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How a secret weapon helped the Eagles topple the Ravens originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
He was the Eagles’ secret weapon Sunday, and he didn’t have any rushing attempts or catches, didn’t make any tackles, and if you weren’t paying really close attention you wouldn’t have even heard his name on the broadcast.
Braden Mann was brilliant.
Mann, the Eagles’ punter, turned in an all-time performance for the Eagles when they needed it the most.
There aren’t many ways to slow down the top offense in the NFL, but forcing them to play drive after drive on a long field is one.
And Mann did that perfectly.
Mann punted six times for a 51.2 net average with five punts inside the 20, two inside the 10, and no touchbacks.
He helped the Eagles control field position throughout one of their biggest regular-season wins ever under Nick Sirianni. The Eagles beat the Ravens 24-19 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, improving to 10-2 with their eighth straight win.
“Great job by Braden,” Nick Sirianni said. “Those are huge. Those are things that you get so excited about as a football coach, of how important that is in the field position battle. That’s not going to get looked at a lot, but I am really excited, and we talked about that after the game.”
The Ravens came into the game averaging 6.97 yards per offensive play, the 2nd-highest figure in NFL history behind the 2000 Rams’ 6.98.
Thanks to Mann, their average drive started at their own 24-yard-line, and in the second half, when the Eagles took command, their average drive start was the 22.
They moved the ball much of the game, but they had drives of 14, 10, 8, 7 and 7 plays that culminated in either a field goal attempt or a punt. It didn’t hurt that Justin Tucker kept missing field goals. But if Mann didn’t keep pinning the Ravens deep, maybe those field goal attempts are shorter and he makes them.
The last Eagles punter with five kicks inside the 20 and no touchbacks in a game was Donnie Jones…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/secret-weapon-helped-eagles-topple-150000381.html
Author : NBC Sports Philadelphia
Publish date : 2024-12-03 15:05:00
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