The Eagles Were Grounded

  I haven’t been as euphoric as I was this weekend. For good reason—the Jets and Rutgers were subpar teams, Franklin and Marshall was a decided underdog to #10 Johns Hopkins and the Yankees still weren’t anywhere near the 2023 MLB Playoffs. Plus we had a wedding in nearby Florham Park for my neighbor’s daughter, and it was uncertain if my wife would be able to dance. Not a lot to look forward to. 

With all that, the only downers for the weekend were F&M losing to Hopkins, but not after giving the Blue Jays all they could handle, and the Yankees were still on self-imposed exile while the Phillies, D-backs, Astros and Rangers played on. And, as it turned out, the F&M loss wasn’t the end of the world for the Diplomats chances to make a Centennial Conference-MAC Bowl as possibly the second or third seed, depending on whether the NCAA once again takes both Hopkins and Muhlenberg into the Division III playoffs. It actually took a burst in the fourth quarter for the Jays to overcome the Dips. 

Rutgers awoke from a terrible slumber on Saturday against Homecoming opponent Michigan State. The Spartans were supposed to be easy pickings for the Scarlet Knights. The turmoil in the program extending from the in-season firing of Coach Mel Tucker and the resulting lawsuits was expected to create chaos.

Except on that rainy Saturday, nobody told the Spartan players or coaches. Michigan State jumped out to a 17-6 lead which they held onto at the end of three quarters. The soggy  fans at SHI Stadium sought warmer and drier places to complain about another Rutgers loss to a team the Knights should have easily handled. 

Except that the Rutgers players awoke and played with a determination not seen in Piscataway versus a Big Ten opponent in a long time, or for that matter, any team of quality. With barely 5,000 survivors in the stands, Rutgers roared back to win 24-17. It wasn’t pretty, but the team stood tall on offense, defense and special teams, allowing the mantra of Head Coach Greg Schiano—“Keep on Chopp’in.” Schiano was described as teary-eyed as he left the field. 

Now the talk focuses on the trip to Indiana this weekend. This is another game RU is presumed to win. A victory here would ensure a 6-6 record making the Knights bowl eligible. 

But as ESPN’s sagacious college football coach turned analyst Lee Corso would say—“Not so fast!” No Big Ten road game is a gimme for Rutgers. I don’t care that the team hung in against #2 Michigan (embroiled in a sign-stealing fiasco under embattled Head Coach Jim Harbaugh) or at Wisconsin. Neither of those games resulted in wins and was a reminder of how far away RU stands from the big boys in the conference.

Sure a win in Bloomington would be a nice marker in the ascension of this program from its troubled past (started by Schiano when he unceremoniously bolted for the money in the NFL in Tampa). Left on the schedule after Indiana is a home game versus #3 Ohio State, then trips to Iowa and another ranked school in Penn State before ending the regular schedule with Maryland at home. 

I don’t see too many wins left for the Knights. It kind of looks like this Saturday is the defining moment for the 2023 team. Keep those thoughts of prime time going against the Buckeyes with a 6-2 record, or that a bowl game at Yankee Stadium hidden. Remember, this is Rutgers, and nothing is easy for the football team.

So, Saturday night turned out to be a very nice wedding and party. Copious amounts of food were ingested and my wife put aside her leg issues to very happily hit the dance floor with me. 

That blissful feeling carried over to Sunday. I lacked a little bit of sleep from getting in late. Fan X and I were headed to the Meadowlands in the early afternoon. The 2-3 New York Jets were hosting the 6-0 Philadelphia Eagles, a team with realistic Super Bowl aspirations. 

The parking lot was flooded in green. Much of it was from Eagles fans who had ventured to East Rutherford in anticipation of win number 7 over the offensively-challenged Jets. While it was an alive location where we parked (including the best corn hole players I have ever witnessed), the vibe from the New York faithful was that maybe the Jets could hang with the Eagles for a while before succumbing (I don’t think too many in the crowd might have known what that word meant).

A dire weather forecast of rain all weekend was wrong—only a mist for a second or two marred the sun-splashed start to the game. The crowd was raucous, yet there were almost no noticeable fights, which was remarkable given the notoriety of Eagles fans to resort to violence in the home stands. 

Many went into Met Life Stadium expecting a Philly onslaught. Eagles QB Jalen Hurts was having a M.V.P. caliber season, while NYJ signal caller Zach Wilson had shown some signs of improvement in a loss to Kansas City and then in road win over a weak Denver team. 

As the first half progressed, it looked like the prognosticators were right—Philly was going to roll over the Jets. Still, the halftime score was 14-9 in favor of the Eagles and the Birds would get the ball to start the second half. Somehow, the Jets managed to control the Eagles offense and scored a field goal to head into the fourth quarter trailing only by 2. 

The New York defense continued to frustrate the Eagles offense. While Hurts threw for 280 yards and ran for 47 more and wide receiver A.J. Brown looked unstoppable, that Jets “D” contributed mightily to thwart the Philadelphians. 

Part of the problem for Philadelphia was that Hurts threw three interceptions and running back D’Andre Swift (no relation to Taylor) fumbled once. As proficient as the offense looked in the first half, the Eagles could not penetrate the end zone and missed a 34 yard field goal attempt. 

This game was for the Jets to win. Hurts tossed a fatal interception late in the game and it was returned by Tony Adams to the three yard line. After penalty against the Jets, Philadelphia let NYJ RB Breece Hall score the go-ahead TD, hoping to get the ball back and drive for the win. 

Philadelphia failed on its final drive, and the crowd went wild—Jets fans being noisily celebratory while the moans of the Eagles faithful were loud and funereal. There were no more unbeaten teams in the NFL, as defense-oriented Cleveland survived a missed field goal attempt by San Francisco to beat the formerly 6-0 Niners. 

The win ended Philadelphia’s 12-0 record against the Jets. New York is now on a two game winning streak while the Eagles regroup for a showdown at the Linc with the potent offense of the Miami Dolphins in prime time on Sunday night. 

Don’t worry too much, Eagles fans. This was a trap game loss on the road and Hurts had his first off game of the season. Conversely, the Jets offense was anemic and it was a heroic effort from the defense, playing without the two gifted starting corner backs. 

Perhaps the greatest thing that Jets could have savored besides the win was the fact that Aaron Rodgers was throwing on the sidelines and hopes to be back by Week 17. The way the defense is performing, playoff hopes are not dimmed quite yet for Jets fans. 

The stunned crowd exited the stadium. Jets fans were ecstatic. 

What summed up the frustration of the Philly fans who had a long and not so pleasant two hour plus drive back home was that of a woman on the stairs exiting Met Life. She bumped me hard (I had on a Jets vest and hat, so I was easily identifiable as the enemy), trying to knock me forward, then glared at me when I didn’t fall. She had on a wedding ring and a diamond. Some guy is really lucky. 

A quick shot out to the Las Vegas Aces in coming back from nine down on the road to win Game 4 and take back-to-back WNBA titles. It was more impressive with three Aces stars sitting on the bench. Coach Becky Hammon is a scary looking woman, in the mold of her mentor, San Antonio head man Greg Popovich. She could win a title anywhere—college, WNBA or NBA. She’s that good.  

It was a fun weekend for me. I soared. The Eagles were grounded.