Eagles display their “inner excellence” in Wild Card win over the Packers

The offense didn’t play its best, but the team channeled something from inside to beat the Packers.

The Philadelphia Eagles won a playoff game in which they accumulated just 121 net passing yards. They won a playoff game in which their starting quarterback completed just 13 passes for 131 yards and their top wide receiver, A.J. Brown, hauled in just one pass and was targeted just three times.

They scored just 22 points, their struggling kicker missed an extra point, they lost the time of possession battle and went just 2-for-11 on third downs, and yet the Eagles are moving on to the divisional round after thumping the Packers 22-10.

It was, at times, ugly. Thankfully, Nick Sirianni and the Birds tapped their “Inner Excellence” in sending Jordan Love and Green Bay back to the Frozen Tundra.

All jokes about A.J. Brown’s reading habits aside (and good for him using literature to help keep him motivated and focused on the sidelines!), the Eagles took care of business, utilizing the No. 1 defense and No. 1 running game in the NFL to coast over an overmatched and injury-riddled Packers team. In three seasons since the NFL added a 3rd wild card team to each conference, the No. 2 seeds are 5-1, with Dallas’ debacle against the Packers last season the only slip-up by the higher seed.

Here are the highlights of that Dallas loss, in case you’re interested.

There were moments when this game was in doubt. After jumping out to a quick 10-0 lead, the defense was forced to carry the load for Kellen Moore’s struggling passing game. The inconsistency is hard to understand given the options at Hurts’ disposal. He started off by going 6-for-6 on quick-hitting passes, then encountered an 0-for-7 stretch in which he held onto the ball for a seemingly interminable amount of time. He finished strong by going 7-for-8 in the second half and leading the Birds to a touchdown and two field goals on their final three possessions.

Despite not being excellent for much of the game, Hurts found some inner excellence late, not letting a frustrating afternoon derail his overall day. And as ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky noted, most of the passing game’s struggles on Sunday weren’t Jalen’s fault.

No one was open.

Yes, he must be better, but having receiving targets run directly at defenders and stop right in front of them isn’t the best route tree, in my opinion.

As usual, the Eagles relied on their MVP, Saquon Barkley, to carry much of the load, which he ably accomplished, rushing for 119 yards on 25 attempts. It would have been 178 had he not chosen to slide and eschew a garbage time touchdown, but his inner excellence led him to simply secure the first down and close the evening out with no muss and no fuss.

(Just don’t ask the betting community whether that decision was “excellent.”)

The defense, of course, played with inner and outer excellence throughout the night. While the tackling was a bit suspect (14 missed tackles was a season high), they forced four turnovers, rallied to the ball, and held a potentially high-scoring Packers offense to a meager 10 points.

Darius Slay’s interception will be shown in film rooms all over America for textbook cornerback play. Zack Baun continues to be the best defensive player on the field in every game he plays. Nolan Smith’s emergence as a big-time pass rusher continues (2 sacks on Sunday), Quinyon Mitchell notched his first interception, and the interior of the defensive line was in the backfield for most of the game. The NFL’s third-leading rusher, Josh Jacobs, was held to just 81 yards on 8 carries.

If there is a reason to be bullish about the Birds, it is this Vic Fangio-led defense. Of course, there are concerns over Nakobe Dean’s knee injury knocking him out for the rest of the postseason, but the scheme and young players that remain are good enough to shut down any offense in the NFL.

Sometimes, winning playoff games isn’t about domination. It’s about endurance. Harken back to 2017 and the Eagles’ road to the Super Bowl. In their divisional round win over the Falcons, Nick Foles had yet to make “the leap” and struggled throughout most of their 15-10 win against Atlanta.

He had an interception that was kneed into the air and caught by one of his own receivers, the offense scored just one touchdown, and Foles went 23-for-30 for 246 yards. It took a last minute goal line stand by the defense to move on to the NFC Championship Game against Minnesota and the Super Bowl against New England.

At some point late against Atlanta, Foles found his inner excellence and used it as a springboard to launch a legendary playoff run. Hurts and the rest of the passing offense are more than capable of doing the same thing in their quest to get to New Orleans for Super Bowl 59.

The defense and running game are holding down the fort as the entire team seeks to access their inner excellence all the way to a parade down Broad Street.