When it rains, it pours. Figuratively and literally for the Philadelphia Eagles.
On a rain-soaked Sunday afternoon where at the end of their gut-wrenching 24-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams the team’s injury report was longer than a CVS receipt, the Eagles were in a position to win the game and continue to own the Rams.
It all crumbled in the fourth quarter.
There are some major concerns and questions that need to be resolved and answered, if possible.
The offense was abysmal all game long. The defense finally generated turnovers, but allowed the Rams to storm down the field twice, giving up 177 yards on the final two drives for Los Angeles to snatch what would have been a gutsy victory for the Eagles.
With that said, there were still some positive performances in the loss while there were plenty of poor showings as well.
The linebacker made the most of his first start of the season, leading the Eagles with 15 total tackles, 10 of which were solo. He did miss a pivotal tackle on Kyren Williams’ second touchdown run which gave the Rams the lead.
However, there was still more good than bad from the fifth-round pick who filled in for Zack Baun who missed the game with a concussion and he showed he belonged on the field in games other than regular season finales when the Eagles rest their starters.
Down DeVonta Smith, the Eagles needed someone to step up in the wide receiver room. That was Cooper.
The second-year undrafted free agent hauled in two touchdown passes, including one of the more improbable scoring grabs we will see this season while finishing with three catches for 33 yards.
The Tarleton State product has made the most of his playing time and targets and has three touchdowns on five receptions this season. He also leads all skill players on the roster with those three scores.
Special teams usually get overlooked most weeks unless there are miscues that could sway the game. On Sunday, Clay’s group was the best of the three and he deserves his flowers.
The unit was a reason why the Eagles were in a position to pull away with an unlikely victory. Jake Elliott boomed a 56-yard field goal in the unfavorable conditions while also pinning the Rams back deep on a kickoff that found its way in the landing zone, bouncing into the end zone to force Los Angeles to start a possession on their own 20-yard line.
Britain Covey set up the team’s first scoring drive thanks to his 41-yard punt return and averaged 19.7 yards per return on three chances in the loss.
It was a good day all around for the special teams.
Smith was one of the bright spots on defense along with Trotter Jr. He picked up his second sack of the season and he now has half of the team’s four sacks through the first four weeks of the season.
He started the game at EDGE along with Jonathan Greenard and put one of his best games together to help spearhead what was a better game from a pass rushing perspective for the defense.
Listen, I don’t know who takes full responsibility for this offense being as abysmal as it is, but the trio all deserve blame.
They do not have an identity. They do not sustain any type of success once the second half starts. They do not go back to formations and drives that have worked previously in the game.
After carrying the team to wins in the first two weeks, Hurts has struggled each of the last two weeks. Sunday, he threw for just 93 yards, the first time in his career he’s thrown for under 100 yards while playing a complete game.
The stats and trends back it up and here’s a quick thread on how poor the offense was on Sunday.
The team went 0-for-12 on third downs, the most third-down attempts without a conversion since 1991 when the NFL started recording third down conversions per NextGen Stats.
They are also one of the worst teams running play action since 2021.
The Eagles are also dead last in success rate when running under center, which was supposed to be the staple of this new offensive scheme.
If it hasn’t already, the time has come to consider benching Jurgens. He continues to hinder the offense whether it’s allowing pressure or somehow getting ahead of the rest of the team on a critical third and two, making contact with the ball in Hurts’ hands botching a run play.
Jurgens allowed the most pressures (5) out of the offensive line which featured rookie Markel Bell thrusted into his first-career start with Lane Johnsons’ late scratch due to personal reasons.
In his defense, Jurgens was also thrown into the fire being moved to left guard with the injury to Landon Dickerson, not getting any reps at the position over the summer. Nonetheless, he is struggling and the Eagles are running out of time to right the ship.
This falls on Howie Roseman. The general manager in the past has been a wizard when it comes to constructing a full, 53-man roster over the years. However, entering this season there were still plenty of questions regarding certain areas of the roster including the lack of depth at safety, carrying four quarterbacks, a lack of tight end depth behind the often injured Dallas Goedert.
The jury is still out on the last two draft classes, but the returns to this point have not been up to the standard of previous draft classes and it’s becoming a glaring issue.
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