Week 1 Reaction to Eagles vs. Lions 2022: Drinking the Juice

The Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday narrowly escaped with a victory against the hard-knocks-graduate Detroit Lions with a final score of 38-35. The game was thrilling and included many explosive plays and a lot of scoring from both sides. In this post we will be drinking from the elixir of victory, filled with green Kool-Aid. Don't be afraid to take a sip, it tastes good. Read on and drink some of this juice with me.

Why drink the juice you say, why not relish in the bad as typical Negadelphia Eagles fans do? Because it's week 1, we won, and the cowboys lost, need I say more? Sure, one can say we barely won, but we scored four touchdowns on offense. Seven out of the fourteen games played on Sunday had a total of four touchdowns or less. Our birds scored the second highest total points this week, behind the Andy Reid led Kansas City Chiefs. Jalen hurts didn't go out there looking quite like Tom Brady (shout out to TB12 for taking down them cowboys last night, we appreciate you), but he continued to make plays with his legs, connected multiple times on big plays with newly acquired wide receiver, quarterback's best friend (literally) AJ Brown, and ultimately brought us to a kneeling victory. If there's anything to scrutinize about the game, I would point towards the play calling decisions at times. But that's not what this article is about, let's drink some of that fresh and delicious victory juice.

A Breath of Fresh… AJ Brown

It is amazing to see a wide receiver that can catch like AJ Brown can. It is almost unbelievable. It feels like catching the football is something that is not expected to happen in Philadelphia in recent years. It is good to know that Jalen Hurts does not have to be exactly perfect when throwing the ball, and AJ Brown still has a very good chance of catching it. When eagles fans everywhere said, "this is the best wide receiver signing since TO", they weren't kidding. AJ Brown alone is one of many reasons why I am super excited about the rest of this season, and a major reason why I am drinking the green juice all week long.

Miles To Go

With 13 carries, just under 100 yards and finally hitting pay dirt after almost 2 years, are we witnessing a reinvigorated Miles Sanders? I was always very critical of Miles Sanders' running style and was never quite a fan even during his rookie year. But since the second half of last year when the eagles suddenly turned the corner with the run game, he has shown that he can adapt, and he has become quite the north-south runner. He hits holes, immediately explodes through and falls forward for four to five extra yards when being tackled. His legs look fresh, and he seems to be running with an attitude. On top of that, he doesn't need 20 plus carries to have a positive impact on the game. I'm really digging this Miles Sanders and I hope he continues pounding the rock throughout the season.

Love Hurts

Without some drama involving quarterbacks, where would we be now? This is the Quarterback Factory Show after all. Are there some concerns about the quarterback position? Of course there are. We're concerned about Jalen running too much and getting injured, or bailing out of the pocket too soon when the offensive line starts to collapse. Or his accuracy, we all know that's a concern, but these are not things we are talking about today. It seemed like Sunday's game was full of moments where it looked like the team was going to have to punt, but then Jalen Hurts ran for unexpectedly large amounts of yards, allowing the team to get a first down again and again. His running ability is amazing and the main reason our running backs are successful is because Jalen Hurts is one of those running backs. Every defender is watching him on the RPO's instead of the running back, so that's part of the reason we get some explosion going through. Let's be honest, the defense is expecting Jalen to take it every time, and so are we. It would be nice if Jalen would take the run a bit less so we don't wear him out by mid-season. Nonetheless it is exciting to watch him work. He still has some things to work out, but he's going to be an exciting player to watch every game, and this season is going to be a lot of fun.

The best defense is a PICK 6

Let's talk about that pick 6! I'm so happy that we got a defensive touchdown. I feel like that never happens, especially so for our Philadelphia Eagles. That feeling you get when your team's defense reaches the end zone, it's almost like a comfort feeling like, "we're going to win this game" type of feeling. Now granted, the Lions did come roaring back at us and made us bite our nails until the end of the game, but it's still a good feeling. It's only week 1 and the defense already has a pick six. Hopefully that is not the end of the defensive excitement that this team brings us throughout the season. Hopefully we get more scores, more picks, definitely need more sacks and maybe some fumble recoveries. I want it all, The whole damn pitcher of juice.

Thanks for reading and sharing a victory drink with me. Be sure to follow us on social media so you'll know when we go live. In the meantime, leave some comments and we'll read them during the next live stream. Go Birds!