Another week, another nail-biting finish against the Washington Commanders for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Philadelphia’s 38-31 win over their NFC East rival was anything but pretty. They turned the ball over twice inside the five-yard line, the secondary was shredded to holy hell, and the pass rush was completely non-existent.
As great teams do though, the Eagles were able to shake off their in-game struggles and make the plays necessary to win.
You know how this works, let’s get to the biggest takeaways of the game.
Andy Reid’s Coaching Tree is Sean Desai’s Nightmare
A lot of fans were upset (and rightfully so) with the pass defense on Sunday. Sam Howell had his best start as a pro completing 75% of his passes for just under 400 yards and four touchdowns. Philadelphia could not stop him for a single snap – quite ridiculous when you consider the talent on the entire defensive side.
Now many may think that I’ll trash on the group here, but that’s simply not true. If there’s one main takeaway from the defensive side of the ball is this:
Thank god they only have one more game against an Andy Reid offense this year.
Sean Desai has been excellent as a defensive coordinator during his first season with the Eagles. He’s made do with eight different combinations of defensive backs in eight games and has this group playing very well overall. His system, though, is susceptible to the kind of offenses that the Andy Reid coaching tree teaches. It makes the corners sitting ducks and the safeties look lost.
Exactly what happened on Sunday.
Eric Bieniemy might be the top lieutenant from Reid’s coaching prowess over the last few years. He’s helped Sam Howell become a competent quarterback thanks to his overall scheme. He will ALWAYS be a matchup nightmare for Desai’s principles on defense.
We can say the group needs to improve, but as long as Bieniemy is coaching in Washington, they will be an awful matchup for this defense.
Jalen Hurts – MVP Candidate
Philadelphia was outplayed throughout Sunday on the road. Two turnovers in the red zone, a defense with more holes than Augusta national, and an offensive line that couldn’t run the ball.
How the heck did they win that game?
The answer, as it’s been all year, is simple: the Eagles have a top-five QB in the NFL.
Jalen Hurts was masterful in a shootout on Sunday and showed how tough he was battling a knee bruise that hampered his overall running ability. 29-38 passing for 319 yards and four touchdowns. I mean, that’s just absurd. Hurts was on the money throughout the game and showed why he is firmly supplanted in the MVP race at the moment.
People will look at the consistent turnovers that plague this team, but great teams know how to perform well when things aren’t going their way. A lot of things have gone wrong for the Eagles this year and yet they are 7-1 and have a chance to pull some distance in the conference with a win next week against Dallas.
The reason for all the success is that they have the franchise quarterback everyone has been praying for since Donovan McNabb left. Hurts is a stable leader and an excellent quarterback. He should be considered a favorite for the league’s MVP this season based on Sunday’s performance alone.
The offense desperately misses Cam Jurgens
For the third straight week, the Eagles struggled to run the football on Sunday. Against Washington, the Birds ran for just 59 yards on 22 carries – a terrible 2.7 yards per carry average. Now while the Commanders front line is excellent, this inability to run the football has been a problem for the team over the last month. Some analysts say it’s Hurts’ knee that is the cause. Others say the running backs simply aren’t as good as we thought.
Here’s the correct answer though: this group really misses Cam Jurgens.
Jurgens’ foot injury was a major blow to the team’s offensive line and they haven’t recovered since. The good news? Jurgens is expected back this week against the Cowboys and should be back to his dominant ways. Before injuring his foot in the last contest against the Commanders, Jurgens had his best grade according to Pro Football Focus.
Eagles Linebackers have struggled in coverage (Nakobe Dean more)
I will never say that a team should give up on a player in their first full year starting. I find it stupid and ridiculously short-sighted.
That being said, Sunday was a rough one for Nakobe Dean.
Philadelphia’s top linebacker looked lost in pass coverage against Washington and overpowered against the run. The Commanders averaged five yards a carry while Logan Thomas and Jahan Dotson completely tore up the middle of the field. If changes aren’t made to the group, or Dean simply doesn’t play better, CeeDee Lamb and the Cowboys (along with other teams we’ll get to later) are going to eat this defense alive.
Here comes The Gauntlet
Here we go. As good as the Eagles have looked all season (and they have looked excellent), the next month and a half will determine how far this organization will go in 2023-24. In the next six games, the Birds will play the Cowboys, Chiefs, Bills, 49ers, Cowboys, and Seahawks. All five teams are multiple games over .500. All five teams were in the playoffs last year, and are all championship contenders this year.
I believe a 3-3 mark at minimum will put them on the path to the division title (so long as one of those wins is against Dallas) and easily in the conversation for the NFC’s top seed.
We’re going to learn a lot about the Eagles over the next month. Buckle up. It’s going to get interesting.
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
