They’ll Take It

Despite issues on both sides of the ball, the Philadelphia Eagles returned to their winning ways, taking down the New York Giants, 33-25, on Christmas Day.

On the Week 16 edition of “Inside The Birds Postgame Live,” former Eagles tight end Clay Harbor joined Adam Caplan and Geoff Mosher to discuss the highs and lows of the team’s latest victory.

Haason Reddick generated four quarterback hits but did not get a sack in the Philadelphia Eagles’ 33-28 win over the New York Giants.

Jalen Hurts

Geoff Mosher: “Hurts did a better job with his decision making, getting rid of the ball, finding his targets quick, and getting that rhythm established early.”

Run Game

Adam Caplan: “They ran the ball really well. (D’Andre) Swift is ideally not who you want to close a game but he did a great job. He was dynamic and had a great game.”

Clay Harbor: “Some nice runs. You got to see the offensive line moving. You saw a little bit more pin-and-pull instead of just straight zone…You are pulling guards, pulling tight ends, (Jason) Kelce pulled a couple of times, and that really opened up some creases. A lot of it was Swift making a guy miss in the hole and (Kenny) Gainwell with a nice shake to get a couple of extra yards.”

Run Defense

Mosher: “Saquon Barkley’s longest run was 12 yards. You knew the Giants had to lean on the run game with their quarterback situation and were able to run for 106 yards, but when your best run is 12 yards and you average 4.1 (per carry), this feels like how we were talking about the Eagles run game over the last few weeks: It was functional but could not carry the offense.”

Harbor: “Shaq Leonard had a couple of fits where I am just scratching my head. If you are playing against the San Francisco 49ers, you are going to have to have better run fits than that?”

Pass Rush

Harbor: “Why aren’t we getting sacks? I know they didn’t throw the ball that much, but Tommy DeVito had been sacked over five times in four of the last five games. They went to Tyrod (Taylor), but let’s get some pressure and sacks on this guy. I thought our defensive line was supposed to take over this game.”

Caplan: “They are playing a coverage-based defense. (Matt) Patricia historically is not a big blitzer. It’s drop a lot of guys, muddy looks, make the quarterback hold onto it and then your guys get in there.”

Mosher: “If you look at how the Giants played the game, it seemed like they kept a lot of guys into block, chip and release, and then a two-yard flare. There were not a whole lot of opportunities where either quarterback held onto the ball and put themselves in harms way. The fact that Haason Reddick even got four quarterback hits shows you he had a pretty good game.”

– Benjamin Paul is a staff writer for InsideTheBirds.com.