We know one thing about the Philadelphia Eagles: They can't get over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In four seasons with Nick Sirianni as head coach, the Birds have gone just 1-4 against the Bucs, with three of those losses coming by multiple scores and two occurring in the playoffs. The greater concern, if you're the Eagles, or rather someone who happens to be invested in the Eagles, is whether this Philly outfit can get over itself, living up to the high standards set by two Super Bowl bids in the last seven years.
Four games is less than 25% of an NFL season. Which is another way of saying the story of the 2024 Eagles is far from over. That doesn't mean the first chapter hasn't been rocky. The 2-2 record is appropriate, speaking to the club's September unevenness, but everything else -- the eye test, the stink of recent past, the disconcerting trend of turnovers -- suggests a gloomier status. Is this just standard dourness that accompanies an "off" stretch for a big-market team? Or are the Eagles actually in trouble?
Here, we've identified the top reasons for Philly's iffy start, plus reasons for cautious optimism:
Eagles' top issues
The Hurts-Sirianni offense is still erratic
It's never a great sign when the first thing that comes to mind for this kind of exercise is the literal coach-and-quarterback combo. But coaches and quarterbacks have the biggest hands in a team's success (or lack thereof), and this particular team-up has been pretty mercurial. Yes, their 2022 run was dominant, but since then, Hurts has been hot and cold as a decision-maker, and Sirianni has routinely failed to either 1.) prepare the offense for a strong start, 2.) showcase creative adjustments, or both.
In their three-plus seasons together, we arguably have a larger sample size of Hurts being more scrappy than special under Sirianni's watch, with heroic dual-threat efforts increasingly evened out by untimely giveaways, plus now-inconsistent explosiveness as a scrambler. It's impossible to say fully where Hurts' issues end and Sirianni's begin; certainly the coach isn't always at fault for poor ball security or delayed reads of open targets. New offensive coordinator Kellen Moore's prominent role muddies the picture further. No matter how you slice it, though, the fact is, ever since they went toe to toe with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII, the Hurts- and Sirianni-led Eagles have too often evoked memories of the late-stage Carson Wentz-Doug Pederson years, when every push for meaningful yards took a season's worth of strain, or big gains were undone by head-scratching choices.
Exacerbating that reality is the fact these Eagles are far superior when it comes to skill talent, with some of the game's best playmakers spread around the lineup. It's precisely why Sirianni, despite a sterling on-paper resume for a fourth-year coach, rightfully faced questions about his job security following 2023's collapse from 10-1 to one-and-done in the playoffs: If it's not the talent, then it must be the guy(s) with the headsets and playbooks. Throw in the contrasting dynamics of the top dogs' personalities -- Hurts, notoriously even-keeled; Sirianni, outwardly boisterous -- and it's not hard to cynically view the operation as a ticking time bomb. It'd be different if there were clear signs of growth and cohesiveness.
The defense is playing soft, literally and figuratively
"Soft" refers to both new coordinator Vic Fangio's signature approach -- eliminate the big play, keep everything in front of you -- and the actual execution of said approach. The latter is arguably the much greater concern, with established but aging names like Darius Slay, Avonte Maddox and Co. racking up the missed tackles on a unit seemingly immune to downing a ball-carrier on first contact. It doesn't help, of course, that general manager Howie Roseman -- typically one to ace the offseason spending spree -- doesn't appear to have unearthed a single serviceable pass rusher other than 36-year-old mainstay Brandon Graham, who was supposed to be enjoying a retirement tour as a rotational piece.
Fangio makes for an authentic and proven voice atop the defensive staff -- a far cry from the circus that was Sirianni's in-season coordinator shuffle of 2023. And his unit did come to play in New Orleans, when the gifted Jalen Carter became a one-man wrecking crew to stuff the once-hot Saints. Rookie Quinyon Mitchell has also gotten the memo, proving handsy at the right times as a starting corner. Otherwise? Everything looks too easy for the opposing team. Baker Mayfield. Jordan Love. Kirk Cousins. It doesn't particularly matter the quarterback, team or setting. Anyone is liable to go off because the Eagles run so hot and cold -- a nice nod to the team's offense, perhaps -- in terms of fundamentals and physicality.
Everything comes full circle, though, because if the unit that's supposed to carry this team -- the highly paid and decorated offense -- were actually meeting expectations, Fangio's side might not be so physically weathered. As is often the case, the entire operation ties together, for better and worse: Most Eagles fans would've accepted mere competence on the defensive side going into 2024, and yet, that came with the assumption Hurts and Co. would also be putting points on the board. Neither has occurred consistently.
