Eagles instant observations: Late-arriving pass game compensates for other issues, snaps Birds' losing skid

Jalen Hurts' two big touchdown passes late in the second half helped an otherwise flawed Eagles team beat the Vikings.

By Geoff Mosher
PhillyVoice Staff

Brad Rempel-/Imagn Images

Eagles receiver A.J. Brown celebrates a touchdown catch during the first half of Sunday's win over the Vikings in Minnesota.

Maybe this high-wire act the Eagles appear to play every week is just how it's going to be for the rest of the season. For the most part, it's a winning formula.

The Eagles played an average first half Sunday against the Vikings, which was bailed out mostly by some bad Carson Wentz decisions that the Eagles know all too well. Their passing game came alive, though, in the second half and they got some big third-down stops on defense to escape Minneapolis with a 28-22 win.

The Eagles never trailed in the game and at one point led by 11, and yet, the outcome never seemed set in stone until the Vikings ruined their chance to really make it close when T.J. Hockenson dropped a touchdown pass on the Vikings' final possession, followed by a Josh Uche sack of Wentz that forced Minnesota to eventually kick a field goal.

A sweet connection between Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown on the Eagles' last drive was the final nail in the coffin, as the Eagles snapped their two-game losing streak with a rematch next Sunday against the Giants on deck, the last team to beat them.

This was a fairly formulaic Eagles win. Most folks probably won't be happy with things the Eagles didn't do well, and that's understandable for the defending Super Bowl champs, who haven't looked elite at any time this season.

But it's way better than losing a third straight. 

Let's get to the observations:

Jalen Hurts came alive in the second half

Hurts completed 9 of 11 passes in the first half, but he didn't play well. His pass protection was actually very good despite some injuries up front, and has been pretty good all year. But even with plenty of time, he held onto the ball too long, didn't find lanes to scramble through, and took too many sacks.

The way the second half started, it wasn't looking great, but he really came alive as the game progressed. His 78-yard touchdown pass was vintage Hurts, a deep ball that only DeVonta Smith could catch and led him the right way to complete the catch-and-run for a score. His 26-yarder to A.J. Brown in the fourth was terrific ball placement between two defenders, and he had another nice roll-out to his right with a throw to Smith on 3rd-and-long to move the chains. 

A.J. Brown finally got the ball

A big sigh of relief for A.J. Brown, who had his best game of the season. He only caught four balls, but they were all huge, especially his last catch – a 45-yarder on 3rd-and-9 on the Eagles' last possession thanks to a sweet double move on former teammate Isaiah Rodgers, which let the Eagles run the rest of the clock out.

Much has been made of the Hurts-Brown relationship this year, both on and off the field, and just six targets against a Vikings defense that came after Hurts still feels low. It won't make those relationship questions go away totally, but anytime the Eagles can get 100 yards from both Brown and Smith, that usually goes over well in the locker room.    

Pass rush, or lack thereof, almost did them in

Outside a key third-down sack in the third quarter by Moro Ojomo, the Eagles just couldn't generate enough pressure late in the game to breathe easily.

Carson Wentz saved some of his best throws for the fourth quarter and even had some slithery runs that got the Vikings deep in Eagles territory as they trailed by nine with time winding down. Wentz nearly had a touchdown pass to T.J. Hockenson, but it was called a drop. Then Wentz converted a 4th-and-2 to Jordan Addison. They got a sack from Josh Uche, but that was more on Wentz just holding onto the ball when he should have thrown it through the uprights.

The Eagles only had two sacks despite Wentz's poor pocket presence and penchant for getting stuck inside the pocket. Last year's defense would have dropped Wentz several times. With reports that Brandon Graham could come out of retirement, maybe the pass rush can improve for the Eagles.

CB2 continues to be a struggle

It'll be interesting to see how quickly Jakorian Bennett gets onto the field when he's ready to return because both Adoree' Jackson and Kelee Ringo have struggled. Jackson started and left with a concussion. Quinyon Mitchell was assigned mainly to Justin Jefferson, who was kept in check for being Justin Jefferson (it helped that he dropped a touchdown).

But the other Vikings receivers made big plays, with Jordan Addison going over 100 yards and Jailen Nailor adding a big 26-yard catch. It's fair to wonder if the Eagles would've won this game if they were facing any other starting NFL QB who's less erratic than Wentz.

