3 positive takeaways from the Philadelphia Eagles’ Week 15 win

No matter how you slice it, the Philadelphia Eagles‘ Week 15 win was big.

The team took their postponed start time in stride, overcame late/early week losses to the COVID list, and, most importantly of all, turned in plus performances across the board against a division rival in a game with serious playoff implications.

The offense looked great, the defense made more good plays than bad, and Jalen Hurts, in his first game back from an ankle injury, showed out in one of the best individual performances of his still-young NFL career.

Was it perfect? Hardly, but these three highlights should shine above the rest.

Greg Ward finally made good on a frustrating season.

2021 has not been a bellwether year for Greg Ward.

The team’s second-leading yards earner from the wide receiver position in 2020, Ward was only on the field for 20 percent of the team’s offensive snaps this season (181), down from 71 percent last season, and has largely been relegated to an afterthought behind the “Big 3” of DeVonta Smith, Jalen Reagor, and Quez Watkins.

Still, when his number was called, and the Eagles needed a touchdown, Ward put preparation to opportunity and hauled in only his fourth catch of the season.

Sidebar: In the weirdest stat you’ll see all day, three of Ward’s catches are touchdowns, which, spoiler alert, is very good and also incredibly confusing.

While Ward’s targets per game have been all over the place this season, let’s hope his two catch performance was a sign that Nick Sirianni – or whoever is calling plays in Week 16 – will turn to the college quarterback a few more times a game moving forward, as he’s been criminally underutilized so far this season.