What history tells us about Eagles Thursday night games | Early Birds
The Eagles under Doug Pederson have handled the difficult circumstances of “Thursday Night Football” better than most teams.
Good morning, Eagles fans. Happy game day. The Eagles take on the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field at 8:30 p.m. It is as close to a “must-win" game as you can have this early in the season, and the team feels the sense of urgency. Now the Eagles just have to come back to Philadelphia with a .500 record through four weeks.
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Thank God it’s Thursday
It’s one of the worst-kept secrets in the NFL that players and coaches alike hate Thursday games. It’s a short week, the players are typically still sore from the game before, and there’s little to no time to practice. If you’re the road team, it’s even worse. The Eagles left for Wisconsin on Wednesday after two days of light practices.
But the Eagles under Doug Pederson have handled the difficult circumstances of Thursday Night Football better than most teams. Since 2016, the Eagles haven’t lost a Thursday night game. They’re 4-0, and only six other teams have won three or more games Thursday games in that time frame. Unfortunately for the Eagles, one of those teams is the Packers, who are 3-0 in that time.
The other advantage Green Bay could point to is its point differential in those games. The Packers beat teams by about two touchdowns on average. Three of the Eagles’ four Thursday night games have been close. Last season, they beat the New York Giants, 34-13, but won the other three games by less than a touchdown each.
When asked about the team’s success on Thursday nights, Pederson knocked on his wooden podium, and then credited the team’s ability to focus during the short week.
“I think it’s just being able to focus on this week’s opponent and whatever happened the week before, we just kind of push that aside and focus on the next week,” Pederson said. “We won’t dwell on the past, and move forward. Guys really handled their business well this week.”
Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz has played in three of the team’s four Thursday night games, and has thrown seven touchdowns to one interception in those games. He completed 61 percent of his passes and had a 104.5 QB rating.
Pederson said the need to cut down on complications in game-planning might contribute to the offensive success the team has had.
“Sometimes, your game plans are a little simpler, maybe,” Pederson said. “You kind of get back to core stuff and maybe that’s a wake-up call for us as coaches to keep that in mind as we go.”
What you need to know about the Eagles
Jeff McLane, Paul Domowitch, and Les Bowen make their predictions for Thursday’s game.
The Packers drafted well and built a Super Bowl champion around Rodgers. Now, the Eagles need to do the same around Wentz, writes Mike Sielski.
Miles Sanders’ fumbling problems on Sunday can be cured, and running backs coach Duce Staley is just the man for the job, writes Jeff McLane.
Les Bowen writes about how Zach Ertz won’t be smothered as much as he was last week now that Alshon Jeffery is returning to the fold.
Paul Domowitch offers a detailed scouting report on the game, so you’ll know what to watch for.
An act of incredible generosity gave a Philly server the chance to take her son to the Eagles-Lions game. Stephanie Farr tells the story.
Alshon Jeffery is making his return to the field after missing one game with a calf injury. I wrote about the injury report released on Wednesday.
Joe Banner tells Paul Domowitch that getting the lines fixed should be a priority for the Birds.
From the mailbag
Much has been made this week of Jordan Howard’s usage, or lack thereof. The Eagles like Howard, but they definitely like Miles Sanders a little more. I think a big part of it is Sanders’ versatility in comparison to Howard’s. The knock on Howard, and the reason he was traded for a mid-round conditional pick, was that he isn’t a great pass protector and hasn’t done much as a receiving back. The Eagles can scheme around it, but their offense isn’t as multidimensional when Howard is out there. Sanders, while he has struggled so far, has much more versatility, making the offense more unpredictable. He was split out wide against the Lions and he showed some potential as a pass-catcher even in a new position.
The Eagles also have invested far more in Sanders than Howard. The Bears sent Howard to Philadelphia for a 2020 sixth-round conditional pick, but the Eagles used a second-round pick on Sanders in the 2019 draft. He’s got higher upside, too. If the Eagles have it their way, Sanders will develop into a featured back, and Howard will continue to be a change-of-pace thumper. Don’t get me wrong, I think Howard is very good. He’s a productive runner who does the one thing I always appreciate about backs: He falls forward and earns extra yards. But there are reasons he’s not out there. Sanders will likely continue to have a lot of rope because of his skills in the passing game as well as his potential.