Since Week 1, a 3-0 start to the season seemed to have fallen into the Eagles’ lap.
The games after the Detroit Lions proved to be much more comfortable wins. Now, Eagles fans are sweating the small stuff, like no second-half scoring. This is okay. This means we’re nit-picking the team. If my pageant/live performance skills taught me anything, it’s that nit-picking is good because that means the general parts of what the Eagles are doing are okay.
Applying pressure is a prevalent theme between the last two games. Here are three highs (and three lows) from the Eagles in Weeks 2 and 3.
Hurts’ arm strength
Those “noodle arm” comments should be put to rest by now as Jalen Hurts threw bombs in all three games to start the season. His accuracy, pocket presence and overall arm strength have improved tremendously, something that will put any hating comments to rest. For Hurts to take a major step in the right direction from last year and already be in the MVP conversation is incredible.
Pressure, pressure, pressure
It’s a beautiful thing when Jonathan Gannon’s is finally pressuring opponents. Granted, there’s some instances where the defense is better suited to apply pressure than others, but it’s great to see the team play at a smart, aggressive style. With guys like Jordan Davis, Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox, as well as the fast guys like Darius “Big Play” Slay and Haason Reddick, you have to bring the heat.
Healthy team is scary good…
So far this season, the Eagles are pretty much healthy. The full healthy defense and offensive rosters are stacked with talent. The Eagles were plagued with injuries over the years, with last year’s major season-ending injury being Brandon Graham with an ACL injury. But this year? The Eagles are able to execute and bring full force because everyone is healthy.
…But there are some injuries to be concerned about
It is concerning to see the same guys end up on the injury report with lingering issues. Darius Slay, among others, have found their way to the injury report week after week after delivering the heat on game day. There’s a possibility these injuries could be minor issues that are being monitored. Keeping the Eagles healthy is top priority.
Penalties
The Eagles aren’t doing as bad with penalties now, but it’s still something they need to work through as the season goes on. The team faced a similar issue with penalties last year, but it is silly to see players make silly mistakes that add up on yardage against them. Not a huge concern since the Eagles are doing good right now and we can afford to be nit-picky, but penalties need to stop making this list.
Second half action
We do need to see the Eagles continue to stay hot in the second half, but I don’t doubt that the team will be able to deliver. The only reason why this could be concerning is that when facing harder teams, those teams will continue to score. The Eagles will have a hard time coming back and may need to rely more on the defense. Personally, I don’t see the whole “no second-half scores” as a huge issue and more of a coincidence. The Eagles have too many dawgs on offense to not score.
Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
