The Eagles came into San Francisco 0-2-1 as seven point underdogs. They’ve had one of the more disappointing starts to the season riddled with injuries, questionable coaching, and poor quarterback play. Despite all this, they escaped the Bay Area with their first victory of the year and because of Doug Pederson’s decision to elect for a tie against Cincy, they now have sole possession of first place in the NFC East. After watching this game, here are three takeaways moving forward:
- Jordan Mailata needs to start be the starting LT for the rest of the season
Mailata, a 2018 7th round pick, made his first career start not in just the NFL, but in his entire life. Mailata was an Australian rugby league player during his college years and his athletic prowess and sheer size caught the attention of NFL executives. The Eagles pulled the trigger on the 6’8, 360 lb. mammoth. He’s been on the active roster for two years but has seen minimal action. There were reports out of this past training camp that he had hit a wall and wasn’t making that next step the Eagles coaching staff wanted to see.
He was inserted into the starting lineup before Sunday night after it was announced that longtime tackle Jason Peters would go on the IR. Mailata more than held his own against the 49ers. There are some technical issues that he’ll have to clean up moving forward but his pass set is really impressive.
His combination of size, strength, and speed simply cannot be taught. He takes up so much space and has a ridiculous amount of quickness in his set for his size. His hand placement and pad level need to be polished moving forward, but Mailata showed a ton of promise.
Although the Eagles are in first place, they need to move forward with Mailata even when Peters is healthy. The Eagles have regressed so much from their 2017 Super Bowl stature because of their inability to draft and bring in young talent. Well, Mailata could be just that and we need to find out.
The OL was the most dominant unit in the league when they won the Super Bowl in 2017, but it is an old, overpaid group at the moment and the Eagles need to make the necessary steps to find that next age of great offensive linemen.
- Alex Singleton needs to start at LB until further notice
Alex Singleton played hero for the Eagles with his game-winning score. Although it wasn’t the most impressive play, the Eagles defense got a huge jolt when Singleton was inserted into the game. The 2015 UDFA from Montana State has bounced around the league as the Eagles are now his fourth NFL team. But Singleton actually didn’t play in the NFL between 2016-2018. During that timespan, he was a force for the Calgary Stampeders in the CFL where he won Defensive Player of the Year in 2017.
This may not sound that impressive but there has been an influx of big-time talent from the CFL to the NFL like Brandon Browner, Joe Horn, and Kurt Warner. The CFL plays on a wider field where offenses only have three downs to get 10 yards. Speed is at an even higher priority than the NFL because of the sheer volume of passing.
Singleton is pretty undersized at 6’2, 235 lbs. but he can run. He ran a 4.65 in 2015 at his pro day, and is a contributor on most special teams for the Eagles. T.J. Edwards suffered an injury on Sunday night but is a solid plug at the MIKE linebacker spot for the Eagles. Edwards has been solid against the run and a cover linebacker could be his perfect compliment.
Nate Gerry, who has been the starting SAM for Philly, has assumed the role besides Edwards but has been picked apart. The former safety at Nebraska was expected to a linebacker with excellent coverage skills and high end athleticism. That has not translated onto the field since his arrival in 2017.
The Eagles need to move on from Gerry and play Singleton at that starting role. With Singleton’s coverage skills enhanced in the CFL teamed up with T.J. Edwards tackling in the “A” and “B” gaps, the Eagles linebacking corps would improve.
- Carson looked better
Eagles QB, Carson Wentz looked to be building some serious momentum coming into this year. He won four straight games down the stretch with a ragtag group of receivers to storm into the playoffs. He suffered a concussion in the second drive of their wildcard playoff matchup against Seattle. Ever since then, he has looked utterly lost in the early part of the season.
His mechanics have been a mess, missing easy throws, and he has not done a good job of taking care of the football.
This form of Carson all looked eerily similar in the early stages of the game when he threw an interception in the first quarter.
It is evident just how banged up this offense is. He is without OTs Jason Peters and Lane Johnson, OGs Brandon Brooks and Isaac Seumalo and is without four of their top five receivers. The starting corps of receivers was Travis Fulgham, rookie 5th rounder John Hightower, and Greg Ward. Ward was the only one with any significant experience.
The 49ers completely bottled up Wentz’s go-to target, Zach Ertz, consistently double-teaming and jamming him at the line of scrimmage.
Carson did miss some throws early on but he looked much more elusive and displayed elite awareness in the pocket.
He was sacked three times, but it could’ve easily been doubled if it wasn’t for Carson’s ability to escape.
He’s still missing relatively easy throws but we’re seeing glimpses of the Wentz Philly fans fell in love with in 2017. His lone touchdown pass which ended up giving the Eagles the lead late in the fourth quarter was a beauty:
There just aren’t very many quarterbacks who can make that throw down the sideline, at that trajectory, 40 yards down the field. Wentz is at the top tier of gifted QBs when it comes to athleticism, arm strength, and stature. He needs to learn how to harness it and play smarter football but a throw like this can do wonders for his confidence.
In the upcoming weeks, the Eagles are slated to get back WRs Alshon Jeffery, Desean Jackson, and Jalen Reagor. TE Dallas Goedert will also be available within the next few weeks. The OL will continue to be a work in progress for the offense and Wentz that they need to navigate around, but if the Eagles can get some of these guys back healthy, Wentz may slowly start to look like himself again.
