Looking at the winners and losers of Week 5.
Philly fans, our beloved Philadelphia Eagles remain the only undefeated team in the NFL after their victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 5. Looking at the past, the Eagles have historically not done well playing out in Arizona. They have lost their last five matchups on the road out in the desert, but they have finally broken that streak.
Now, I would be a liar if I said that this game made me nervous, but the Birds started out fast and strong, quickly going up 14-0, but the Cardinals crept back into this game, having the score all tied up heading into the fourth. Luckily, this team was able to hang on and make just enough plays to squeak out a win. There are definitely some learning moments that this team can take away from this Week 5 matchup, but nonetheless, they are still undefeated.
Let's see who gets a trophy and who needs to take a lap.
The winners.
1. Dallas Goedert, TE
With each week going to a different Eagle being an offensive leader, it was only a matter of time before Goedert's time would come, and in Week 5, he showed out. Goedert was a major reason for many of the Eagles' offensive drives staying alive and finished with 8 grabs for 95 total yards.
2. DeVonta Smith, WR
The slim reaper strikes again in Week 5. The second-year receiver once again showed why their is two number 1 wide receivers on this team. After the first few drives of this game, the Cardinals keyed in quickly on AJ Brown and chose to pick their poison on keeping him under wraps. That is what makes this team so incredible, because Smith came in and made play after play. Number 6 finished the game with 10 catches and 87 total yards.
3. Cameron Dicker, K
Coming off the street, being signed to this team only earlier that week, the practice squad kicker didn't flinch as he was able to be 2/2 on extra points and 2/2 on field goals. Takes a lot of guts to thrive in the position he was looking at, but he prevailed.
4. Jason Kelce, C
Seriously, how freaking awesome is Jason Kelce? The All-Pro walks off the field with what looked to be a bad injury. Here we all are, holding our breath, hoping he would be good to go in Week 6. What happens instead? Kelce comes back out and in his first snap back runs out and absolutely levels a linebacker for a big Miles Sanders run.
He is incredible.
5. Jalen Hurts, QB
I have recently seen on social media that this was Jalen's worst game. If his worst game is having 300 total yards of offense, two rushing touchdowns, and completing 72% of his passes, you can sign me up for that any week. Arizona took a look at the Birds' Week 1 matchup against the Detroit Lions and how they pressured Hurts, so needless to say he took some heat during this game, but QB1 once again never waivered and led his team to secure another victory.
The Losers.
1 Jonathan Gannon, DC
After keeping Philly fans mostly quiet after their Week 1 performance, Gannon and his defense laid flat for the majority of three quarters. This defense just did not look prepared, and once again the "bend but don't break" defensive philosophy almost cost the Eagles this game. From having Reddick playing in coverage again to playing soft-shell coverage when their opponent was only down by 3, frustration has risen once more with this fanbase.
2. Shane Steichen, OC
Like his counterpart above, the second year play caller for the Bird's did not have a good game plan. Once the Cardinals turned up the heat with their pass rush, it seemed like Steichen did not have an answer on how to keep his QB protected. Also, their was several packages that seemed to not include AJ Brown? It also seemed that him and Jalen were not on the same page. Something to pay attention to.
3. CJ Gardner-Johnson, S
Even though the first-year Eagle had a interception, he also leads this team on missed tackles. Understanding there is going to be some growing pains considering he has primarily played CB in this league, missing tackles does not have anything to do with the position. He has missed some major tackles that have cost the Birds in the last few games and it something that has to change.
4. The entire defense.
Yet again, looking like Week 1, this team extremely struggled in tackling anyone in this game. Like seriously, did they tape their hands together or something? Some big time missed tackles led to the opposing team to creep back in this game.
5. Penalities.
Another game where penalities kept points off the board. Especially in the second-half, bad penalities killed redzone drive after redzone drive, resulting in settling for a field goal or being forced to punt. This team has improved in many areas, but climbing out of long distances due to penalities is not one of them.
That's all we have, who did we miss?