Jason Kelce and Nick Sirianni have mixed emotions about the Philadelphia Eagles’ important win over the New York Giants on Monday. On one hand, they got the perfect Christmas gift by ending their three-game slide. On the other, however, they once again made things hard for themselves.
The Eagles took down the Giants, 33-25, but it was far from perfect. In fact, it was filled with mistakes, the same bad habit that doomed the Eagles in their recent outings. The second half was particularly hard to watch for Philly, as it looked like New York would stage a comeback.
Brian Daboll’s men scored 15 unanswered points in the third quarter, fueled by the Eagles’ costly errors. Philly fumbled the opening kickoff of the third quarter after Boston Scott and Olamide Zaccheaus crashed at each other, forcing Scott who was returning the ball to lose possession.
Olamide Zaccheaus forgot what team he was playing for 😅
It’s a Christmas miracle for the New York Giants.
🎥 @NFL pic.twitter.com/jWv57Dyrmy
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) December 25, 2023
Late in the third quarter, Giants cornerback Adoree’ Jackson picked off Jalen Hurts’ pass and proceeded to run to their side of the field for the pick-6. What initially looked like would be an easy victory for the Eagles turned chaotic, with New York cutting the lead to just 20-18 entering the final period.
This was #Eagles Jalen Hurts 12th interception of the year. He also has 5 lost fumbles. Does he have a turnover problem?
pic.twitter.com/Rf3bDveofa— Alex Esquivel (@esquivelalex22) December 26, 2023
The Philadelphia Eagles were able to survive and escape with the 33-25 victory. But time and time again, they shot themselves on the foot when they didn’t need to.
Speaking to reporters postgame, head coach Nick Sirianni and center Jason Kelce pointed out that they have a lot to clean up following the performance. They’ll take the win any day, but they can’t be too happy with the way they performed.
“We know we have better football in us. To be 11-4, and know we have better football in us, that’s encouraging. But we’ve got to get there,” Sirianni said, per Josh Tolentino of Philadelphia Inquirer.
“To do the things we want to do, we can’t make those mistakes.”
Kelce, for his part, was more blunt and highlighted that they played a “sloppy game.”
“Sloppy game, obviously. I think that’s very evident. Did some really good things on offense. Jalen played incredibly well at time. Wink’s phenomenal,” the veteran center shared, according to Zach Berman of PHLY.
“It’s Week (16) right now. It’s embarrassing to have too many guys on the field. I had a bad snap. …It was a sloppy game overall. We played really well at times. …A lot of really, really good things. But the mistakes, gross errors, penalties, kept them in the ball game.”
Philadelphia Eagles Still Have Chance To Correct Mistakes
The good news for Nick Sirianni, Jason Kelce and the Philadelphia Eagles is that they still have two chances to steer the ship in the right direction.
They took a positive step by winning against the New York Giants, but as Sirianni and Kelce hinted, they can’t afford to stay the same if they want to fight for a Super Bowl title.
Philly plays the Arizona Cardinals next in Week 17 before facing the Giants again in Week 18. The Eagles will need a statement victory in both games to convince everyone that they are ready for the postseason.
If not, expect the concerns to intensify as the playoffs near.
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