For being tied with the best record in football, the Philadelphia Eagles certainly are under plenty of criticism these days. Consecutive blowout losses to the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys have changed the narrative on how good the Eagles actually are, even if Philadelphia hangs on to win the NFC East (they'll get at least the No. 2 seed if they win out).
This is still a football team that has won 24 of their last 30 regular season games and are 27-5 in their last 32 games with Jalen Hurts as the starting quarterback. The Eagles didn't just suddenly become a bad football team, even if there are significant areas of concern as the league enters the home stretch of the season.
Even though the Eagles are 10-3 and still alive in the race for home-field advantage in the NFC, what are the issues that have kept them from playing at the level of the 49ers and Cowboys? Can any of these issues be corrected in the final four games? Here's a look.
They can't run the football
The Eagles are not a good running football team, which is very awkward considering they were the No. 1 running team in the NFL in the two seasons prior. Since Week 4, the Eagles are 27th in the NFL in yards per carry (3.8) and 31st in yards after contact per rush (2.32).
Philadelphia runs more shotgun than any team in the NFL and averages just 4.2 yards per carry out of shotgun, good for 26th in the NFL. When teams line up eight in the box, the Eagles average 1.5 yards per carry (29th in NFL). The explosive rushes (12+ yards) are at 6.1% (25th in NFL). Their tackles avoided per rush is at 12.7% (30th in NFL). All these numbers are since Week 4 of the season, when the rushing issues started.
The idea the Eagles are a good running team is a farce, certainly not based on the current season.
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Secondary against opposing QBs is amongst the worst in NFL
Teams could create a Pro Bowl quarterback based on how opposing quarterbacks thrive against the Eagles defense. The Eagles pass defense has allowed opposing quarterbacks to complete 64.6% of passes for 3,379 yards for 29 touchdowns to just six interceptions for a 98.4 passer rating. Only the Washington Commanders have allowed more touchdown passes and the Commanders and Arizona Cardinals have allowed a higher passer rating than the Eagles pass defense.
Since the bye week (Week 10), the Eagles have generated just four takeaways (two via interception). Opposing quarterbacks have completed 60% of their passes with 10 touchdowns to just two interceptions (96.4 rating).
The Eagles pass defense hasn't shut down any quarterback all year.
Jalen Hurts turns the football over too much
These numbers for the Eagles offense indicate they should be better than they are. The success rate on offensive plays is 48.8% (fourth in NFL) and the touchdowns per drive is 27.0% (sixth in NFL). The points per possession is 2.38 (fifth in NFL) while the third down conversion rate is 47.7% (third in NFL) and fourth down conversion rate is 71.4% (first in NFL).
The quarterback needs to look in the mirror, as Hurts has 15 giveaways in 13 games. Hurts has thrown 10 interceptions and has five fumbles lost. He's fumbled the football in seven consecutive games and hasn't gone a game without a fumble since Week 6.
Hurts is having a good year, but hasn't been the quarterback that's protected the football like he was in 2022. His carelessness with the football has significantly impacted the Eagles ability to score points and sustain drives.
The offense targets only three players
The target discrepancy on the Eagles offense involves A.J. Brown (131), DeVonta Smith (97), and Dallas Goedert (56). Those three combined account for 70.5% of targets to Eagles players. Include D'Andre Swift (45 targets) and Kenneth Gainwell (28 targets) and that percentage increases to 88.6%. Five players on this football team get 88.6 (!) of the targets.
Are Quez Watkins, Olamide Zaccheaus and Julio Jones not on this roster? The three have combined for just 32 targets on the season and just five over the last two games, one of which was a fake punt pass from Braden Mann to Zaccheaus.
Going to the star players is wise, but there's an over-reliance on targeting them. The Eagles have other options on this offense to open things up for the star players. Use them.
Pass rush isn't productive enough
The historic pass rush from last season was always going to be hard to replicate, but this group just hasn't been productive enough. The Eagles are 21st in the league in sack rate (6.6%) despite being 12th in the league with 37 sacks. Philadelphia is fourth in the league in pressures (210), yet are 12th in pressure rate (35.7%).
The sack rate in the second half and overtime is 7.6% (17th in NFL) and pressure rate in that span is 38.3% (12th in NFL). Of course it would help if a team built to have second half leads would actually get a lead in the second half (Eagles have trailed by double digits at one point in five of their last six games).
Philadelphia's sack rate is 4.2% over the last four games (30th in NFL). This could be a result of Josh Sweat and Haason Reddick each playing over 75% of the snaps while Brandon Graham's snaps have been reduced to 31.5%. Nolan Smith just gets on the field 11.6% despite being 3/4 of the way into his rookie year, showcasing the Eagles' edge rotation isn't as deep as initially thought.
If the pass rush can't get home, the Eagles defense will give up 400 yards every week.
