I think Sunday was the most stressful, agonizing, least enjoyable, OMG-I-Love-This-Team Eagles playoff game in over a decade.

It was a disaster. It was electric. It was terrifying and it was glorious.

Real quick… I know the Falcons game after the 2017 season was a nail-biting, excruciating experience, but expectations were relatively low then. Nick Foles was the backup and he had an up and down run to close the season. I think the following year against the Bears and Saints may be the runner up to this Rams game. Both tense games that came down to the final minute. Sure, both Super Bowls were intense, but it’s different because you are in the last game. Of course you want to win but you’re not really eliminated at that point. You just don’t get the banner. It’s the ultimate house money game unless you’re Atlanta or Buffalo and literally throw the championship ring away.

Anyway, what a mess of a game Sunday was all the way around. The Eagles offense, outside of the running attack, was again a train wreck. Of course the weather played a role but Matthew Stafford and the Rams threw for over 300 yards and they were on the same field playing in the same conditions. Yes, desperation played a role in their need to throw the football but they did it nonetheless. Outside of a couple of clutch throws down the stretch, the Eagles seemed content to admit defeat to the snow when it came to the passing game.

I’m not giving Jalen Hurts a pass by any means. The safety was an idiotic play call but also totally Hurts’ fault. Dallas Goedert was open right in front of him. Make the wise decision. Don’t try to be a hero. Technically the Eagles did not commit a turnover but a safety is worse than a turnover because you guarantee points and then you give them good field position as well.

Kellen Moore… wow. That guy must’ve spent all his time preparing for interviews because the passing attack was so bad that he probably eliminated himself from any further interviews. Why are we still running curls on every 3^rd down? Curls are static. No one is fluid. No one is moving. Drags, crosses; anything that has athletes running is what Hurts needs there. Challenge different depths of the defense. Four receivers at 5-7 yards is easy to stop. This is basic stuff any peewee defense could defend. You’re making the defenses job easy and forcing Hurts into difficult situations. It’s hard to watch other NFL teams convert on 3^rd downs while the Eagles run the same mundane garbage week after week.

Why don’t you give Moore some credit for a dominant running game? Well, was it really that dominant? Explosive runs count and it’s kind of unfair to set them aside when assessing a rushing attack, but I’m going to do it anyway. Outside of Saquon Barkley’s amazing two touchdown runs, he rushed for 65 yards on 24 carries for a 2.71 yards per carry average. That doesn’t scream dominant to me. Those are Kyle Schwarber numbers, which are fine and good but not the numbers of a running game that imposed its will on the opposing defense. The big plays are great but for the passing game to be truly effective the ground game needs to be grinding 4, 5 or 6 yards a pop. Sorry to be a negative Nancy.

Oh, before we got positive, the injuries are mounting for the Eagles as well. Hurts clearly mangled his knee. To what extent who knows, but it’s almost 100% certain he will not be as lethal with his legs. That’s a huge loss for an offense and a QB that is struggling with throwing the football. Quinyon Mitchell was a massive loss for the defense Sunday. Isaiah Rodgers is probably as good a backup as there is but the Eagles often lose Darius Slay for stretches throughout a game and if Rodgers isn’t available for those reps the depth of the defensive secondary gets real thin real quick. It appears Mitchell will play this week. The Eagles will need him close to full health against a Washington offense that is humming, especially since Mitchell has done well to limit Terry McLaurin this season.

One more negative assessment… AJ Brown… what are you doing? You dove head first into the distraction nonsense this week and laid a big fat egg on the field. He alligator-armed a dig route early in the 1^st quarter. It was very reminiscent of Ricky Watters’ “For who? For what?” moment nearly three decades ago. The massive drop at the one-yard line was obviously a killer. Brown is supposed to be the offense’s big time weapon. He was a nothing on Sunday. He admitted the conditions were miserable. I get it, but Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua were out there too and they were still making plays. The Eagles have to get more from Brown.

Finally, I can’t make sense of the national narrative about the outcome of this game. It seems everyone is saying the Rams gave the game away. Huh? Sure, the Rams made some crucial mistakes; the two fumbles, the dropped 4^th down, the dropped handoff inside the ten by Stafford. But the Kyren Williams fumble happens in sunny, 70 degree weather. The Stafford sack/fumble seemed like a typically fumble that was not related to the conditions. Regardless, are we only calculating the Rams miscues into the final score, because the Eagles miscues were far more costly.

Essentially, the Eagles had three different drives with the ball inside the two that produced six total points. Six. First it was the Brown drop before halftime. Then it was the illegal man downfield flag on the Goedert screen. Then Lane Johnson false-started on the Brothery Shove inside the one-yard line. Let’s be conservative and say they score one of those touchdowns and get a field goal from the Brown play. That’s seven more points (okay let’s say six because Jake Elliott is a mess on PATs). Add in at least one of the ridiculous missed extra points and it’s not hard to find at least seven additional points for the Eagles. That’s a very conservative number, too. The Eagles should’ve won this game by 20. Did I mention two and probably three dropped interceptions? Or Hurts taking stupid sacks that eliminated field goal attempts? The Eagles beat the Rams on the scoreboard and in the mistakes department. It was ugly, but the better team won.

Regardless, it’s over now. Thanks mostly to Jalen Carter and Saquon Barkley, the Eagles survived the snow, the Rams and their own incompetence. Only the Commanders stand between them and a second Super Bowl appearance in three years.