The Eagles (finally) won in convincing fashion. Saquon Barkley rumbled through the Giants defense and the offense looks to be on track. Or is it…
Listen, I don’t want to be the guy to tell you Santa isn’t real every Tuesday. I just can’t help it. I grew up with WIP sound waves running through my brain. It’s in my veins now. I can give you the hope and glass half full outlook if you really want it, but let’s all be honest with ourselves: Sunday was simply a beatdown of a bad team. The offense especially still does not look right to me, and here’s why…
First of all, the offense has not been consistent at much of anything but starting slow. They’ve gone a full game and a half worth of 1st quarter play without a single point. Starting slow happens from time-to-time, but coming out ineffective in six consecutive games is an indictment of your planning, scouting and execution. The Giants are a mediocre team with a bad offense. They’ve scored one touchdown at home in 16 quarters. Another slow start didn’t doom the Eagles like it would have against a better offense like the Buccaneers (fell behind 21-0) or Packers (only fell behind 6-0 thanks to red zone defense).
More importantly, the offense relies too heavily on big plays. I know that sounds like an asinine statement, but hear me out. Good offenses put together drives. They can grind out yards, move the chains, convert 3rd downs and matriculate down the field in a variety of ways. The Lions come to mind. As do the Ravens, Bills and even the Chiefs in their own limited yet dominant way. The Eagles? They don’t score without a big play. Don’t believe me? Take a look at their last ten touchdown drives. Only one came without a play of greater than 30 yards.
4 Plays/82 Yards vs New Orleans – Saquon Barkley 65 Yard Rush TD
5 Plays/69 Yards vs New Orleans – Dallas Goedert 61 Yard Reception
14 Plays/70 Yards – Longest Play; Dallas Goedert 18 Yard Reception
5 Plays/70 Yards vs Tampa Bay – Saquon Barkley 59 Yard Rush
10 Plays/84 Yards vs Cleveland – Grant Calcaterra 34 Yard Reception
4 Plays/70 Yards vs Cleveland – DeVonta Smith 45 Yard TD Reception
5 Plays/74 Yards vs New York – Saquon Barkley 55 Yard Rush
6 Plays/58 Yards vs New York – AJ Brown 41 Yard TD Reception
10 Plays/77 Yards vs New York – Saquon Barkley 38 Yard Rush
10 Plays/92 Yards vs New York – Saquon Barkley 41 Yard Rush
Am I saying big plays are bad? Absolutely not. Not even close. What I am saying is offenses that cannot move the ball without big plays are often inconsistent and go through extended stretches of low output.
This is the Eagles, and it traces back to the quarterback. Quarterbacks sustain drives. Jalen Hurts was fine in Week 7 but he also didn’t do all that much. He still left open guys hanging on a number of 3rd downs. He creates his own pressure by abandoning the pocket instead of stepping up in the pocket. There are still no throws over the middle. These are the things that sustain drives and manufacture points. Look across the stats that indicate drive success (NFL Rank in parentheses)…
Red Zone Efficiency; 68% (3) in ’22, 59.7% (9) in ’23, 52.4% (21) this season
3rd Down Conversion; 47.6% (3) in ’22, 46.1% (5) in ’23, 34.6% in (23) this season
The Eagles points per drive are down 12% from 2023 and 18% from 2022.
As you can see, the stats are all down from 2022 to 2023 and more significantly from 2023 to 2024. Aside from Jason Kelce’s retirement, I don’t think you can argue this offense isn’t the most talented of those three groups. There’s no excuse to be so far below the level of that 2022 offense or even the 2023 offense of a year ago. Quite frankly, it’s a fireable offense for this offense to be below the NFL average at this point in the season.
The offense won’t have the pleasure of facing off against the Giants or Browns all season long. The schedule will score as the season progresses. They have the Bengals this week. Washington twice, the Ravens and I’m sure Dallas will find a rhythm eventually. The Eagles must generate points when the big plays go missing. It’s up to Hurts to keep the offense moving. There’s simply too much talent to excuse otherwise.