We all remember that magical 2017 Super Bowl season of the Philadelphia Eagles. That underdog mentality the team and the city embraced, rallying behind a backup quarterback turned Super Bowl MVP in unlikely fashion. The man who led the franchise to its only Super Bowl title is returning to South Philly once again. Doug Pederson and his struggling Jacksonville Jaguars will try to stop the Eagles momentum, winners of three straight.
Here are five matchups to watch in this one:
Nick Sirianni vs. Doug Pederson
Pederson is on the hot seat with the Jaguars underperforming and getting decimated by injuries this season. Jacksonville comes in with a 2-6 record with wins over Indianapolis and New England. They did seem to play inspired football on the road in Green Bay, almost pulling off the upset while knocking out quarterback Jordan Love.
Expect the Jags to play tough once again this week for their head coach and expect Pederson to hold nothing back against his former team. He’s coaching to avoid being let go for the second time in his career. Jacksonville gave the Eagles trouble in Pederson’s initial return to the Linc, back in 2022. Philadelphia had to muscle its way to a 29-21 victory and erase a 14-0 first quarter deficit.
Meanwhile, it was just a couple of weeks ago that Sirianni was possibly on the hot seat, or at least the fan base’s hot seat after his antics in an ugly win over the Cleveland Browns at home in Week 6 where he was yelling at fans. Now, he has regrouped and seemingly has this team focused and in a great position at 5-2.
Jalen Hurts vs. Jags Pass Defense
This is a game Hurts and his passing targets could feast in. The Jaguars don’t do anything well and defending the pass is certainly one facet where the struggle mightily, giving up the second-most passing yards per game at 271.1. Hurts threw for 236 yards and a touchdown in last week’s win over the Bengals, but also ran for three scores. Hurts has only thrown for 300+ yards in one game this season which came against the Saints and only has thrown for 270+ twice, including the Saints game and the season opener against Green Bay.
Jacksonville also has given up the second-most yards per pass attempt at 7.7 and the 5th-highest completion percentage to opposing quarterbacks this season.
Now Hurts doesn’t have to air it out for this team to win. We have seen that over this three-game winning streak, but if surprisingly the Jags offense gets out to a fast start, the matchup is certainly there for the better offense in this game to air it out with high rate of success.
Saquon Barkley vs. Solid Jags Rush Defense
On the flip side, the Jags’ rush defense has been solid this season, ranking just behind Philadelphia in yards per game allowed (111.0), which is the 9th fewest in the league. Now of course, Barkley has been sensational in his first season with the Eagles, hitting or surpassing the century mark on the ground in four games this season and ranking second in the NFL with his 766 yards on the ground, only trailing Baltimore’s Derrick Henry who is on pace for a historic season at 946 yards.
Barkley is on pace to shatter his total rushing yards mark in his final season with the Giants where he racked up 962 in 14 games. The Jags have a solid linebacking group with Foyesade Oluokum, Devin Lloyd and Ventrell Miller.
Expect the Eagles to still attack on the ground with one of the best offensive lines in the game opening up holes for one of the best running backs in the league.
Eagles’ Secondary vs. Banged up Jags Wide Receivers
We mentioned the Jacksonville has been crushed by injuries this season and they took another hit last week when Christian Kirk suffered a broken collar bone which will end his season. Kirk signed a 4-year, $72 million contract with the Jags back in 2022 to be their main weapon. That’s a huge blow for a struggling offense. Meanwhile, rookie Brian Thomas Jr. who has shown great promise, is currently listed as questionable with a chest injury. Thomas Jr. has game breaking speed, leads the Jags with 33 receptions for 573 yards and five touchdowns.
The Eagles’ secondary, which has been very strong, especially with the addition of Cooper DeJean in the slot, might have an easy day at the office. They may be without Darius Slay as the veteran is battling a groin injury, but the rookies in DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell, who has been one of the top cornerbacks in the entire NFL shouldn’t have fits with the likes of Gabe Davis, Parker Washington and Tim Jones who are the only three wideouts on the depth chart not with an injury tag.
Fred Johnson vs. Josh Hines-Allen
Johnson has made an appearance in this weekly topic quite a bit and for obvious reason. He’s responsible for Hurts’ blindside and has had to deal with some tough pass rushers after being thrusted into the starting role as All-Pro left tackle Jordan Mailata remains on the IR. Johnson did a very solid job against Cincinatti’s impressive pass rusher in Trey Hendrickson last week and earned Hendrickson’s respect after the game during a jersey swap.
Johnson certainly did plenty to earn the praise of one of the best pass rushers in the league, allowing just one pressure on 22 pass blocking snaps, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. That will play!
‘Big Fred’ as he’s affectionately called standing 6’7 and 326 pounds, the sixth-year veteran will now have to go up against Hines-Allen, the 7th overall pick in the 2019 Draft out of Kentucky. Hines-Allen has three sacks on the season and according to PFF, has the ninth-most pressures of edge rushers in the league with 32 while grading out as the 10th best overall edge player out of 191.
If Johnson can continue his success from last week against even a better pass rusher in Hendrickson, the Eagles offense will have a productive day.
The Eagles and Jaguars had this game flexed out of the Sunday Night Football slot last week and now will be a 4:05 kickoff at Lincoln Financial Field. It will also be the first Kelly Green game of the season for the Eagles who will wear their classic jerseys from 1935-1995.
Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
