The Eagles suffered another defeat this past weekend at the hands of the Las Vegas Raiders. In the past few games, the Eagles have allowed opponents to grow big leads that they just can not overcome. Las Vegas scored 30 points in the second and third quarters, while Philly was blanked during those two quarters. This was a tough loss for the Birds as it brings them to a record of two and five on the season. This article will be a Week 7 recap of the Philadelphia Eagles vs the Las Vegas Raiders.
The rushing attack has been nonexistent for Philadelphia this past year. They have mostly put an emphasis on passing the ball with Hurts and utilizing their talented receivers. This game was a different story as Philly noticeably ran the ball a lot more during this game. The Eagles first possession involved Miles Sanders toting the rock downfield, which ultimately led to a Kenneth Gainwell touchdown reception. Sanders did not last long though, as he was injured later in the first quarter and had to be carted off the field. Reports indicated that Sanders suffered an ankle injury.
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
This left Gainwell and Boston Scott taking most of the load throughout the game. By the end of the game, the Eagles rushed for 135 yards as a team, which is more than a lot of games this season. Hurts was the leading rusher with 60 yards, while Scott, Sanders and Gainwell rushed for 20 yards or more. The Eagles need to keep this focus on the rushing attack going as it will pay off for them sooner rather than later.
The Raiders were bringing pressure to Jalen Hurts all day. This in turn forced some pretty inaccurate passes from Hurts. He got sacked two times in this game and got hit multiple times throwing the ball. The Eagles quarterback also fumbled the ball taking the snap within the red zone at one point, which cost Philadelphia a touchdown or a field goal. There were some positives for Hurts in this game. When was he not getting pressured, he threw some good accurate passes down the field, which is a positive. He also had some pretty good rushing attempts that converted first downs for the Birds offense. Hurts ended the day with 236 passing yards and two touchdowns while completing only 52 percent of his passes.
Here are the negatives first. The Philadelphia defense allowed the Raiders to score too much during this game. This has been a trend recently for the Eagles, as they have allowed 26.4 points a game on the season. Furthermore, as said above the Philly has had a hard time keeping up with this kind of scoring, since they have had problems moving their offense down the field. This is due to turnovers or drives stalling due to penalties or loss of yardage. Another negative would be that the Eagles did not pressure Derek Carr enough. He was sharp throughout the game completing 91 percent of his pass attempts and he had over 323 yards passing the ball. Carr also threw for two touchdowns in this Philadelphia Eagles vs Las Vegas Raiders matchup.
As for the positives, Avonte Maddox has really stood out for this Eagles defense over the past couple of weeks. He made a big touchdown-saving deflection against the Buccaneers last week and had a big interception this week against the Raiders. This interception was off a deflected pass from Derek Carr. The offense will definitely need his positive play-making ability for the rest of the season if the Eagles have a chance of getting to the postseason. As for tackling, Marcus Epps led the Eagles in that category. He had 11 total tackles including five solo tackles. Alex Singleton was second in this category as he has solidified himself as one of Philadelphia’s best defensive players this season.
Overall this was not one of the Eagles’ best games. They need to focus on scoring points early in games so they do not put themselves in a hole later on. They will be playing at home next week as they have a very winnable game against the Lions. This concludes this recap of the Philadelphia Eagles vs the Las Vegas Raiders.
Featured photo courtesy of Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports
You can like The Game Haus on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from great TGH writers along with Matthew!
