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Eagles vs. Broncos Week 9 Observations and Reaction with Videos

Adrian Fedkiw|

A 50-burger against Denver.

That’s a statement!

Carson Wentz threw four touchdown passes for the third time in five weeks, Jay Ajayi ran for a 46-yard touchdown in his Eagles debut and Philadelphia eviscerated the Broncos 51-23 on Sunday afternoon.

The Broncos came in No.1 in total defense, second in rush defense and sixth in pass defense, but the Eagles tore through them like swiss cheese. They totaled 419 yards, with 197 of them coming on the ground. Ajayi carried the ball eight times for 77 yards and his long TD run staked the Birds to a 31-9 advantage late in the first half.

Doug Pederson called a hell of a game. If the Broncos did have a weakness it was covering tight ends, allowing the fourth most yards to them heading in. With Zach Ertz sidelined with a hamstring injury, the duo of Brent Celek and Trey Burton combined for five receptions, 80 yards and a score. Pederson used Ajayi beautifully as a decoy on the Eagles’ opening drive in their play-action game. A fake to Ajayi froze Denver’s vaunted pass rusher Von Miller just enough to flip a 32-yard touchdown to Alshon Jeffery, who brought in six balls for 84 yards and a pair of scores.

Wentz was a menace on play-action Sunday, completing five of his six passes for a trio of touchdowns. His counterpart Brock Osweiler didn’t have as much success. He was 19-of-38 for 208 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Patrick Robinson corralled one of those two picks and the turnover gave the Eagles prime field position at the 15-yard line.

Corey Clement then found the end zone from 15 yards out on a well-executed screen against a Denver blitz, one of his three touchdowns of the game and giving the Eagles a 17-3 margin.

After Brandon McManus kicked a 53-yard field goal to whittle the deficit to 17-6 early in the second, the Eagles answered with a brisk six-play, 75-yard march. Wentz hit Jeffery with a 14-yard completion on a 3rd-and-5 and tossed a 27-yard touchdown to Trey Burton to cap the drive and make it 24-6.

Philly then put the game away with its first series of the second half, using 13 plays to cover 77 yards while taking 7:28 off the clock. Pederson elected to go for a 4th-and-1 and Nelson Agholor’s catch on Wentz’s roll to the right moved the sticks. Clement’s 2-yard plunge made it 38-9 and the margin reached as high as 35, 44-9, before the Eagles put things in cruise control.

While the Eagles averaged 5.3 yards per carry, the Broncos put up a measly 1.8 per tote and just 35 yards on the ground total. It was another dominant defensive display.

Halapoulivaati Vaitai did a tremendous job at left tackle and the offensive line as a whole played outstanding and held Von Miller in check, despite him registering the lone sack for Denver, which might’ve actually been an offsides.

An 8-1 mark heading into the bye and I’m in complete awe of this team.

Bring on the Cowboys!

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