Even factoring in Jalen Hurts’ early departure because of a concussion, the Philadelphia Eagles should have beaten the Washington Commanders on Sunday — they led 27-14 entering the fourth quarter, finished with a 5-2 advantage in takeaways and had the ball for 36:18 compared to 23:42.
But the 36-33 Commanders win ended the Eagles’ 10-game winning streak and exposed Philadelphia’s faults, some of which could cost it in the playoffs.
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ESPN NFL analyst Bill Barnwell broke down the biggest weaknesses of NFL’s contenders, and for the Eagles, whom he described as “their own worst enemy at times,” he shaded their inconsistencies.
This offense needs to create those big plays (20 yards or more) because it’s too inconsistent to march the ball down the field 10 yards at a time. Hurts takes too many sacks, which cap the offense’s ceiling: The Eagles score nearly 37% of the time on drives in which their quarterbacks don’t take any sacks, but they’re 2-for-37 (5.4%) when there is at least one sack from the opposing defense.
Despite throwing for 2,903 yards with 18 touchdowns and five interceptions, Hurts has been sacked 38 times, which ties his career high and is fifth in the NFL.
Barnwell also found faults with Barkley, who leads the NFL with 1,838 yards rushing and 13 TDs thanks to 150 yards and two scores Sunday.
Negative plays have also been an issue. Barkley has 55 runs for no gain or a loss, which leads the league. That isn’t a shocking number, given that he also leads the NFL with 314 carries of any kind, but it’s more than expected. … What Barkley has done on the rushing attempts that go past the line of scrimmage makes up for those 55 carries, but they do bog down the offense when they happen.
Barkley finished the first half with 123 rushing yards and two touchdowns, but he only rushed for 27 yards on 16-second half carries.
After halftime, the Commanders’ defense stacked the box to slow down Barkley. Other teams have tried using extra defenders in run support to stop Philadelphia’s rush attack, but Washington and Pittsburgh have been the only two teams in the last six weeks to do it effectively.
The Commanders had more success against Barkley because their defenders didn’t have to worry about stopping Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts in the run game.
“Sometimes that’s football,” Barkley said. “Obviously, you want to go out there and win every single game. But they did a really job of adjusting. Usually, we are the team that adjusts better in the second half. We’ve shown that throughout the whole season. We as a whole didn’t do enough. When that happens, you tend to lose football games.”
At 12-3, the Eagles are third in the NFC and their playoff positioning is secure. But they will need to be more consistent to secure a title against teams that can take advantage of them.
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