Eagles Bullied Way To Super Bowl, But They Were The Bullied Ones In New York
The Eagles are no longer the bullies of the NFC. They played that role to perfection last year on their way to a Lombardi Trophy, being more physical than anyone that stood in their way.
On Thursday night, in their 34-17 throttling by the New York Giants, they were the ones being bullied. Worse, they were bludgeoned by a 6-2, 215-pound battering ram named Cam Skattebo, who charged into the middle of the line from the very first play of the game to nearly the last.
“This team came out, punched us in the mouth,’ said Jordan Mailata. “We need to look at the film, and really hold ourselves accountable ... No one should walk away from this game, thinking that we should’ve won it.”
The Giants kept pounding away at the Eagles. Skattebo had nine carries for 31 yards, a 3.9 yards per carry average, in the first half. In the second half, he had 11 runs for 67 yards for a total of 19 carries for 98 yards, a 5.2-yard per carry average.
Skattebo had three touchdowns, one each in the second, third, and fourth to become the first running back to rush for three TDs against the Eagles since Arizona’s David Johnson in 2015. That’s 10 years ago.
It's Gut Check Time For Eagles
“I don't think we played our brand the football or coached our brand of football,” said head coach Nick Sirianni. “Give them credit. You know, they did a good job. And so, again, have to look at the tape with how things kind of played out there.”
When a team can’t stop the run, it’s demoralizing for a defense, and the Eagles became bowling pins being knocked over by Skattebo and company.
“We talk about (being more physical than an opponent) all the time,” said Cooper DeJean, who had just two tackles after coming into the game averaging 6.6 per game. “We talk about it, but we have to go out there and be about it and do it on the field. They out-physical-ed us in moments and that’s just not us. That’s not our brand of football. We have to fix that.”
Say what you want about the offense, and it is still a mess, but the defense couldn’t stop from being beaten to a pulp and left on a New York City sidewalk. They couldn’t get off the field on third down, giving up 11 first downs in 16 tries.
“We need to figure out how to be physically dominant, how can we be physically tough, how can we be mentally strong,” said rookie linebacker Jihaad Campbell, who had seven tackles. “That’s what it comes down to.”
Look deeper and eight of those 16 third downs required five or less yards to convert because the Eagles could not stop the run.
“We see them again in 2 weeks,’ said Mailata. “We have another opportunity at our home. It’s not a make-or-break. Now, is it a gut check for us? 100 percent. That’s not a make-or-break. It’s a gut-check to see how fast we can react.”
The most intriguing player for the Tampa Bay Lightning this season is Conor Geekie
Is it too much to say that Conor Geekie is the most important player on the Tampa Bay Lightning roster this season? Yes, of course it is. Geekie could score 50 goals this year, but if Andrei Vasilevskiy misses 30 games the Lightning are going to struggle. The same with Nikita Kucherov, Jake Guentzel, Brayden Point, Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, so on and so forth.
So important, no, but intriguing, sure. We did this a couple of years ago with Brandon Hagel and some of the key points still stand. Geekie, like Hagel before him, could be the key to the Lightning having more than two lines with the capability to score. Of all of the forwards on the roster, Geekie and Gage Goncalves probably have the most room to improve their point totals. If they do, the Lightning become serious Stanley Cup contenders.
It was an up-and-down-and-back-up season for Geekie. He surprised a lot of people by making the team out of training camp. During their current run, the Lightning haven’t exactly been a haven for younger players, so to see the 21-year-old with a whopping two games of AHL experience make the roster on Day One was a bit of a shock.
He held his own for the early going, and showcased some of the skill and physicality that intrigued the Lightning. His effectiveness waned as the season toiled on, and a nine-game pointless streak ended with him being assigned to Syracuse to begin the month of February. The demotion turned into rejuvenation. Geekie was nothing short of beastly with the Crunch as he racked up 20 points (11 goals, 9 assists) in 24 games.
A more aggressive and confident Geekie returned to the Lightning at the end of the season and he potted two goals in three games. Much like the rest of the team, his offense deserted him in the opening round loss to the Panthers where he recorded a solitary assist in the five games while averaging 12:22 of ice time.
The off-season was spent refining his game and working with skills coaches to improve his skating technique. He is not an oafish skater by any means, but lacks some efficiency. He has looked much better in training camp and the pre-season, but there is still room to grow.
The skills are definitely there, and now that he has a season under his belt, his confidence should be there as well. Last season it seemed he deferred a little too much at the NHL level, opting to pass or wait for his teammates to help him. Yet, when he went down to Syracuse, the ability to create his own offense, something that was a calling card in his junior hockey days, returned.
That’s the Conor Geekie that the Lightning can use this year. He might not get a crack at the top-six this season, and the early line rushes have him on the fourth line with Pontus Holmberg and Curtis Douglas, but that might be a blessing in disguise for the Bolts. Having a player with his offensive talent, who is also willing to impose his will physically can create some match-up problems for opponents.
Tampa Bay doesn’t need him to score 30 goals this year. He might be capable of that in the future, but for the 2025-26 season they need him to play consistent hockey on a nightly basis. If he can get to the 15-goal/35-point level as a bottom-six forward then things should be tracking pretty well for the Bolts.
With Goncalves taking a spot on the second line this season, the top six are fairly settled. It’s the next two lines where the Lightning still have plenty of questions, especially with Nick Paul on the sidelines. On paper, it should be better than last season, but banners aren’t hung based on assumptions and hope. They’re hung when the players live up to or out perform their expectations.
For the Lightning, we know that Nikita Kucherov is going to put up 100+ points and Brayden Point is going to be around 40 goals. We don’t know if Conor Geekie is going to be able to take that next step. If he is able to, then Tampa Bay should not only have a successful 2025-26 season, but he could cement himself as part of the next core of Lightning impact players.
