The Eagles fell to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night with a score of 22-28. Let’s take a look at the Eagles’ performance this past week and look ahead towards their next matchup. Here is our Week 7 State of the Eagles.
Recap
The Eagles looked like a sloppy football team on Thursday, with the offense barely getting anything going throughout the majority of the game. The defense held its own against the passing game, limiting Brady to only 2 touchdowns, although they were gashed by Leonard Fournette throughout the entire game. Jalen Hurts didn’t look great this game, throwing for only one touchdown with 115 yards. Overall, this game wasn’t nearly as close as the final score might suggest; the Eagles were outcoached and outmatched the entire game.
Positive Observations
1.) Secondary
The Eagles secondary played well this game, holding Tom Brady to only 2 touchdowns. In addition to this, the Eagles intercepted Brady once, although should have been twice if not for a ridiculous call by the officials. Overall, the defensive secondary looked fairly decent against one of the greatest quarterbacks who has ever played the game.
2.) Quez Watkins
Another day, another dollar, and another Quez Watkins good game. His numbers from Thursday’s game don’t jump out of the stat sheet as incredible; although, he made some good plays on Thursday. The most noticeable of which was a nice adjustment while falling to catch a ball that was tipped by a Tampa Bay defender. Watkins is solidifying his case to be the Eagles #2 wide receiver.
3.) Jordan Mailata
Mailata had himself yet another good game, doing so while making the switch to Right Tackle during Lane Johnson’s absence. Mailata has been an absolute stud this season; the Eagles may have found their franchise Left Tackle if/when Lane Johnson returns. Mailata’s story of transitioning from a rugby player to an NFL player is nothing short of incredible.
4.) Penalties
The Eagles still struggled with penalties this game; however, they struggled much less than they had in previous weeks. The Eagles were actually penalized less than the Buccaneers were on Thursday, with only 4 penalties called against them. On a week with not many positive observations, this is certainly one of them.
Negative Observations
1.) Nick Sirianni’s play-calling
Sirianni’s play-calling has not been up to par this season; his reluctance to run the ball is infuriating as a fan to watch. Sanders needs more than 9 rushes per game; it’s aggravating to continue to watch Sirianni refuse to give him the ball. In addition to this, the Eagles seemed to have no creativity or motion during their plays on Thursday. Sirianni can only call so many screen plays & short routes before the opposing defense starts to play up and jump routes. In Week 7, it is disappointing to see him still fall short.
2.) Lack of pressure
For the big names on the Eagles’ defensive line, they certainly aren’t generating enough pressure to justify paying them the contracts that they have. During the majority of this game, Brady had all day to throw. This needs to change if the Eagles anticipate being anything close to competitive during the rest of this season.
3.) The officials
Before I jump into this section, let me preface by saying this: The officials are not why the Eagles lost this game. The Eagles lost this game because they were outcoached and outplayed. With that being said, the officials in Thursday night’s game were awful; blatantly missing seemingly obvious calls. The worst call of all was an interception that was overturned by the officials after further review. The officiating in this game was laughable and quite disappointing.
4.) Jalen Hurts
Let’s face it: Jalen Hurts looked bad this game. He sailed some throws and he short-hopped a few of them. His accuracy and arm talent have been some criticism of his during his young career, and he certainly didn’t do enough to quiet them during Thursday’s game. In addition to only completing 46% of his passes against Tampa Bay, he also threw an interception. Am I ready to give up on Jalen Hurts? No; however, this was not a good game for him.
Standings
The loss on Thursday night resulted in the Eagles dropping to a 2-4 record. The Giants and the Washington Football Team also lost this weekend; however, the Cowboys won an overtime thriller against New England. With the Cowboys sitting at 5-1, this division is theirs to lose; they are looking dangerous this season. The updated NFC East standings are as follows:
- Dallas Cowboys: 5-1
- Washington Football Team: 2-4
- Philadelphia Eagles: 2-4
- New York Giants: 1-5
Upcoming Game
The Eagles travel to Las Vegas on Sunday to face the 4-2 Raiders. The Raiders have had an interesting season, with losses to the Chargers and the Bears. This is a winnable game for the Eagles; however, the Raiders are a formidable opponent. Derek Carr has had a decent season so far, with similar stats to Jalen Hurts. Ultimately, if the Eagles can get enough pressure on Carr, I believe that they can win this game. This may be hopeful thinking, but I expect the Eagles to come out of next week with a 3-4 record.
Conclusion
The Eagles are certainly having a rough start to the season. With that being said, three of their first six opponents are NFL juggernauts in the Cowboys, Chiefs, and the Bucs. The next 7 games on the Eagles’ schedule are all winnable games, with the lone exception being against the Chargers. This team is still attempting to figure out who they are as a team, as well as Sirianni still trying to figure out who he is as a coach. This team is young, give them a break. Now is certainly not the time to start calling for the Eagles to draft a QB in next year’s NFL draft. To all Eagles fans: relax, let’s see what Hurts can do before clamoring for the Eagles to spend a premium pick on a QB in a bad QB draft class. As always, Go Birds.
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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.
