Adrian Fedkiw
Carson Wentz hurried up to the line of scrimmage to snap the ball, dropped back and lofted a pass with a beautiful looping trajectory earmarked for the back left corner of the end zone.
And Greg Ward caught it.
Not a typo, HE FREAKING CAUGHT IT!
Wentz led the Philadelphia Eagles on a game-winning touchdown drive for a second consecutive week as the Birds beat the Washington Redskins 37-27 on Sunday afternoon at FedEx Field.
Ward was the lone Eagles wide receiver to record a catch, logging seven of them for 61 yards, including four of them for 40 on the final drive. The 4-yard, game-winner came when he timed his leap perfectly before going up and snatching the pass from Wentz with 26 seconds to play.
Greg Ward climbs the ladder for his first career touchdown!#PHIvsWAS | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/VWPiilmgz2
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 15, 2019
Wentz, who was 30-of-43 for 266 yards and three touchdowns, was a perfect 8-of-8 for 70 yards on the game-winning march.
Ward was one of the three healthy wide receivers the Eagles had active on Sunday. Rookie J.J. Arcega-Whiteside and the recently called up Robert Davis was the other. Not only have injuries to Alshon Jeffery, DeSean Jackson and Nelson Agholor derailed the receiving core, it was the decision to cut Mack Hollins and Jordan Matthews which allowed for more snaps to the three mentioned above.
Ward is making the most out of his opportunity.
We saw the tight ends receive the main share of the targets, but Wentz has been doing a better job of seeing the field and taking what’s in front of him. The Eagles were 11-of-16 on third down. Philadelphia converted a bunch of them because not only was it ahead of the chains but Wentz was taking the easy completions into the flats.
The tight ends were targeted 16 times, with Zach Ertz hauling in five balls for 61 yards and a touchdown, while Dallas Goedert posted five receptions for 55 yards. Miles Sanders and Boston Scott snagged all 13 of their targets, totaling 89 yards. Arcega-Whiteside was the only other wideout targeted and he was thrown to twice.
Miles Sanders has steadily improved every week, looking more and more decisive going through the hole and trusting his eyes. There’s less hesitation and his improvements were highlighted by his 56-yard run on a 3rd-and-11.
Give him an inch and he’ll take a mile! #PHIvsWAS | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/IfbeDdBiW6
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 15, 2019
Sanders also caught six balls for 50 yards, including a 15-yard score in the back right corner of the end zone when Wentz scrambled to his right to keep the play alive and rifled a seed into Sanders’ chest.
Wentz buys time and delivers an absolute DIME to Miles Sanders!#PHIvsWAS | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/6ENiCvEhBW
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 15, 2019
The Eagles have still yet to have a game where all three phases have played well because the defense didn’t in this game. It looked like Week 1 again, with Terry McLaurin beating the Eagles for a 75-yard touchdown after snatching a 69-yarder in the opener. Like Case Keenum, Dwayne Haskins had time to survey the field as the pressure wasn’t as consistent as it should have been.
Haskins finished 19-of-28 for 261 yards and a touchdown. He was not sacked. McLaurin had five catches for 125 yards.
Week 16 is the week where the Eagles need all three phases to play well.
Can they finally make it happen?
You can follow Adrian Fedkiw on Twitter (@AdrianFedkiw) and e-mail him at [email protected]. Subscribe to The Bitter Birds on YouTube here.
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