Eagles Pullout the Win in A Tough Game! Eagles @ Commanders

 The Eagles get the win! The end score of 38-31 birds with the "W". Now the question is how did the Eagles play? And was this game worth braging about. Let's talk about that right now. 

Eagles' offense struggles to implement the run:

The main thing here I want to talk about is the running game. Another week in the books and another week the running game was truly an afterthought. The Eagles only ran for a grand total (Sarcasm speaking) of 59 yards the whole game. Swift had the bulk of the yardage with 57 on 16 carries. Kenny Gainwell was in the negative and Hurts had a few yards from scrambling. If you ask me those numbers are sad and really unacceptable. Brian Johnson has really failed to implement a sustainable running game this season. Hurts has been the one having to put the team on his shoulders this season predominantly. Which if you ask me shouldn't be the case. How much longer can the Eagles continue to dismiss the run before bad things start to happen continuously?

I have no idea and as a fan I don't want to see it. Jalen Hurts had 38 pass attempts this game and personally I think that's way too many. I know, I know, this is a passing league now. But the run game can still be very vital for a team. The best teams in the long run can actually run (pun not intended). The Eagles need to find their footing and rediscover their style of play. Yes, the Eagles are pulling out with wins. But how many of them that should have been "easy" have become barely wins. Or wins that looked almost to be a loss? Yes, a win is a win. But winning in this style that the Eagles have been winning which is struggling. Can be a very bad issue further down the season. 

All I'm saying is that Brian Johnson needs to do a better job with game planning. I'm not saying he's a bad OC. But what I am saying is that he needs to remember what the identity of this team is. I know, we have AJ Brown, DeVonta  Smith, Olamide Zaccheaus, and Julio Jones at wide receiver. But I think we have some talent in the backfield as well. The Eagles have to start utilizing D'Andre Swift, Kenny Gainwell, and Boston Scott more often. This can surely help alleviate some pressure from Jalen Hurts and the linemen when it comes to pass protection. 

Defense was in trouble all game! 

Normally week in and week out the Eagles can depend on their defense to help secure the win. This week I would dare to say it was the offense. Now I know that Reed Blankenship's INT and Haason Reddick's sack fumble came in good time. But the Eagles were up when those two plays took place. Yes, it helped a bit to seal the deal. But the Eagles at the end were actually running the ball to kill out the clock. Also remember that the Eagles allowed an easy TD drive the last offensive drive Washington had. So, to solely say the defense sealed the Eagles fate in the Win would be exaggeratedly incorrect.

The Eagles had trouble against the run often in this game. They allowed 84 yards which isn't completely bad. But then again, the Commanders quit on the running game early. Brian Robinson averaged 5.9 yards on 10 carries for 59 yards. Honestly if the Commanders were smarter, they probably could've run all game and milked the clock. But they also seen the Eagles biggest weakness and took advantage of it as well. Sam Howell went off on the Eagles defense with 39/52 for 397 yards, with 4 TDs to 1 INT. No one can say that the Eagles played great defense. The Commanders had a total of 472 yards against a Eagles defense that is supposed to be top 10. 

Clearly this week the top 10 defense didn't show up. Then again can I blame the defense entirely? Not really, listen all season the defense has had to carry the offense. Especially the defensive line; So, I can only imagine going into week 8 the amount of wear there's been on the D-Line so far. So, depending on the DB's would be lucrative in a game like this. Well, the DB's failed so bad they gave Sam Howell a career day. James Bradberry was burned out numerous times and looked like a lost dog in some cases. Darius Slay clearly has lost a step and allowed receivers to be open as well, though not as much as Bradberry. There were some plays where players failed their assignments and allowed free runners in a zone gap that should've been covered. Or believed they had help when they didn't. 

The defense all in all was a mess. If any game is an indication that the Eagles need cornerbacks would be this game. Howie really needs to pull the plug and get someone that can keep up with receivers. Because the Commanders don't even have a winning record and the Eagles struggled most of the game to keep up. Yes, it's the NFL but to win a game this close against a team that really hasn't kept up this season isn't a good site. The Eagles need to figure out what their true identity is and honestly bring in some more help. 

Week 9: Cowboys @ Eagles At 4:25 EST.

Let's Go Birds! E-A-G-L-E-S! EAGLES!