The day after: Jake Elliott's 61-yarder from 20 different perspectives

At 5:14 p.m., Jake Elliott threw his backpack over his shoulder and got ready to leave the locker room at Lincoln Financial Field.

But he forgot to pack a pair of grey sneakers that were in his stall. So he took his backpack off and stuffed them in there. Then he spotted a towel. Same thing, but that went into a different pocket. He was finally all packed up.

Elliott was wearing an Erin Hills U.S. Open hat and carrying one of those really small Dasani bottles — the ones that tend to empty after four or five sips. He was headed to see his family but wasn’t sure where to exit and needed guidance from a member of the media relations staff.

This was Elliott’s first time getting dressed after a game in the home locker room at the Linc. Two weeks ago, he was on the Bengals’ practice squad. He was renting an apartment in Cincinnati and just had it furnished. But then Caleb Sturgis suffered an injury, and Elliott got the call to join the Eagles.

On Sunday, he was in Philadelphia, and his 61-yard field goal sent the 69,596 fans in attendance into a frenzy as the Eagles beat the Giants, 27-24. Mychal Kendricks and Kamu Grugier-Hill carried Elliott off the field.

“It was awesome,” Elliott said afterwards. “I was just kind of running around trying not to get hurt.”

The Eagles were far from perfect on Sunday. Late in the fourth quarter, it seemed like they had unnecessarily let the Giants back in the game and failed to bury a team that was in many ways asking to be buried. But Elliott’s game-winner puts the Eagles in a good spot in the NFC East heading into next Sunday’s matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers.

Elliott’s teammates had varying angles and viewpoints when the kick went through. Here’s a rundown of what they said afterwards.

Brandon Graham: “My head was down. I was just waiting on people to run out. And if they ran out, we won. If they didn’t, dang, we’ve got to go to overtime. But when I heard people yelling and going crazy, I just started running. I didn’t even see him make it [laughs].”

Jaylen Watkins: “The first thing I was worried about was the returner [Odell Beckham Jr.]. I think I saw him in college before jump and catch one. And I saw he was just standing there. I was like, ‘OK, at least it’s got the distance.’ And he wasn’t moving right or left, so I’m like, ‘Yo, this looks like it’s going in.’ And of course it goes in. You could tell by his reaction. The closer it got, he was like, ‘Oh, shoot.’ His demeanor wasn’t anything good.

“I have a hamstring injury, but I couldn’t help but take off a little bit before I had to catch myself like, ‘I’m not 100 percent healthy. I can’t do that.’ But emotions were wild.”

Zach Ertz: “I was in the play. I was on the left wing trying to protect my side. It was an unbelievable kick. We were so focused on Odell being back there pre-snap that we were like, ‘We’ve got to be firm in the pocket. We’ve got to be firm in our protection. Then we’ve got to protect and release.’ As I see that thing going, I’m like, ‘Man, this thing really has a chance.’ And it just kept going and going. When they signaled it was good, I was shocked — 61 yards into the wind. When I saw Odell looking up through the upright, that’s when I knew it was good. And obviously everyone went crazy. It was an electric feeling, electric atmosphere.That kid’s got a leg on him obviously. And we’re happy to have him.”

Kamu Grugier-Hill: “He hit that a couple times in practice so we have confidence in him for sure. Honestly, from my angle, it looked wide right, so I was like, ‘Ahhh!’ And then I saw it go through the thing, and I just lost it.”

Jalen Mills: “You see him banging long field goals at practice all the time. So for sure, we already knew that he had a strong leg. That’s why Coach Doug [Pederson] didn’t think twice about putting the field-goal unit out there. So as soon as he kicked it, you saw him get full extension, and he made it.”

Beau Allen: “It was a hell of a kick, man. I’m on the field-goal team, and with long kicks like that, you’ve got to cover because they put a return man back there. You don’t want a situation like Alabama-Auburn a couple years ago. So I was sprinting down the field about as hard as I could just eyeing down the returner. All of a sudden, he turns, started walking away. I looked up, saw that it was good and turned around and it was just chaos. Great feeling. It was a hell of a kick by that kid. … I remember turning around and saw [Jason Kelce] sprinting at me and kind of blacked out after that. That was a grinder, ya know?”

