Is It Time To Hit The Panic Button For The Eagles?

After back-to-back blowout losses in the two biggest games of the season, it has many people wondering if the Eagles faithful fans should be pushing the panic button. While we all hope that the people down at the Novacare Complex are not, as an Eagles fan it’s hard not to be in panic mode. Before the Dallas and San Francisco games we all thought the Eagles were not only the best team in the NFC, but the NFL. Now it feels like they are a tier below those teams. Even if the Eagles win their last 4 games, we will not know until the playoffs if these last two games were a fluke or the truth.

The biggest reason to be worried about this Eagles team is the defense. Against Buffalo, San Francisco, and Dallas the Eagles’ defense was just overmatched. While Slay has been playing well, the Eagles secondary as a whole has really struggled. It’s unfortunate but James Bradberry is just not the same player he was last year. According to PFF, Bradberry was targeted 9 times for 7 catches, 63 yards, and 1 touchdown. The Eagles have also struggled at the slot cornerback position ever since Avonte Maddox went down with an injury. They have rotated Eli Ricks, Bradley Roby, and even Sydney Brown. The problem with the Eagles’ secondary is that there is no easy fix. At this point in the season, there is no one to bring in, and even if there was the Eagles are paying the guys on the back end too much money to make any real changes. The Eagles brought in Shaq Leonard to try and help the linebackers but he barely saw the field on Sunday night. Hopefully, after two weeks to learn the defense Leonard will be able to see more time.

For some time we have all assumed the Eagles defensive line is a great unit, but at this point, it’s safe to say it’s not. The Eagles pass rush has not been as great as it was last year, and it has been really hurting this team. They only have 37 sacks so far this season and are last in the NFL in 3rd down sacks. Brock Purdy and Dak Prescott did a great job of getting the ball out quickly, and that is a major part of stopping pressure, but the line has not been productive enough.

The Eagles offense is a different story. While the stats are saying they are having a similar season to last year, the eye test will tell you differently. While I am not panicking on the offense just yet, I will not blame anyone who is. After scoring a combined 25 points in the two biggest games in the season, it’s hard not to be. When you talk about a struggling offense you have to start at the quarterback. The reality of Jalen Hurts this season is that he has been inconsistent from quarter to quarter. The one thing he has been consistent with is turning the ball over. Hurts currently has 15 total turnovers in just 13 games played. While they are still 10-3 with all the turnovers, we saw in the Super Bowl last year, turnovers can be a killer in the playoffs. If it was just a few big turnover games here and there it would be easy to say he can clean it up, but this far into the season we have to accept that this is who he will be this season, and have to hope it won’t come back to bite them in the playoffs.

Nick Bosa said that after the 49ers-Eagles game, they have a blueprint for beating the Eagles. Many people believe that the blueprint involves showing Hurts’ false pressure. Hurts has shown this year that he will drop his eyes, and leave the pocket too early. When he does leave the pocket he tends to always roll to his right. Now, teams have started to blitz the Eagles, and Hurts has not been able to beat it. Instead of staying in the pocket and delivering a throw through contact, Hurts backpedals and fades away. If teams are going to force Jalen to leave clean pockets early, he has to make adjustments. While I don’t think it’s panic time on Hurts specifically yet, it is extremely concerning how bad he played against probably the two best teams in the NFL. The Eagles paid Hurts’ top quarterback money to win games like this, and he is going to need to play better against better teams in the playoffs.

While I am not in full panic mode yet because of the track record of this team over the last few years, my expectations for them come playoff time have definitely changed.