Peaking bunch too well constructed to collapse
As the Eagles charged Sunday into Week 14, their hopes for a smooth boulevard to the Super Bowl was down to two possible detours.
The first would be if they were hit with the unfortunate realities of legalized violence. The wrong injury at the wrong time to the wrong player has nudged more than one good NFL team out of championship contention. It’s no one’s fault. It’s just the way the inflict-pain business functions.
But the obvious physical risks aside, there was one other way for the Eagles to retreat into the earlier playoff rounds and, with that, complicate the otherwise simple task that comes with being at the calculate-the-magic-number stage of the championship process.
They could collapse. They could tense under the pressure, go bouncing in every wrong direction at the end of a memorable season and begin to be solved by teams in a surprisingly strong NFC East.
They could play, well, like the Phillies always did in September when Gabe Kapler was managing.
So that was the deal as the Eagles entered a game Sunday in the Meadowlands against the Giants: The road to the Super Bowl was theirs to travel, and there was enough reason to suspect that, this time, only a loss to the Giants would be a miracle.
Still, there was a hint of a trap, if only because that’s the way division road games can be in December. Saquon Barkley decided he would play despite a neck injury. The Giants had been having a nice year and were still thinking playoffs. Rivalry. Sloppy track. Football. It was an atmosphere where other teams might have sputtered.
Instead, the Eagles sacked Daniel Jones twice before the national anthem singer had left the field, scored on their first possession for the sixth time in seven games, scored on their second possession, scored on their third possession, ran up a three-touchdown lead in the second quarter, led by 17 at halftime and wound up winning, 48-22.
So thoroughly would the the Eagles abuse the Giants, it was almost as if
Eli Manning were playing. With that, they remained a one-loss team with four to play and they owned one more exhibit of evidence why the franchise has never been as complete in the modern NFL era.
They are strong — great, even — in every area.
“The defensive line, the receivers, the quarterback,” New York coach Brian Daboll had said this week. “The offensive line is as good as it gets, and that starts with Jason Kelce, who gets everything set. Jalen is operating at an extremely high level. Throw A.J. Brown in there, DeVonta Smith. The running game is really good. Their defense. Their corners. They can rush the passer. They can stop the run.
“There is a reason they are 11-1. They are a wellrounded football team.”
The Eagles will play their next two on the road, in Chicago and in Dallas, where the Cowboys are hanging onto the flimsy hope that they can still win the division. Then they will finish with two at home and, barring one of those two catastrophes, will need to win two more in the Linc to reach the Super Bowl.
But the most impressive thing about Nick Sirianni’s team is not only that it is not fading, but seems to be rising. In the last three weeks, the Eagles tormented the Packers with the run, outclassed the Titans through the air, and so demoralized the Giants in every way that the New York season is most likely over.
For that, they are in the playoffs.
“The first step,” said Brandon Graham, who registered three sacks. “This is the first step of the goals we set for ourselves. We wanted to make the postseason, and we’ve done that. We wanted to win the division. We haven’t done that yet. We’ve got so much more to accomplish, an the ultimate goal is to get a ring.
“To do that, though,we just have to stay focused on the task at hand.”
At a potentially dangerous crossroad Sunday, the Eagles were focused, play after play. They held Barkley to 28 rushing yards. Miles Sanders ran for
144 yards and two touchdowns. Hurts played like an MVP. The Eagles collected
seven sacks.
“You want to elevate as the season goes on,” Sirianni said. “And hopefully you are playing your best football at this time. We’ve shown the last three weeks that we keep getting better and better.”
The Eagles won four of their final five to reach the playoffs last year, so there is a developing trend.
They don’t crumble.
“We know we have a really
good team we’re about to play,” Sirianni had said before heading north. “We’re going to have to be on it to go out there and get a victory.”
It was either that or begin a retreat.
The answer arrived clear, early and late, Sunday.
It is not likely to change.