Alshon Jeffery: “When I came to the sideline, I asked our special teams coach if he’s ever made a kick that far. He said [Elliott] can make it from 61 yards. He said he’s practiced it before, so I’m like, ‘Sh-t.’ I was just hoping that if he didn’t make it, we could take our best chances in overtime.”

Malcolm Jenkins: “Hoping that Odell Beckham didn’t catch it. That’s all I cared about. I was like, ‘Man, as long as he doesn’t get the ball with our offensive line out there trying to tackle him.’ That was probably my biggest concern. And I was obviously very elated that it went through the goalposts.”

Brandon Brooks: “Sh-t, I was blocking, man. I was trying to make sure that nobody was able to get their hands [on it], just making sure we held up. And then after that, obviously, a 61-yarder, in the back of your mind, you’ve got to cover too. Once I realized it had a pretty good shot of going in, I just waited to see what was happening.”

Carson Wentz: “I was just praying that it went in. How often do you see a 61-yarder? I think it was the longest in franchise history. Good for him. Hats off to him as a guy who just got here two weeks ago. We’re all pretty pumped for the kid.”

Chris Maragos: “Dude, how fun was that? I wanted to get back to see if I could get a good angle. And Jake’s done such a good job coming here under the circumstances. Obviously you’re working with operation time with a snapper and a holder for just a couple weeks here. He has a really strong leg. He’s hit some bombs in practice. So we knew he had a really strong leg. The snap was perfect. Donnie [Jones] had a perfect hold. Gave him the comfort to just swing through it. When that kick went through, you’re at a loss for words — just with what that meant for our team. I think I was just jumping around, helmet up, just going crazy.”

Jason Kelce: “I was behind the ball, right around the 45-yard line on the other side. So I couldn’t tell where it was in relation to the field goal. I was like, ‘Is that going right? Is it going to be long enough?’ And I still didn’t know until the official threw his hands up whether it went in or not. Kudos to Elliot. That’s tremendous coming in here like that, last-minute situation with Caleb [Sturgis] going down. He’s only been here for two weeks now. So that’s huge — 61-yarder to win the game. That’s fun.”

Torrey Smith: “I couldn’t believe he could kick the ball that far, so I thought we were going to take a shot at a Hail Mary, but the guy comes out and gets it done. … I honestly didn’t know it was in. I thought it was a yard too short. I’m sitting there looking at the guy. I hear the crowd yelling and waiting for the ref, and I lost my mind. It was crazy.”

Nelson Agholor: “I was just watching it. Until you saw the refs put the hands up, that’s when I knew. That was a great kick by him, a great play by him.”

Rasul Douglas: “Oh my goodness. I was on the sideline. I think everybody was up on their feet just trying to see if he was going to make it or not. When I looked at Odell back there and I saw that he didn’t put his hands up like he had a chance to return it, I was like, ‘Oh he must have the leg for it.’ And it went in, and everyone just went crazy. It was an exciting moment. I’m so happy for him.”

Trey Burton: “When he kicked it, I was like, ‘This might have a chance.’ I was probably at the opposite 35-yard line, kneeling down, just watching it. I was more worried about the guys covering it if it would have went short. But it was a great kick.”

Lane Johnson: “When he first kicked it, I knew it was going to come out low, so the big thing was to not let any pressure in. We had a cover call, so as soon as it went in the air, we ran down the field and I thought it was going to go wide right. It curved back in. I heard the crowd’s reaction, and the stadium just erupted.”

Eli Manning: “I didn’t know if he had enough on it to make it there, but obviously he kicked it and had a good kick. Thought maybe [we’d] have a shot with Odell and get the ball in Odell’s hands there at the end and maybe he could make something happen for us but obviously [it] didn’t go that way.”

