No Time To Panic About The Eagles—Yet
The Phillies lost their opening playoff game to the Los Angeles Dodgers after jumping to a 3-0 lead. Penn State, a team that has many followers in the Delaware Valley, lost to 24.5-point underdog UCLA. And then there were the Eagles, who squandered a 17-3 fourth quarter lead to lose 21-17 to the visiting Denver Broncos.
The Eagles had jumped to a 4-0 record entering the game, but not all was well. A.J. Brown was complaining that he didn’t receive enough passes.
We have unfortunately heard this line before.
That was a valid complaint, but he should have talked it over with his coaches and quarterback Jalen Hurts instead of posting it on social media.
The Eagles had two of the worst halves in consecutive games: the first half in their win over the Los Angeles Rams and the second half in their victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Last year there was similar panic with the Eagles, who opened the season 2-2 and then would only lose one game the rest of the season (including the postseason) en route to earning their second Super Bowl crown.
The difference this year is that the Eagles banked four wins while still having their struggles through four games.
Not only that, but three of the wins over Kansas City, the Los Angeles Rams and Tampa are against teams that are very likely to be in the playoffs.
And while this seemed crazy two weeks ago to type, even their win over Dallas may come against a potential playoff team.
So, the Eagles have had a difficult schedule, but we’re pretty sure coach Nick Sirianni isn’t going to give back any of the wins.
And the next three games the Eagles play the New York Giants twice, sandwiched around a game at Minnesota, whose quarterback the past two weeks has been former Eagle Carson Wentz.
It’s very possible that the Eagles, despite their struggles for consistency, can be 7-1 after the next three games, heading into their bye week.
This is a Giants team that just lost to previously winless New Orleans. All that talk about rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart being the savior of the franchise may be a little cooled down right now.
Either way, the Eagles have to worry about themselves.
Right now, they are definitely out of sorts on offense.
Against Denver, Saquon Barkley carried the ball just six times. That was about a quarter’s work for Barkley last year.
In addition, Hurts only had two carries.
Hurts is the most effective when he is stretching defenses with his legs. He is not the best natural passer, so if there isn’t a running element to his game, he becomes more defensible.
The defense has also had moments of inconsistency. Against Denver, the defense seemed to wear down, and the reason was that the Broncos owned the edge in time of possession 34:17 to 25:43. In the fourth quarter the time of possession advantage for the Broncos was 9:10 to 5:50.
One other problem this season with the Eagles is that their offensive line, long considered among the best in the NFL, has struggled. Landon Dickerson, a Pro Bowl guard in each of the last three seasons, has been hurt and appears less dominant. He had to leave the Denver game with an ankle injury.
The defensive line also hasn’t been getting to the quarterback with regularity.
So, there is plenty of improvement that can be made.
Time to panic? No way.
Time for the Eagles to resemble the dominant championship team of a year ago (following the first four games)? You bet.
Photo: Eagles Saquon Barkley/Courtesy of Philadelphia Eagles Twitter/X
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Author: Marc Narducci
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