What’s the matter with the 10-3 Eagles? Five reasons why the strongest NFC clubs dominated Philadelphia

These five areas are where the Eagles fall short.

Philadelphia Eagles receive a lot of flak these days for having the same record as the best football team. Even if Philadelphia manages to win the NFC East—they’ll get at least the No. 2 seed—consecutive blowout losses to the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys have altered perceptions of the Eagles’ true ability.

Even with Jalen Hurts starting at quarterback, this football club has won 27 of the previous 32 games and 24 of the previous 30 regular season games. Even if there are serious concerns as the NFL moves into the last stretch of the season, the Eagles are not a bad football team overnight.

What are the problems that have prevented the Eagles from performing at the same level as the 49ers and Cowboys, even though they are 10-3 and still in the running for the NFC’s home-field advantage? Will any of these problems be fixed in the next four games? Take a peek at this.

First, the Eagles are not a strong running football team given that they were the league’s best running team the previous two seasons. The Eagles are 31st in yards after contact per run (2.32) and 27th in yards per carry (3.8) since Week 4.

Philadelphia ranks 26th in the NFL in terms of average yards per shotgun carry, while running the most shotgun plays of any team. The Eagles are 29th in the NFL in terms of average yards per rush when teams align eight in the box.

12.0% of rushes are explosive (12+ yards), which ranks 25th in the NFL. They are 30th in the NFL in terms of tackles avoided per rush (12.7%). Since the rushing problems began in Week 4 of the season, all of these figures have been recorded. It is absurd to think that the Eagles are a strong running team, especially after the current campaign.

Secondly, The Eagle’s defense is among the weakest against opposing quarterbacks in the NFL, therefore teams may develop a quarterback for the Pro Bowl depending on how well opposing quarterbacks perform against them.

With just six interceptions and a 98.4 passer rating, the Eagle’s pass defense has enabled opponent quarterbacks to complete 64.6% of throws for 3,379 yards and 29 touchdowns to just six interceptions.

The only teams with a greater passer rating than the Eagle’s pass defense are the Washington Commanders and the Arizona Cardinals. Together, they have given up the most touchdown passes. The Eagles have only produced four takeaways (two via interception) since the bye week (Week 10).

With 10 touchdowns to just two interceptions, opposing quarterbacks have completed 60% of their passes (96.4 rating). No quarterback has been shut down by the Eagle’s pass defense this whole season.

Point number three, Football turnovers by Jalen Hurts are excessive.
The Eagle’s offense ought to be performing better, based on these metrics. 27.0% of offensive plays result in a touchdown (ranked sixth in the NFL), while 48.8% of offensive plays are successful (ranked fourth). NFL fifth-place points per possession (2.38), third-place (47.7%) and first-place (71.4%) third-down conversion rates are all higher than the league average.

With 13 games played and 15 interceptions, Hurts is a quarterback who needs to examine himself in the mirror. With five fumbles lost, Hurts has thrown 10 interceptions. Not since Week 6 has he gone a game without fumbling the ball, having fumbled it seven times in a row.  His recklessness with the ball has made it difficult for the Eagles to mount drives and score points.

The fourth thing is that only three guys are the focus of the offense.
About the Eagle’s offense, the targets that differ are A.J. Brown (131), Smith (97), and Dallas (56). Combined, those three represent 70.5% of the targets for Eagles players. That proportion rises to 88.6% when  Swift (45 targets) and Kenneth 28 targets) are taken into account. This football team’s five players hit 88.6 (!) of the targets.

Are Julio Jones, Olamide, and Watkins absent from this roster? Except for one fake punt throw from Braden Mann to Olamide, the three have combined for just 32 targets this season and just five in the last two games. Although focusing on the top players is a good idea, it is overdone. With this approach, the Eagles have additional choices to create opportunities for their key players. Make use of them.

Lastly, the Pass rush doesn’t generate adequate output.
This group hasn’t been productive enough, but it was always going to be difficult to duplicate the incredible pass rush from the previous season. The Eagles rank 12th in the league with 37 sacks, but their sack rate (6.6%) is 21st in the league. With 210 pressures, Philadelphia is fourth in the league; yet, their pressure rate (35.7%) ranks them 12th.

The second half and overtime have a 7.6% sack rate (17th in the NFL) and a 38.3% pressure rate (12th in the NFL) respectively. The Eagles have trailed by double digits at one point in five of their last six games, so it would help if they were a club designed to have second-half leads.

With four games remaining, Philadelphia’s sack rate is 4.2% (30th in the NFL). Josh Sweat and Reddick combined for over 75% of the snaps, while Brandon Graham’s snap total dropped to 31.5%, which may be the cause of this.

The Eagles edge rotation isn’t as strong as first believed, as Nolan Smith only sees the field 11.6% of the time even though he is 3/4 of the way through his rookie season. The Eagle’s defense will surrender 400 yards a week if the pass rush is unable to get home.