Odell Beckham Jr.: “It was good. There was no question. He booted it. I was praying it was going to be short. I was reminiscing of other days. It was UAB, kicked a field goal and ran it back 109 [yards]. Had to write 109 miscellaneous yards in the NCAA because it never really happened before. So I was praying that he kicked it short, and I was going to be able to run it back and we were going to have that feeling that they had winning in the last second.”

Doug Pederson: “Quite honestly, I had so much confidence standing there. Calmness. I just watched him kick a couple kickoffs extremely deep into the end zone, and it was pretty awesome. Sounded like a cannon off his foot. Great snap, great hold, protection was there. Yeah, awesome. Awesome, awesome, awesome.”

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN…

1. Why Pederson went for it on 4th-and-8?

The Eagles had the ball on the Giants’ 43 with 2:36 left in the first half. They were up 7-0 when Pederson decided to leave his offense on the field. Wentz took a sack and gave New York’s offense great field position at its own 49.

“It was something I discussed with the guy that’s helping me upstairs with some of the analytics and where we were on the field, what we were doing offensively at the time,” Pederson said. “The defense was playing extremely well. Had an opportunity to really keep ourselves on the field at that time. That’s why I elected to go for it at that point. And then obviously we didn’t get it, and defense held.”

The Eagles’ defense had forced two punts and an interception on three possessions up to that point.

My general opinion is that coaches are often way too conservative. Jeffrey Lurie explained before the season that the organization has mapped these scenarios out and is going to lean on the correct math. We’ll check the math this week on The Athletic, but that’s what the Eagles apparently did here.

2. What the deal is at left guard?

The Eagles benched Isaac Seumalo and started Chance Warmack. Warmack played three series and then was replaced by Stefen Wisniewski. Wisniewski said the plan all along was to play both guys.

Warmack came back into the game in the second half, but according to Bo Wulf, he played 30 overall snaps, compared to 41 for Wisniewski.

For the record, I don’t understand this strategy. The team had all of training camp and the preseason to evaluate players. Now it’s time to decide on a guy and let him play. If he struggles, make changes during the week.

Without yet having the benefit of re-watching, it seemed like Wisniewski performed better. After the game, Pederson said Seumalo is still in the mix as well. We’ll see what happens next week in Los Angeles.

THE NUMBER THAT MATTERS: 2

That’s the number of explosive pass plays (20 yards or more) that the Eagles’ defense allowed. One was the huge 77-yarder to Sterling Shepard where Chris Maragos took a bad angle. The other was a 22-yarder to Brandon Marshall.

To be fair, Beckham also drew a 28-yard pass interference penalty.

But on a day when the Eagles didn’t have Ronald Darby, Rodney McLeod, Jaylen Watkins or Corey Graham, things could have been a lot worse.

GAME BALL OFFENSE: LEGARRETTE BLOUNT

After not getting a single carry last week, Blount had 12 rushes for 67 yards. On an early run, he bulldozed a pair of Giants defenders and picked up 17 yards.

Later, Blount added a 20-yard run.

“As a running back, you obviously want the ball quite a bit,” Blount said. “It’s pretty tough to get into a rhythm when you don’t get it. They gave it to me early, and I got into a rhythm.”

GAME BALL DEFENSE: VINNY CURRY

Curry was distraught last week after he failed to bring Alex Smith down in a key spot. And while it might not show up in the box score, he had a couple of huge plays against the Giants.

On 4th-and-goal from the Eagles’ 1, right before halftime, Curry stuffed Orleans Darkwa for a loss. And on the Giants’ final drive of the game, after they had scored on four straight possessions, Curry drew a holding penalty with his pass rush against Ereck Flowers.

That put the Giants at 2nd-and-18, and they punted two plays later.

THAT’S WHAT HE SAID

“I didn’t even know we were linking arms. I just was taking time for myself. I was the last one out of the end zone, was walking, the anthem started. It’s just what I felt at the time. Don’t look too deep into it.” — Mychal Kendricks.

The Eagles decided to lock arms as a show of unity during the national anthem. Kendricks didn’t join them. But he said there was no meaning to his gestures. It’s just what he always does.

FIVE THOUGHTS AND LEFTOVERS

1. Before the Elliott kick came a 19-yard completion from Wentz to Jeffery. It’s a play and a situation that the Eagles just practiced on Saturday.

