Recap
The Philadelphia Eagles fell to a 3-6 record on Sunday to the Los Angeles Chargers by the score of 24-27. The Eagles defense struggled mightily during this game; the Chargers didn’t punt once. Ultimately, the Eagles offense kept them in the game, tying it up with just over 6 minutes left in the game. Unfortunately, the Chargers then slowly and methodically drove down the field on a 15 play, 64-yard drive to kick a game-winning field goal. The Eagles dropped to 3-6, yet miraculously still hold the 2nd place spot in the NFC East standings. Let’s take a closer look at the Eagles’ performance from this Sunday.
Positive Observations
1.) Nick Sirianni
Nick Sirianni finally seems to be understanding that he needs to help his young quarterback by running the ball. The Eagles racked up 176 yards on the ground with 4.5 yards per carry. Sirianni’s play-calling was decent this past Sunday; he’s done a great job the past two weeks of having a nice balance of running and passing plays. I’m excited to see Sirianni continue to grow as a play-caller.
2.) Jalen Hurts
Hurts did not have his greatest outing on Sunday; he missed a few easy throws, two of which should have been touchdowns to Devonta Smith and Dallas Goedert. With that being said, Hurts played well this game. He completed 11 of his 17 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown, along with 62 yards on the ground. My biggest observation of Hurts this game was his confidence in the pocket and his ability to step up and throw some darts throughout the game rather than bailing out of the pocket to his right. Overall good game from Hurts aside from his mistakes early.
3.) Devonta Smith
Smith had a breakout game on Sunday, hauling in 5 receptions for 116 yards and a touchdown on 6 targets. Smith has emerged as the Eagles’ WR1, and for good reason. He constantly created separation from defensive backs in Sunday’s game; his explosiveness is unmatched. Props to Howie for picking him.
4.) Offensive Line
The makeshift offensive line has played well; they only gave up one sack during Sunday’s game as well as opening holes for the Eagles running backs to hit. As always, they certainly were not perfect during Sunday’s game; however, they have held their own, which is a stark contrast from last year’s excuse of an offensive line. Kudos to this group.
Negative Observations
1.) Jonathan Gannon
Oh boy, Gannon finds himself back in my negative observations group. Watching this defense is a chore, and the saddest part about it is that the scheme is so broken that it does not allow the players to be successful. The Eagles defense allowed Justin Herbert to absolutely shred them, completing 84% (!) of his passes for 356 yards. In addition to this, the Eagles were unable to force a punt or a turnover in this game.
As the old saying goes: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” The Eagles defensive scheme of playing press coverage while sending blitzes worked wonders against Detroit, I’m at a loss of words for why Gannon decided to play soft coverage once again this season. It’s a disgrace; he needs to fix it or he won’t finish the season in Philadelphia.
2.) Derek Barnett
Ah yes, yet another Derek Barnett penalty in a crucial spot in the game. Barnett got called for an offsides penalty that turned a 3rd & 6 into a 3rd & 1 for the Chargers, which they then converted easily. An interesting (and depressing) fact about Barnett is that he has accrued more penalties than he has sacks since he was drafted. In a contract year, he certainly isn’t giving the Eagles much reason to bring him back.
3.) Defensive Scheme
I know that I already wrote about Jonathan Gannon in the negative observations list, but his performance has been so putrid this season that I felt as if he needed a second column. This Eagles defense has been historically bad this season; they have allowed 5 quarterbacks to complete 80% or more of their passes against them 5 times in 9 games. Before this season, the Eagles had only allowed an opposing quarterback to do that 6 times from 1950-2020.
4.) Jalen Reagor
Reagor had some hype surrounding him entering into this season after a great camp; many Eagles fans truly believed that he would be a great WR2 this season. That assumption has all but faded, as he has been practically invisible recently. Over his past 4 games, he has 4 receptions for 19 yards on 8 targets, including one catch in Sunday’s game for -6 yards.
Standings
The Eagles were not the only NFC East team to lose this week, as Dallas dropped a shocker against the Denver Broncos. The Broncos absolutely decimated the Cowboys, while the Giants won their third game of the season. As for Washington, they avoided a loss due to being on a BYE this week. Although the Cowboys lost this past week, this division is still their’s to lose. The updated NFC East standings are as follows:
- Dallas Cowboys: 6-2
- Philadelphia Eagles: 3-6
- New York Giants: 3-6
- Washington Football Team: 2-6
Upcoming Game
The Eagles travel to Denver to take on the Broncos this coming Sunday at 4:25pm. The 5-4 Broncos are fresh off of a 30-16 win at Dallas that honestly wasn’t as close as the score may seem due to a few garbage time scores by Dallas. This is a certainly winnable game for the Eagles; however, it would be wise to avoid underestimating the Broncos team. Ultimately, I believe that this will be a close game, with the Broncos coming out as the victors. I expect the Eagles to drop to a 3-7 record after next week.
Final Thoughts
Although the Eagles lost last week, I am encouraged by the competitive nature that this team has. Regardless of whether you think that Jalen Hurts can (or should) be the Eagles franchise quarterback, he can flat out lead his team. He showed some promise during Sunday’s game, I’m interested to see if he builds his confidence throughout the rest of the season. There are no such things as moral victories, but the Eagles looked competitive for the second week in a row; that is certainly a reason to be hopeful. As always, Go Birds!
Subscribe to our posts and bookmark these feeds:
* * *
Nate Eichner is a featured writer at The Birds Blitz. For more from Nate, check out his archive and read through our Eagles articles for the latest news about the Birds.
