It certainly wasn’t the start many were envisioning.
The Philadelphia Eagles’ offense was grounded for most of the day Sunday afternoon in Foxboro, Massachusetts with mental mistakes and poor game-planning. The fact the Eagles came away with a 25-20 win had more to do with clutch special teams and defensive line play than what the offense ended up doing.
Despite all the concerns that could come with a season-opening game like Sunday, there is still a level of optimism and relaxation that should come from the Eagles fanbase. There are plenty of reasons why it’s still far too early to worry about the offense and that includes their young play-caller.
Bad Weather games don’t break seasons in Week 1
If an offensive unit struggles on opening day, that doesn’t mean that they’ll be bad for the entire year. Offenses like the Kansas City Chiefs, Cincinnati Bengals, and others struggled in their games due to a myriad of factors. That doesn’t make them bad.
With torrential downpours throughout the country, the Eagles-Patriots game was no different. Philadelphia’s offense struggled throughout the game to get their footing due to a number of concerns but that doesn’t mean they’ll be bad the whole year.
The more these guys get reps together in games, the better they’ll be. Most teams understand that the first month of the year is an extension of the preseason and that most teams don’t worry too much at this time and that should be extended to the Eagles.
Offensive line mirage
How many games have we seen the Eagles offensive line get destroyed like on Sunday? Philadelphia’s best offensive unit was beaten consistently against New England (we’ll get to the coaching staff shortly). Jalen Hurts was sacked three times while being hit five times and a number of pressures.
It was easily the worst the group had looked in a very long time. Do we honestly expect them to look like that the entire year?
With Jeff Stoutland still manning controls, the Eagles should feel confident that the group will not look as bad as they did on Sunday. For that reason alone, there shouldn’t be any panic about the win.
Bill Belichick = Defensive Genius
The Eagles sat their entire starting offense throughout the preseason and kicked off the year against the greatest defensive mind in NFL history with a rookie offensive play-caller.
What did you expect to happen?
Philadelphia may have only put up 18 points offensive (most coming off a short field) but that is still more than almost every team against the Patriots in season-openers in the last five years. The Eagles won’t be playing a defensive scheme like this again, or the matchup of players so there shouldn’t be any reason to panic at the moment for at least until the month of October.
NFL Quarterbacks struggle across country
Hurts did not play well on Sunday. The way people are talking now though is that he was the only quarterback to struggle in Week 1 and that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Top quarterbacks like Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson, and DeShaun Watson all looked poor due to different reasons. The fact he didn’t play in the preseason is another piece of why he came out rusty.
It is laughable to think that Hurts won’t bounce back from missed reads and going against a top defensive mind. Belichick has a plan for every team and every player he faces. There aren’t many other defensive coaches like him which means the Eagles quarterback should be more than fine going into the rest of the year.
As always, R-E-L-A-X people.
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AP Photo/Michael Dwyer
