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Eagles vs. 49ers Top Plays (Week 2, 2021)

Originally posted on The Birds Blitz  |  By Dylan Patrowicz  |  Last updated 9/20/21

Well, it’s another one of those weeks. The last time I had this much trouble coming up with positives from the week was when the Eagles were blown out 35-0 in the preseason. This game was technically better, but extra painful because it actually counts. So, let me see if I can parse the positive from a pretty painful performance.

Almost Plays

Forced Fumbles

The word of the day is “missed opportunities.” Not only on the offensive side of the ball but also defensively. There were a couple of opportunities defensively that could have swung the momentum, if only we could have capitalized. San Fransisco running back JaMycal Hasty mishandled a snap that ended up bouncing out of bounds, a fumble was recovered on the next play but called back due to an unnecessary roughness penalty, and Maddox peanut punched a ball out that was jumped on by a 49ers player. Obviously, the coaches and players will look at the tape and work on execution in situations like this, but those recoveries could have been a massive help today, if nothing else. Hopefully, we see our first turnover of the season against the Cowboys. Zeke is washed and Pollard is going to get stuffed, so Dak will probably be forced to throw 60 times again. Frankly, I like the odds of one pass out of 60 being intercepted.

Reagor Steps Up… And Out

Jalen Reagor almost caught his first touchdown of the season. Unfortunately, he was forced out of bounds. I know that there’s a rule that you can be part of a play so long as you step back in bounds, but I believe that is only applicable to kick returns. The referee did not raise his arms to signal a touchdown, and nobody from what I’ve seen questioned the call, so I believe this to be the case. Though the catch vs. San Francisco didn’t count, have optimism that the second-year player will make plays in the future. Reagor has shown big-play ability in his time in Philadelphia. Even if he’s used only sparingly (which is admittedly not ideal for a first-round pick), he can abuse defenses with fresh legs. In fact, low volume, high yardage plays are probably the best way to use Reagor in the future.

Group Efforts

Three-Pronged Defense

Apart from a rough first quarter in Week 1, Defensive Coordinator Jonathan Gannon has done well this season, especially in the run defense department. In two weeks, all three layers of defense (trenches, middle, deep) have allowed one touchdown and zero plays over 20 yards. The Eagles’ stingy defense continued into this week, holding a Super-Bowl-caliber team under 20 points, 200 yards passing (189), and 120 yards rushing (118). The defense was even more dominant than the numbers suggest, as the 49ers couldn’t do ANYTHING offensively until late into the first half (when the defense was gassed due to an inability to produce on offense). Overall not a good game from Hurts and Sirianni, but the defense has played well 7 out of the last 8 quarters.

Individual Plays

#4 Moves to #8

Move over Hall of Famer/Eagles legend Tommy McDonald, Jake Elliot is now the eighth-highest scorer in Eagles history. The kick itself wasn’t unique in any way except that it made further etched Elliot’s name into Eagles history. #4 is off to a good start this year, and after a tumultuous year, I’m all for a bounce back from Philadelphia’s placekicker. (By the way, David Akers is the lead scorer in Eagles history, for those wondering). Elliot has also not missed a kick this season aside from a field goal that was blocked (hopefully this doesn’t serve as a sort of pseudo commentator’s curse).

Quez Watkins: More Burners than Kyrie Irving

Watkins’ long reception was the longest non-TD play in Eagles history. While it’s preferable to come away with points, this play helps to vindicate General Manager Howie Roseman’s decision to emphasize speed and youth in both 2020 and 2021. As bad as the Eagles were in 2020, they were among the league’s elite in terms of “big-time plays” last year. Plays such as Reagor’s deep almost-catch and Quez’s long run show what this offense could be if it’s firing on all cylinders. While the season goes, fans will hopefully see more plays like this on a more consistent basis.

Hurts TD

On a day with only a few highlights, it helps when your quarterback is one of them. The offense was unfortunately not great (though I won’t panic too much, as the 49ers are a Super Bowl team). The touchdown was nothing flashy, but every score is worth the same amount of points. However, given the context of when the touchdown came, down 14 points with four minutes left in the game, Hurts had an opportunity to snatch an unlikely victory from the jaws of defeat. Of course, such never came to fruition, though we did get to see a QB sneak that frankly probably should have been called way earlier in the game. If nothing else, this game was a reminder to temper our expectations going forward for a team that’s in the middle of a rebuild.

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This article first appeared on The Birds Blitz and was syndicated with permission.

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