Friday Night Observations
horrendous
That was a tough watch. Maybe it’s because I had the Eagles -7 in Circa and I was feeling good about myself for going 2-0 there on Thanksgiving, but there were a lot of commercials and not much action. I suppose the silver lining is my competitors might have had Caleb Williams or the Bears receivers active. Only AJ Brown and the Bears running backs had great games, but it’s annoying Jalen Hurts owners got bailed out in garbage time.
The Eagles looked like the Chiefs — not enough time to throw, Hurts was always rolling out or hurried. He also missed a couple throws, including a key one to DeVonta Smith on third down.
Saquon Barkley looked okay, but the entire year hasn’t been able to get going despite staying completely healthy. The offensive line seems a lot worse, but maybe he’s lost half a step.
Just when the Eagles had gotten back in the game, scored to make it 10-9, Jake Elliott botches the PAT. So annoying. Then they get the ball back on a pick, drive down to the 11 and fumble on the ass-smash. It was dumb, the play had basically already ended, Hurts was relaxing after having his momentum stopped, the Bears stripped it, and they allowed it to stand.
AJ Brown was always this good, they just decided not to throw to him for half the season.
I underrated the Bears — their defense is solid, and their offensive line played great. Caleb Williams is not the fastest QB but he might be the quickest. He spins out of sacks like no one I’ve ever seen.
Kyle Monangai and D’Andre Swift dominated this game. You can’t win if you give up 255 yards to the running backs at more than six yards per carry. Great run blocking but also tough running against what I thought was a good defense.
Forget about the Bears receivers. Cole Kmet led the team with 36 yards.
I love Al Michaels, but he and that other dude (recognize him as a college football guy) sounded retarded talking about the Eagles decision to go for 2 down 15 at the end. It’s really a simple concept — you have to get a two now or later. It won’t be any easier to do it later, you could fail just the same, and either way you almost certainly lose the game. But if you fail now, you’ll have a little more time to adjust to not making it. Maybe there’s something psychological about getting it to a one-score game and trying the two after the defense has been beaten up a little more, and you can make that argument, but the two of them just seemed baffled.