Star receiver A.J. Brown didn’t waste any words on Sunday afternoon when asked which area the Eagles’ offense needs to improve.
“Passing,” Brown said to reporters.
Yeah, that checks out.
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The Eagles won on Sunday. They beat the Carolina Panthers 22-16 to improve to 11-2 on the season and even punched their ticket to the playoffs with some help. But it wasn’t a banner day for the Eagles’ offense — especially the Eagles’ passing offense.
And for a team with legitimate Super Bowl aspirations, that’s a concern.
Jalen Hurts completed just 14 of 21 passes for 108 yards in this game against a defense that entered the day ranked 25th against the pass. That’s the fewest passing yards Hurts has had in a game this season and the fewest the Panthers have allowed all season. The Eagles had just 83 net passing yards in this game.
In this game, Hurts had a season-high time to throw of 3.47 seconds but averaged a season-low 5.1 yards per attempt, per NextGen Stats. He also took 4 sacks on 9 pressures.
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Hurts did throw for a couple of touchdowns and rushed 59 yards and another score. And he didn’t turn the ball over either. But the Eagles’ passing game wasn’t good enough on Sunday. If you watched the game, you know that.
And as dominant as they’ve been in the run game this season — Saquon Barkley had another big game with 124 yards on 20 carries against the Panthers — the lack of a passing attack is becoming a bigger concern.
“Just the lack of synchronization there,” Hurts said.
OK — how do the Eagles get synchronized?
"You get there by everybody being on the same page and going out there and executing and becoming in sync,” Hurts said. “We see our moments where we play at a high level and we see our moments where we don't. I think we just have to do what we do, do well."
Several Eagles in the winning locker room expressed frustration about the shaky passing offense but Brown didn’t wait until after the game to show his frustration. After a series stalled in the first half, Brown walked to the sideline and slammed his helmet on the bench.
“Three-and-out,” Brown explained.
Brown is a three-time Pro Bowler and one of the best receivers in the NFL. And he didn’t see his first target in this game until inside the 2-minute warning in the first half. So if he’s frustrated with the way things are going, it’s probably warranted. When the Eagles are running over teams it’s one thing — but when they’re struggling on offense and he’s not getting the ball, it is a problem.
While Brown saw four targets on Sunday, DeVonta Smith saw six in his return from a two-game absence.
Brown said it’s “incredibly tough” to get into a rhythm when the Eagles aren’t passing the ball all that much. Brown is an emotional player and sometimes we’ve seen that play out on the sideline.
Hurts on Sunday night was asked how he works with Brown when the star receivers gets frustrated.
“It isn’t about solving anything,” Hurts said. “Everybody has a reason to want more. It’s a fair desire of being in fullness to where we can be because we've done it before. Just got to build, got to progress. Have to find a way to come together and come and synch as a unit and play complementary ball.”
The recipe for the Eagles during this nine-game winning streak has been pretty simple — run the ball and play great defense. But the thought was always that when a game arose where the Eagles would need to air the ball out, they’d be able to. It’s fair to question that more after Sunday’s win.
In total, the Eagles were actually out-gained by the three-win Panthers 302-292 on Sunday.
“I just felt like we didn’t play complementary ball and we kept putting our defense in s—y situations and then making them look bad, giving them short fields,” left tackle Jordan Mailata said. “It’s just bad ball on our part. Now, there is a bright spot, the run game was still there, still efficient. The scrambling was nice, especially when it wasn’t a firm as we’re used to. That was a good part to take away.
“But at the same time there are questions about the pass game and why is it not the same? We’re a little leaky right now. We’ll watch the film and get after it tomorrow and get our corrections.”
The Eagles continue to struggle early in games too. That’s the biggest thing Lane Johnson said he’d like to fix about the Eagles’ offense. They failed to score first quarter points on Sunday and remain dead last in the NFL in scoring in the first quarter. The Eagles had just 46 yards in the first on Sunday.
Every game isn’t going to be pretty and the Eagles still got a win on Sunday. Nick Sirianni’s message to his team was to still enjoy the W and to not be a “prisoner of your expectations.”
But there’s plenty to clean up, especially if they want to make a run.
“Yeah, we did the things that we needed to do to win today,” head coach Nick Sirianni said. “We'll look at the tape. It's hard to say off just watching it, but everyone is going to have a part of that when you don't pass it the way you want to.
“Again, I'll have to go watch everything. We're definitely capable of playing better and coaching better in the pass game.”
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