While the Eagles have been winning convincingly, this 3-0 start hasn’t been perfect. The Eagles have been able to start fast on offense and figure out how to generate turnovers and pressures after a wobbly start to Jonathan Gannon’s tenure. But if this team is to make some serious postseason noise, these are the areas that will need to be addressed.
Special teams
The Eagles have always valued special teams more than the next team, but it looks like that could be a weakness this time around. After spending money and draft picks to assemble a great defensive and offensive unit, the franchise has put itself in a pickle on special teams.
For starters, Britain Covey has looked a bit lost out there and isn’t helping the team in any way. The Eagles have had the most 80+ yard starting drives in the NFL this season and could use some help back there. Maybe using the speed of Devon Allen or possibly fishing for a veteran returner could help fix this.
One way or another this has to be fixed sooner rather than later. Teams will have more film on the Eagles as the weeks pass and I would hate for a game-winning drive to start at the 20-yard line as opposed to the 30 or 36.
Second half scoring
After three weeks of football, the Eagles have only scored 14 points in the second half. Those 14 points came in week 1 against the Detroit Lions. Since then they’ve put up nothing but zeroes against the Vikings and Commanders. While there wasn’t an initial need to score due to the defense shutting down both offenses, the team should still worry about this.
This could be an issue that haunts them in the long run, especially in games that are closer than they need to be. While starting fast has plagued the franchise for so long, it looks like the team has fixed that while creating another issue for themselves. I wouldn’t be too concerned about this due to the talent on offense, but, still, this has to be fixed.
The Eagles are running the table…for now
Miles Sanders has been the cream of the crop when it comes to explosive runs. In a contract year, I would’ve expected a bit more efficiency out of him at this point. Has the run game been terrible? No. But it has been carried by the team’s QB. Jalen Hurts rushed for 90 yards in week 1 as the team finished with 216 rushing yards. He then ran for 57 yards in week 2 as the team finished with 163 rushing yards, and in week 3 he ran for 20 yards as the team finished with 72 rushing yards.
Do you see the trend? The less that Jalen has run, the less the team has in yards. Miles Sanders ran for 96 yards in the opener, 80 rushing yards in week 2, and only 46 rushing yards in week 3. This could be a reason why the team isn’t scoring in the second half. After seeing the Eagles pass so much while shutting down the run, teams could be keying into the idea of how to stop the Eagles.
Kenny Gainwell and Boston Scott haven’t seen a ton of action and while efficient in the first two weeks, Miles Sanders is still running into piles as opposed to avoiding them. Opposing teams will figure this out sooner rather than later and if the Eagles are to be a top team then their run game has to be better. And it can’t be on Jalen Hurts
Photo by John Jones/Icon Sportswire
