Jalen Hurts photograph by All-Pro Reels Photography.
The Birds took on two more of the NFC South teams in a short week, facing Carolina on Sunday, October 10, then the defending champion Buccaneers team that next Thursday. Both were close games, both saw wild inconsistency in the team but only one of them was a victory.
In the game against Sam Darnold and the Panthers, the offense started out more pathetic than ever with Jalen Hurts posting dismal first half numbers and once more, the running game vanishing from existence. To their credit, the defense played consistently well, aside from a few too many gashing rushes allowed to running back Chubba Hubbard. The secondary picked off Samuel Darnold not once, not twice, but THREE times. Darius Slay took two, while newcomer Steven Nelson took the game-clinching interception in a dominant day for cornerbacks.
The Panthers pulled out to a 15-6 lead by halftime, but Philly was able to rally for the victory behind two Hurts rushing touchdowns, a blocked punt and of course the slew of interceptions in addition to the front four’s ability to get after the former Jets quarterback.
Four days later, the embattled young, inexperienced Eagles came back home to take on the defending champion, Tom Brady-led Buccaneers. No one expected an Eagles win; they may have hoped or could possibly see a scenario in which one occurred by some wacky miracle or trap game for the Bucs, but it was not expected.
Unsurprisingly, the Eagles fell to 28-7 early on and many may have turned the TV off at that. However, with the champs taking the foot off the gas, they allowed just enough room for Hurts and the birds to make things interesting. Hurts and the birds were able to pick things up offensively to make it a 28-22 ballgame with just over two minutes left and the ball given back to the GOAT.
Brady and company were dangerously close to being forced to punt and give a now hot Hurts the ball back when all of the sudden the NFL’s taunting rule won them the game. Now yes, they may have been able to march down the field nonetheless and win the game without the penalty, but one can’t help but see just how terrible of a call this one was and at such a crucial part of the game. After a handoff to Leonard Fournette, linebacker Genard Avery was flagged for taunting after he exchanged words with the running back. 15 yards and a free first down put the Bucs in easy position to just grind the clock down and be in field goal range almost the whole time, virtually sealing themselves a win under the circumstances. Sure, Avery shouldn’t really have been mouthing off anyway given the current position of his team, but why flag him for that when that type of penalty would just hand the game to the Bucs on a silver platter?
To be clear, the Eagles would have very likely lost this game regardless of the penalty, but it is still frustrating to see the league’s officiating continue to call such game-altering flags week after week.
Two primary things stood out to me in these games. For one: the team does not quit. This is huge because, given the circumstances, if Sirianni’s team couldn’t bring itself to play a whole sixty minutes of hard-fought football, then what appeal would this coach have to this franchise? He already has shaky play calling and decision making, but those may be remedied with some time and experience. If, however, his troops wouldn’t go to war for him despite the questions and adversity being faced, then it would likely be time to call it a day in the Sirianni era. Perhaps, this is leftover from the culture constructed by his predecessor who had no shortage of troops following him to battle. I miss you, Dougie P!
The second thing which stood out to me was once again, the lack of identity for this team and its lack of discipline. They continue to rarely run the ball, in spite of its effectiveness when they do, and the defense has very little consistency to its name and its scheme. Penalty flags continue to fly and the pace does not seem to be waning as we near the midpoint of the season. What exactly is this team’s potential? Is Sirianni handicapping it? Time may be the only thing to let us know the answers, but poor Hurts may not have a lot of that left. This season was supposed to be a test for his ability to be the franchise guy, but with factors outside of his control hindering the team, is he truly being given a chance?
The offense needs to give some balance if they want to see Hurts’ true potential, otherwise, they are just going to allow defenses to easily clamp down on the second year starter. We’ll see where it goes as the season moves along. Fly, Eagles Fly.