Observations: Eagles 34, Jaguars 17


Here’s what we saw during the Eagles’ 34-17 win over the Jaguars.

OFFENSE

* The first half was a complete disaster for the Eagles, but they bounced back after halftime, scoring on four of six possessions.. They had eight first-half possessions on offense. Three resulted in turnovers (two fumbles and an interception), four resulted in punts and one was a turnover on downs. Nick Foles was jittery and indecisive.

* But in the fourth quarter, the Eagles took a 24-17 lead behind a bunch of big plays. Darren Sproles sparked the offense with a 49-yard touchdown in the third quarter. It looked like Jason Kelce and Todd Herremans threw key blocks. Later, Foles found Zach Ertz in the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown. And Cody Parkey connected from 51 yards out to tie the game. In the fourth, Foles executed a play-fake, rolled to his right and then found a wide-open Jeremy Maclin for a 68-yard touchdown.

* Foles was 27-for-45 for 322 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He was sacked three times.

* Allen Barbre suffered an ankle injury and left the game in the second quarter. Evan Mathis got hit in the back of his left knee by LeSean McCoy and exited the game in the second as well. That put the Eagles down to zero backup offensive linemen. David Molk came in to play left guard. Andrew Gardner came in to play right tackle.

* On the first offensive drive of the game, Jason Peters got beaten inside by Chris Clemons, but Foles pumped and stepped right into the sack as he lost the ball. On the next drive, Foles held onto the ball again. It looked like he had Maclin running down the middle of the field wide open for what would have been a touchdown. Instead, Foles was sacked and lost a second fumble. Later, Foles and the Eagles drove into scoring territory, but he threw a red-zone interception looking for Brent Celek.

* Other miscues: Foles missed a wide-open Jordan Matthews downfield on the third drive. Matthews was the “first-team” slot receiver. On third down, Foles pumped multiple times before taking another hit and throwing incomplete.

* McCoy had 21 carries for 74 yards. Sproles had 11 carries for 71 yards.

* Maclin finished with four catches for 97 yards. Ertz had 77 yards on three grabs.

DEFENSE

* The defense made Chad Henne to Allen Hurns look like Montana to Rice in the first half. But in the second half, they responded, forcing five straight punts, two turnovers on downs and a fumble to give the Eagles a chance to come back. The Eagles limited the Jaguars to 2.6 YPC on the ground and got good pressure on Henne throughout.

* In the fourth quarter, the Jaguars decided to go for it on 4th-and-1 from their own 30, but Henne threw incomplete. On their next drive, Trent Cole sacked Henne and forced a fumble. Fletcher Cox scooped it up and took it to the end zone.

* On an earlier drive, Malcolm Jenkins delivered a big hit to force an incompletion on third down. The Eagles got pressure from a variety of sources. Cole, Mychal Kendricks and Nate Allen had sacks. But others like Brandon Graham, Connor Barwin, Vinny Curry and Fletcher Cox got pressure.

* Hurns, an undrafted free agent, had four catches for 110 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Henne was 12-for-17 for 167 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in the first half. But he finished 24-for-43 for 266 yards.

* Kendricks played well throughout. Hemade a good third-down tackle on one drive and later batted a pass at the line of scrimmage coming on a blitz. Curry had pressure on a third down. Graham, Barwin and Cox each had hits on Henne in the second half.

* On the first touchdown, it looked like Nate Allen bit on an underneath route. Cary Williams was expecting help on a deep post and didn’t get it, as Hurns came down with a 34-yard touchdown.

* Later, it looked like Jenkins jumped a screen to the perimeter, leaving a gaping hole behind him. Henne hit Hurns for a 21-yard score.

* The Eagles had the Jaguars pinned at their own 1 in the first half, but Williams bit on a double move and gave up a 46-yard completion. Jacksonville ended up connecting on a field goal on the drive.

* Graham saw some action in place of both Cole and Barwin. The Eagles had one package with Graham, Cole and Curry on the field together. They also showed their dime package with Kendricks as the lone linebacker and four cornerbacks.

* Brandon Bair blocked a field goal attempt and had a nice stop on a 3rd-and-1 run play in the first half.