USA TODAY International Edition
Eagles might be most unsatisfied 11- 4 team in NFL
PHILADELPHIA − A. J. Brown made perhaps the most clutch play of the game, catching a pass for 32 yards on a third- and- 20 in the fourth quarter, the Eagles’ once big lead hanging by a thread.
Yet Brown had no interest in sharing his thoughts with the media after the game when the Eagles held on for a 33- 25 win over the New York Giants.
“I got nothing nice to say,” Brown said. “I was taught if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything. If I have to take a fine, I’ll take it.”
In the locker stall next to Brown, DeVonta Smith, with a glum expression on his face, mostly listened as quarterback Jalen Hurts stood in front of him talking to him in private conversation.
Then Smith, who had a 36- yard touchdown reception, who went over 1,000 yards receiving for the second straight season, said this: “I’m not satisfied. Yeah, we got 11 wins. I’m not happy. It needs to be better. What I want to do, what everybody else in here wants to do, what we want to be, we’re nowhere near that, so I’m not happy.”
Later, Jason Kelce, still wearing his game pants, sat next to Hurts at Hurts’ locker and talked for about 10 to 15 minutes.
Kelce didn’t look happy either. That was certainly the case on the field, too.
There was head coach Nick Sirianni, in an animated conversation with defensive line coach Jeremiah Washburn, just after Haason Reddick came over to the sideline when the Eagles called timeout before the Giants’ fourth- down play at the end of the game, the Giants’ last chance to tie the score and force overtime. Then Sirianni turned to Smith and Brown and said something to them, too.
As it turned out, rookie cornerback Kelee Ringo intercepted Giants quarterback Tyrod Taylor in the end zone as time expired.
You would think there would be a sense of euphoria, of players jumping up and down, cranking music in the locker room.
Instead, it was funereal as soft Christmas songs were played, beginning with “Last Christmas.”
And well, the Eagles’ mood last Christmas was certainly much different from the mood this Christmas.
Have you ever seen a more miserable 11- 4 team, one tied for the best record in the NFC, with a chance for the No. 1 seed in the conference?
“I get animated a lot,” Sirianni said. “There are things that when mistakes are happening, or trying to get the communication going, just a little bit of that. That happens throughout a game. It’s going to be between players and players, coaches and players, coaches and coaches.
“But when you have the relationships that we have and the connections that we have, we’re able to move on quickly. The guys know all what we’re trying to do and coaches know all we’re trying to do is get everybody to play their best.
“Sometimes that’s with a smack on the butt, and sometimes that’s with a yell.”
Sure, having a never- satisfied attitude, always striving to be better, is a great quality to have. But coming off a three- game losing streak, against a 5- 10 Giants team that gave the Eagles everything they could handle, was not that.
Certainly, the fans would have loved to get in on that yelling, too.
They booed the Eagles in a miserable third quarter that began on the opening kickoff, the Eagles leading 20- 3. That’s when returner Boston Scott ran into teammate Olamide Zaccheaus and fumbled the ball. The Giants recovered at the Eagles’ 14 and scored a touchdown a few plays later.
It got even worse later in the quarter, the Eagles still up 20- 10. They were in the midst of an impressive drive that began at their own 6- yard line. The Eagles had reached the Giants’ 28, on the verge of putting the game away, when Hurts threw a quick- out to tight end Dallas Goedert.
But Goedert fell down just before the ball arrived, and Adoree Jackson picked off the pass and returned it 76 yards for a touchdown. Just like that, the Eagles’ lead was down to 20- 18.
Still, the Eagles kept throwing when they got the ball back, much to the crowd’s dismay. When the fans weren’t booing the Eagles at that point, they were chanting, “Run the ball!”
Add in a holding penalty and a false start, and the Eagles faced a thirdand- 20 from their 26.
“Of course, you can hear that,” Sirianni said about the fans. “I think I would hear that even if I had a double headset on.”
This is when Hurts escaped pressure, rolled to his right and hit Brown for 32 yards and a first down.
“That was a huge conversion in that moment in the game, to get the momentum back on our side,” Zaccheaus said, in essence speaking for Brown.
And then, the Eagles actually ran the ball. Kenny Gainwell gained 22 yards on the next play, and D’Andre Swift capped the drive with a 5- yard TD run. Swift ended up with 92 yards, his most since Week 3.
For the game, the Eagles were balanced, despite the fans’ perception. They ran 35 times for 170 yards, their second straight game with at least 170 yards on the ground. They amassed 465 yards total, their second highest of the season. Hurts attempted 38 passes and threw for 301 yards.
And yet, the Eagles still couldn’t get out of their own way. They spent much of last week having what Brown called hard conversations, and “not just a friendly holding accountable.”
Smith was asked if he saw progress from those conversations.
“I think sometimes you see it,” he said. “Sometimes we’re still doing the same things. But overall, that’s part of the journey. You can’t expect to have a talk and go out there and everything is cleaned up.
“You’re still going to have problems, things like that, but we’re going in the right direction.”
Perhaps that’s the one positive thing the Eagles can take from this game. They are making progress, and everything is still in reach – the NFC East title, the top seed in the playoffs, and heck, even a return trip to the Super Bowl.
You would just never know it from the mistakes, the animated sideline discussions and the forlorn expressions after a victory.
“I would love to say we are close,” Hurts said. “I think it is trending in the right direction. We demand such excellence of ourselves. When you have the type of guys we have on our team, everybody is going to be eager to grow, everybody is going to be eager for more.”
Then Hurts stopped himself and added, “But when did winning not become the main thing?”
It certainly was the main thing “Last Christmas.”