of training camp with a hamstring injury.

7) The ‘Trustworthy’ Award : Jahan Dotson

With Brown out for most of camp, Dotson got a lot of work in with Hurts, and they seemed to build rapport throughout the summer. We saw that translate to a real game on Thursday night, when Dotson caught all three of his targets for 59 yards, including a 51-yard bomb.

If Dotson can be a consistent weapon for Hurts, that will be huge for the Eagles’ offense.

8) The ‘Kicking Ass’ Award 🥾🍑: Jake Elliott and Braden Mann

After a season in which he went 1/7 on kicks of 50+ yards, Elliott drilled a 58 yarder with plenty of distance to spare.

Mann also punted extraordinarily well, not allowing star return specialist KaVontae Turpin any real opportunity to make an impact. 

9) The ‘Ruh Roh’ Award 😬: Adoree’ Jackson

Jackson had a rough debut as the Eagles’ starting CB2. He gave up a lot of catches, and in run support, well, just look at the long Miles Sanders run we posted above.

The Eagles need a better player at that spot, and quickly.

10) The ‘Rematch’ Award 🏹: The Chiefs

The Eagles will travel to Kansas City Week 2 for a rematch of Super Bowl LIX against the Chiefs. They’ll hope that Jalen Carter makes the trip and plays in that game.

But for now, the Eagles can rest up and enjoy their 5-0 record in Week 1 games under Sirianni.

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