The Eagles advanced to the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs but it was a grind and the offense looked lousy.

The Nakobe Dean injury is going to be tougher to overcome than many believe. Not only has Dean grown into a three down linebacker, but the Eagles also lack depth at the position. It was noticeable after Dean went down how significant the drop to Oren Burks was, specifically in the tackling department. Burks overran his gap a few times, took poor angles on ball carriers (even taking out Zack Baun one time), and his coverage skills are not at Dean’s level either. If you think I’m being too harsh, Vic Fangio offered that Jeremiah Trotter Jr. could see some time Sunday, so the Eagles clearly are not comfortable with Burks.

Outside of the Dean injury, it was a very solid day for the defense. The tackling certainly suffered at times – I’m guessing/hoping that’s a result of rust from the week off – and Cooper DeJean probably played his worst game of the season, especially from a tackling perspective. Jalen Carter also had a quiet game by his standards as he was double-teamed most of the afternoon. The defense won the game, though. They turned Green Bay over, limited explosive plays and allowed the Eagles offense space to struggle, which they most certainly did.

The offense was a big, fat mess. The quarterback play was bad. The play calling was worse and the Eagles again lost their identity for an extended period of time. Let’s start with Jalen Hurts.

I don’t need to tell you what I saw on film. Everyone and their mother has already pointed out that no one was open most of the afternoon. Okay. That doesn’t explain the bad sacks or that Hurts infuriatingly continues to take four-yard losses instead of throwing the ball away. I will say it again: First and 15 as the result of an illegal man downfield penalty is better than 2^nd and 14. If they decline the penalty, 2^nd and 10 is still better than 2^nd and 14. This is simple stuff that Hurts hasn’t fixed in year five. It’s long overdue. Hurts was also poor with changing calls based on the defense, especially against the cover zero blitz. It did appear like DeVonta Smith and Jahan Dotson ran the same route on one of them, so maybe Hurts made the call and the receivers screwed up, but a quick slant against zero blitz is an easy gain and probably a touchdown in that scenario. He made the correct read on the Dallas Goedert touchdown (albeit a poor throw) but it shouldn’t take until the 2^nd half for that level of quarterbacking to click. Again, this is year five and Sunday was Hurts’ 6^th playoff start. The rusty excuse is certainly valid, but Sunday was agonizing nonetheless.

Obviously, this isn’t all Hurts’ fault. In fact, I’d say it’s mostly not his fault. The Eagles offense got lost Sunday and that falls on Offensive Coordinator Kellen Moore. There was a stretch where the Eagles went seven straight plays without Saquon Barkley touching the football. The Eagles also called three straight pass plays inside the Packers 15. Hurts is not a good passer in the low red. This has been the case for two full seasons. The run game is the ticket there. Completely going away from it was foolish.

The Eagles then went three-and-out on three consecutive drives to end the first half. Penalties scuttled the first two. The third was undone by poor play-calling on 3^rd and 4 at the Packers 39. With 31 seconds left on the clock you run the football there, try to pick up the first or maybe get within TushPush range. Worst case scenario you run clock or force the Packers to use a timeout. The Eagles threw incomplete and were forced to punt.

It also became obvious how little Moore and Sirianni trusted Hurts on Sunday. Take a look at the Eagles play calls on 3^rd and long (all five were between 3^rd and 10 and 3^rd and 13): Screen. Run. Scramble. Run. Run. It’s the postseason. That’s four definitive calls indicating you don’t trust your $50 million per year franchise QB to throw the football downfield when you need it. That is not encouraging from an optimistic outlook and devastating if you live in reality. Maybe it was the rust factor. Maybe they knew their defense was up to the task so why force it? Neither is a great excuse in my opinion. You’re not winning a Super Bowl if your quarterback can’t throw downfield on 3^rd down.

Other play calling complaints include:

• Where was AJ Brown all game? Brown is a physical menace. Getting him the football on a short slant shouldn’t be that difficult.
• Stop throwing screens when Smith and Dotson are the primary blockers. They both weigh less than 185. Smith is a great downfield blocker but this play hasn’t worked with him as the primary blocker in three seasons.
• Don’t forget who you are and what got you here. When in doubt, pound the run game.

At this point in the season surviving is more important than dominating. It wasn’t pretty, but advancing is the goal and the Eagles did just that. I think the Packers were the toughest, most physical team in the NFC Playoffs outside of Philadelphia and Detroit, so I expect the offense to have more of its way next week.