“It’s kind of a desperation attempt, but it’s something we execute every week,” Pederson said. “We actually step through that play every week, and we just did it yesterday, and it paid off. Great throw, great catch. Alshon did a great job of coming back for the ball from what I could see on the sideline, coming back and stepping underneath the defender and making the play and stepping out of bounds, having the awareness to step out. Just a veteran move right there. Gave us time on the clock.”

Pederson said the play is supposed to take five or six seconds. It took six, and the Eagles had one second to kick the field goal.

2. I am fascinated by Grugier-Hill’s role as the celebration ambassador for this team. If you remember, the backup linebacker dumped Gatorade on Pederson in Week 1. And Sunday, he helped carry Elliott off the field. I asked him if he has a designated role to lead the celebrations.

“No, I just love this team,” he said. “I love this sport. I love my teammates. And I just love celebrating. I have so much fun out there. I don’t know, man. These kinds of moments right here, we don’t live forever. So I think you’ve got to make the best out of every moment. Don’t take anything for granted.”

3. I’m not sure what to make of the Eagles’ run game other than to say it worked. The team rushed 39 times for 193 yards. Blount had a couple really nice carries early on but then got pulled. Wendell Smallwood (12 carries, 71 yards) got going late. And Corey Clement rushed six times for 22 yards and a touchdown. It seemed like the Eagles had a pre-determined plan on who was going to go in when, and they stuck with it. But that meant Clement getting some carries in a crucial spot late and almost fumbling one of them on the exchange with Wentz.

If Darren Sproles (wrist) is injured, it looks like Smallwood will assume third down duties. I did like the diversity of the Eagles’ run game, and the offensive line opened up some big holes.

4. I think I have no problem with the Eagles’ defensive game plan, given how banged-up they were. The goal was to keep everything in front of them, rally to the ball, tackle and avoid explosive plays.

“We definitely knew the ball was going to come out quick,” Jenkins said. “They weren’t going to let our rush take over the game. We wanted to keep 13 [Beckham] in front of us and not behind us. And everyone else was going to have to win matchups. For the most part, we did that. We got real leaky late in the game. But for the most part, I thought we did well.

“They hit us with some tempo to really take our D-Line out of the game plan. And it’s something we had to get adjusted to. But for as many guys that went down and the guys we came in with, I thought we played well. There’s some things that we’ve got to make some corrections on, but obviously a win is a win.”

The Eagles had zero sacks and four quarterback hits. But Manning was getting rid of the ball quickly, and things got tougher once Cox went out in the second quarter. If he and Jordan Hicks are out next week, this unit’s depth will be tested even more in Los Angeles.

5. I thought Wentz looked unsettled for much of this game. He completed 21 of 31 passes for 176 yards. Wentz’s inaccuracy on deep passes continues. He sailed a ball out of bounds when Jeffery was open downfield. And it seemed like there were times where Wentz was holding on to the ball, unsure of where to go with it.

I didn’t like him taking a sack on that 4th-and-8 call. If you’re going to go for it, the quarterback has to at least take a shot. Maybe you draw a pass interference call, and even if it gets intercepted, it’s a punt. Not a panic-worthy performance, but I didn’t think Wentz played as well as he did in the first two games.

Extra point: Smith admitted that there’s an art to drawing pass interference calls, like the one he got for 36 yards against cornerback Eli Apple in the fourth quarter.

“You’ve got to sell it,” Smith said. “I thought he did a good job. He arm-barred. I thought he looked back, but I looked at the film. Apparently he didn’t look back right away. But there were other calls that they didn’t call during the game. They called that one. We’ll take it [laughs]. I didn’t think it was that bad.”

GUESSING THE LINE: CHARGERS (-3)

The Eagles will travel across the country to take on the 0-3 Chargers. Los Angeles dropped its first two games by a combined five points before losing, 24-10, to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

I have no feel for this line, and the Eagles will likely have more fans in Los Angeles than the Chargers, but I’ll make the Birds three-point underdogs.