Coming out of the bye in Week 5, the Philadelphia Eagles emerged as a completely different team.
Philadelphia hasn't lost a game since, emerging to the top of the NFC East after a 2-2 start. The Eagles have won five consecutive games by a convincing margin, as their +82 point differential is second in the NFL (Detroit Lions are first at +91). They have scored the fifth-most points in the league since Week 6 (147) and allowed the second fewest (65) during that span.
So what changed? According to Saquon Barkley, nothing.
"I wouldn't say it was rocky," Barkley said on the start to the season, via a team transcript. "I think you guys made it seem rocky. No offense. You guys are doing your job, but panic outside the locker room was from outside the locker room. It wasn't in here. We had no panic.
"We kind of treated it like the preseason games, to be honest. That was kind of the mindset. We were like, all right, we're done with preseason, now let's go get things shaking."
Treating the first month of the season like the exhibition slate is nothing new for NFL teams. A 17-game season has wear and tear on teams, as they use the bye week to recharge the batteries and rest up.
The Eagles chose not to do that with the early bye week, knowing the 2-2 start was not what they anticipated. Some players stayed back at the NovaCare Complex and worked during the off week. A few players asked head coach Nick Sirianni to run the ball more and Jalen Hurts even had some conversations with Sirianni that would help take the Eagles to where they wanted to go.
Philadelphia is first in the NFL in rush yards per game (194.0) and third in offensive points scored per game (29.4) since Week 6. The defense emerged into one of the best in the league, ranking first in yards per game allowed (200.8), first in yards per play (3.7), first in pass yards per game allowed (122.6) and second in rush yards per game allowed (78.2).
Oh, and first in points per game allowed (13.0). The Eagles knew the talent their team had, but needed to put everything together.
"We had the chemistry when we were 2-2," Barkley said. "Just stuff happened. We were banged up, we weren't playing our best ball, it was all a new system, there's all the excuses we could have in the world. We're not going to make them."