Eagles' top reasons for optimism
Did we make it sound like the Eagles are actually 0-4? Welcome to the cold reality of lofty expectations in the NFL. If this were 2021, after all, and both Hurts and Sirianni were newly full-timers at their respective jobs, then this kind of sloppy 2-2 start would be par for the course. But we're living in the shadow of the last two seasons, in which that same contingent nearly dethroned the Chiefs on the ultimate stage, then suffered a brutal meltdown in the ensuing season. This year, 2024, was always going to be a referendum on the direction of the franchise: Can Sirianni, with an overhauled staff, finally maximize his all-star talent?
On that front, the early returns aren't exactly promising. Again, such a tenuous 2-2 start is probably fine if it's a feisty little wild-card bid you're after. But if some kind of big-stage redemption is the only accepted endgame, well, every step along the way will be under the microscope. Especially in this city, where football reigns supreme. And especially after the way 2023 ended, when even the most chipper Eagles believers may have embraced the freshness of a slate wiped clean.
Fortunately, things can change in a hurry in the NFL. Just ask the Eagles of last December. Or, if you prefer a dose of sunshine, the Eagles of 2017, who lost their MVP-caliber quarterback with weeks until the playoffs and proceeded to win it all. Or the Eagles of 2008, who briefly benched their star quarterback after falling to 5-5-1, only to storm all the way back to the NFC championship. Miracles happen in this league, and these current Eagles might not even need one to get back in a postseason-bound groove. Why? Because they've still got these reasons for optimism moving forward:
The top weapons should return
If we just zero in on this season, the Eagles have played three of their four games without A.J. Brown, who's been nursing a hamstring injury. Brown's impact on the lineup cannot be overstated. He's one half of one of the NFL's best receiving duos, but by himself he's probably one of the five best offensive weapons in the game -- almost automatically open due to his combo of size, strength and speed, and a trusted safety blanket for Hurts. It's no coincidence that his 2022 arrival coincided with the Eagles' Super Bowl run, and that his quieter involvement late in 2023 coincided with Philly's dismal exit.
Brown now gets an extra week to recover as the Eagles approach a much-needed Week 5 bye, as does fellow starter DeVonta Smith, who left the Saints game with a scary concussion. Smith has been just as critical to the passing attack as a go-to option in critical spots. Ditto for right tackle Lane Johnson, a perennial Pro Bowler and lynchpin of both run and pass blocking, who sat out the Bucs loss with a concussion of his own. Should even one of these three reclaim his spot in the lineup following the bye, let alone the full trio, it wouldn't be hard to envision Hurts and Co. at least stretching the field better.
Saquon Barkley has been better than advertised
Yes, that's right; not just "as good" but better, even for a running back on a rare big-money free-agent deal from the Eagles. Aside from a single, magnified drop at the end of the team's loss to the Atlanta Falcons, the ex-New York Giants star has been virtually flawless in his Philly debut. Every week, he's single-handedly elevated the Eagles' offense with a breakaway run, and every week, he's shed initial contact to maximize his yardage. Running the ball well only does so much when you're trailing, of course, but if this man can stay on the field, he's poised to populate the highlight reel for the rest of the year.
If, somehow, the Eagles can finally pair Barkley's burst with a healthier receiving corps, smarter situational decisions, and maybe some refined discipline or positive turnover regression from Fangio's defense, they'd certainly have the makings of a complete team. It's a lot of "ifs," but Barkley's dynamism has been so apparent, and so steady so far, that he already deserves to be the focal point of the team's attack.
The larger Eagles track record still exists
You probably don't want to be pointing backward to make a case for these Eagles, considering how 2023 ended, but sample sizes can be an important measuring stick when assessing the actual state of an NFL team. So what do we know about these Eagles by considering an even bigger picture?
While fighting troubling trends, we know that Hurts is capable of MVP-level production when operating confidently with a full arsenal of weapons. We know that Fangio is capable of overseeing a top-10 defense. We know that Roseman, heading the front office, is as bold as anyone when it comes to tweaking the roster in-season. Could his next trick involve another splashy attempt to rework the defensive front, which has helped power each of the franchise's last two Super Bowl bids?
These are all more general and fanciful hopes, perhaps. But recent history tells us there's enough talent and wherewithal -- in the case of Hurts, for example, a knack for coming up big in tight spots, even when the rest of the game looks ugly -- to believe this 2-2 start is merely the rough start of a later-to-be-well-oiled machine. Even the embattled Sirianni still owns a 36-19 career record, with three straight winning seasons and playoff appearances in three years on the job.
Maybe, in the end, this start will prove to have foreshadowed further struggle. In which case there will then be a renewed chance to hope for wider change. But until then, only October is upon us. So buckle in.
