Another game, another impressive win for the Philadelphia Eagles.
For the second straight year, Nick Sirianni and his team have started a year 5-0 following a 23-14 win against the Los Angeles Rams Sunday evening. Many analysts and fans have stated that this was the game in which the Eagles played a complete game and looked more like their 2022 counterparts.
With every win, there are plenty of takeaways to look at. Today, we will look at the biggest ones from another Victory Monday in Philadelphia.
The offense continues to shake off the rust
It’s pretty crazy to think that the Eagles’ offense has still been rusty over the last few weeks when they have put up over 400 yards in each of their last four games. It was more of the same Sunday in Los Angeles.
The Eagles may have recorded 450 yards of offense and had over 200 more yards than the Rams, but they weren’t perfect. Jalen Hurts had a bad interception on a miscommunication with AJ Brown in the third quarter, and the offense continues to struggle to convert in the red zone (more of that later).
Despite all of that, Sunday showed why the Eagles are so dangerous on offense. The Rams held Eagle runners to under four yards a carry and kept DeVonta Smith in check. In turn, Hurts chose to attack with Dallas Goedert and his legs. Philly’s quarterback totaled close to 400 total yards and was simply awesome.
It’s not perfect right now, but the offense is starting to get in gear.
Bradley Roby should be the starter in the slot
It’s been quite the week for newly signed slot corner Bradley Roby. He was signed to the team following multiple injuries in the secondary and came up hugely on gameday. After Cooper Kupp totaled five catches on the opening drive and killed the Eagles’ slot corners, the team countered with Roby.
After a five-catch opening drive, the Eagles held him to three catches the rest of the way.
Roby himself was very good in his 2023 debut. He was targeted four times on Sunday and gave up two completions for -4 yards. It’s another year where Howie Roseman has brought in someone to have a major impact right away but that’s where we are in 2023.
Roby needs to play in the slot the rest of the way.
Jeff Stoutland > Aaron Donald
If Aaron Donald is the greatest defensive player of this generation, what does that make Jeff Stoutland? The Eagles’ offensive line coach had to deal with a backup at guard (Sua Opeta) and still held Donald to just a single pressure and no sacks.
This has been the case for this matchup over the decade. Donald has yet to sack any Eagles quarterback in his career, one of the only teams he hasn’t been able to do anything against.
Philly’s offensive line was impressive outside of just the Donald matchup. The Eagles ran for over 150 yards again and picked up key plays throughout the game. A near 15-minute time difference in time-of-possession is completely impressive and has a whole lot to do with the offensive line.
Red Zone offense is Achilles Heel
There is plenty to be excited about for this Eagles team. Going 13-18 on third-down is beyond impressive and holding a good quarterback like Matthew Stafford scoreless in the second half is great.
If there’s one obvious problem with this Eagles team though it’s that their red-zone work simply hasn’t been good enough this year. Philly went 2-4 in red-zone opportunities on Sunday and is ranked 24th across the league. It’s an obvious Achilles Heel that can plague this team down the stretch if they aren’t careful.
To compare, the San Francisco 49ers, a team the Eagles will play later in the year with #1 seed implications, are seventh in the league. The good news is that there’s plenty of time for the Eagles to correct this one issue and they have the personnel to do it.
AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian
