It’s fair to feel skeptical about the Philadelphia Eagles — especially after they fell apart last year.
The Eagles are fresh off a 37-17 blowout of the Cincinnati Bengals. They’ve won three straight. Philly has pulled into attacking distance for the No. 1 spot in the NFC East and maybe even the NFC.
All should be well. Winning should solve everything.
But it hasn’t exactly. There seems to be a residue of discontent from last year. You know what happened: The Eagles lost six of their final seven games, including a postseason blowout at the hands of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts weren’t on good terms, according to ESPN. They didn’t communicate well.
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Are they now? That’s the question that will determine whether the Eagles can avoid another collapse.
“Offensively, [we] continued to trend forward. I don’t think we’re there yet. [We’re] slowly finding it and piecing it together. … I’m excited and pleased with how we played as an offense,” Hurts said after Philly’s Week 8 win over Cincy. “I think Kellen [offensive coordinator Kellen Moore] did a really good job today. We’re just all in it together — sticking together and communicating.”
Here’s the good news: Philly isn’t the New York Jets.
Both teams searched for an identity in the early weeks of the 2024 season. Both teams started 2-2. Both teams had all the talent in the world to form an identity — to make 11 high-end starters into one elite unit. But it’s the Eagles who have made that happen with some degree of consistency. (The Jets certainly have not.) That’s a credit to Hurts, Sirianni and the team as a whole.
Maybe the Eagles suffered another loss to the Buccaneers in Week 4 — which felt eerily similar to their postseason defeat. But that feels like forever ago. Since then, they’ve won three games. And their slow start makes some sense with Vic Fangio in his first year as the team’s defensive coordinator and Moore in his first year as the offensive coordinator. They brought in new systems that changed the way the Eagles operated. It’s a good sign that those systems are finally starting to click.
But like Hurts said: They’re not all the way there yet. There’s also evidence of things coming apart and breaking down. That’s not always a bad thing.
Think of it like building a muscle: We break them down to get stronger. You just don’t want to pull or tear anything along the way. In that sense, the Eagles tore their metaphorical ACL last year.
Against the Bengals at the start of the second half last Sunday, the Eagles hadn’t yet pulled away. It was still 10–10 in the third quarter and Philly’s offense had the ball around midfield. Receiver A.J. Brown was calling for the ball — wide open — on the left sideline. Had Hurts found him, they would’ve had a long touchdown. Lucky for the Eagles, they also had tight end Grant Calcaterra wide open over the middle. Hurts went there for a chunk gain.
On the following passing play in the red zone, Brown again had space, perhaps enough to get into the end zone. But Hurts chose his tight end, Jack Stoll, for a 6-yard gain. That had Brown jumping and punching his fists seemingly in frustration. Eventually, Saquon Barkley scored a touchdown.
Was it a sense of urgency from Brown? Or frustration? And did any of that matter after the score?
When the Eagles secured a lopsided scoreline in the fourth quarter, Sirianni approached linebacker Josh Sweat with a smile on the sideline. Sirianni fiddled with Sweat’s helmet, and the backer pushed his coach away. It was strange. And if not for Sirianni’s reputation of struggling to connect with his players, it wouldn’t be worth mentioning. But Sirianni does have that reputation. His relationships are under immense scrutiny.
There was a similar but more symbolic gesture after the game. During a postgame press conference, Hurts was asked what’s been so effective about designed quarterback runs.
“I don’t know. I don’t know,” he said. “It got called.”
That begs the question: Is this uptick something he’d also been asking for?
Hurts also discussed what worked for the offense in this matchup, including whether it had something to do with the uptick of under-center snaps.
“When you’re able to be the imposer, I think that says a lot about what you are offensively,” Hurts said. “There are multiple ways to impose. … Whatever it is, as long as you’re in full control. I think that’s a mentality that we’re trying to develop and I’m trying to push.”
Push whom?
What he’s pushing is the strategy of attacking with your best plays and players — rather than working to exploit another team’s weaknesses. In a perfect world, the two things align. But in reality, they often do not.
“It’s a balancing act each and every week,” Moore said. “You have a lot of respect for your opponent and all the things that they can do. You’ve got to account for all the possibilities and prepare the right way while also still doing what you do and what you invest a lot of time in.
“So you’re balancing those two elements week in and week out. We’re constantly in that tug-of-war.”
Is the Eagles’ three-game win streak something or nothing?
This could all be a healthy dialogue that improves the performance of the team. Certainly, the Eagles’ past two games speak to exactly that. They have been a different team since their Week 5 bye on both offense and defense. The biggest difference has been Hurts, though. He threw four interceptions in the first three weeks of the season but has not thrown one since then. He still has lost the ball on fumbles, with three in the past four weeks. But if you look at his turnover-worthy play statistics, that helps put the situation in great context.
From Weeks 1 to 4, he had 11 turnover-worthy plays (2.75 per game).
From Weeks 6 to 8, he had only one turnover-worthy play. Total.
Just about every measurement of Hurts’ play demonstrates that he is growing more comfortable in this offense. That makes sense. They’re figuring out how to make it work for their quarterback. Surely, it helps that Hurts is pushing for what matters to him. It also helps that they finally have their array of playmakers on the field. Brown, Barkley and Devonta Smith have all missed time this season.
Above all, the offense is predicated upon matchups, with Hurts having more pre-snap power than ever. This offense tasks the quarterback with identifying — before the snap — where his primary read should be based on what he’s seeing from the defense. When Hurts sees single-man coverage, he has the green light to alert his receiver and attack that matchup as the primary option. But that requires savvy work from Hurts to keep from missing those crucial moments where the defense gives him a shot to attack. And that emphasizes the talent the Eagles have at the skill positions. It also helps highlight why their injuries have cost them so dearly. Because the matchup might be there, but a backup can’t win it like Brown or Smith or Barkley can.
Now, if the matchups don’t present themselves, Hurts is more than capable of sitting in the pocket and reading through his progression. At least, he has been in the past three weeks.
“He’s playing quarterback at a high level,” Sirianni said. “Playing quarterback at a high level is not just throwing the ball accurately, it’s going to the right place with the ball. The right place with the ball could be their third or fourth read.”
The Eagles are the equivalent of a ticking time bomb in a James Bond movie. You’re pretty sure that everything will be OK, because … it’s James Bond. But — well, you probably saw “Skyfall.” Sometimes, the bomb goes off.
Yes, I’m mixing my metaphors. First it was the ACL. Now it’s a James Bond movie. But that’s the nature of the Eagles. Everything is a little chaotic.
It’s not safe to say anything with certainty about Philly.
Prior to joining FOX Sports as an NFL reporter and columnist, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.
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