Run defense was much improved

The Eagles needed to atone for their run defense breakdowns against the Giants, who had no passing weapons and could only rely on the run game, and still ran the ball effectively anyway in an upset win.

Against the Vikings, the Eagles were much better. They allowed just 57 yards on 13 carries to Jordan Mason, at an average of 3.8 per carry. Carson Wentz's scrambles accounted for about 30 percent of the Vikings' rushing offense. The Eagles would've happily signed up for that going into the game. Even Minnesota's lone touchdown, a 1-yard run by Mason, was very close to not being a touchdown – as Mason somehow got the nose of the ball over the goal line while being corralled by Zack Baun.

Special teams is now hurting them, not helping

The Eagles committed ridiculous penalties on their first two kickoff returns in the second half that staked them to poor starting field position. The first was brutal, an illegal formation – on a kickoff return? – that set the Eagles up at their own 16. After getting one first down, the Eagles punted. The next one – an illegal double team – didn't hurt as much as the Eagles were able to get their deep ball from Hurts to Smith for a touchdown and a 21-9 lead.

Still, the penalties coupled with the muffs and botched returns from the past have hurt the Eagles all season, and it seems the Eagles invent new ways to hurt their starting field position each week. Add to that Jake Elliott's first missed field goal, and it's just been an up-and-down season for the Eagles' special teams – more downs than up lately. 

Nakobe Dean gets some playing time on defense

With the Eagles light on the edges, Naboke Dean made his season debut on defense, playing intermittently at linebacker while Jihaad Campbell moved to the edge. It was hard to tell how many snaps he played, but he made six tackles, which tied for second-most on the team.

The Eagles surely have some optionality now that Dean is ready to make more of an impact on defense. But if Brandon Graham does really return, which he probably will, does Vic Fangio need to move Campbell to the edge? That's Fangio's job to figure out.

Injuries are crippling their depth

The Eagles again needed to overcome major injuries as Cam Jurgens (knee), Azeez Ojulari (hamstring) and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. (ankle) each went out early. Cornerback Adoree' Jackson eventually exited with a concussion. 

The most difficult loss was Jurgens, as the team opted to play Brett Toth as the backup center despite the fact that Toth has shown frequently in camp that he struggles with shotgun snaps. The Eagles could have moved Landon Dickerson to center and played Toth at left guard, but they didn't. The Eagles went under center more than usual because of Toth taking over at the position. I'm not sure if that's good or bad, because Hurts typically doesn't play from under center, but he did make some decent passes against Minnesota from it.

New Tush Push defense

The Vikings were the first team to have a creative strategy to defend the Tush Push – well, more creative than just jumping over the pile Frankie Luvu-style. The Vikings had their nose tackle basically lie down on the ground sideways in front of the ball to create a human barrier. The Eagles still converted a Tush Push for a first down but had a penalty on another.

Leave it to Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, one of the NFL's best, to find something different to try to stop the play. Wonder if it leads to a trend. 

Back on track?

This will be for naught if the Eagles lose again next Sunday to the Giants at home. They clearly still have some major issues, and we can debate their upside all day, but a win over the Giants would send them into the bye at 6-2 and still very much alive and kicking in the NFC.

A loss to the Giants would show that the Eagles just aren't consistent enough to really be the same Super Bowl team they were last year and raise serious concerns about their ability to make a deep postseason run.

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The obvious positive was the pass game. Hurts was spot on and he was on the same page as his WRs. That follows a trend of the pass game having played better the last few weeks. Asides from that though the defense was not very good overall and the OL continued to struggle.

This team needs to find ways to put teams away when they have the opportunity. Instead they let teams hang around.

I watched 6 games this week besides the eagles-vikings game.......each and every team has "major issues". What separates the men from the boys is the teams that have the ability to beat you in different ways.

And even thought fans think the defense didn't play very well, they held the vikings to 5 FGs.......yes, they gave up alot of yards, but holding teams in the red zone to FGs or no scores can be the difference between winning and losing. The eagles did it 5 times before surrendering a touchdown. The vikings got 15 points instead of 35. That takes talent, adjustment and determination.

Now you can downplay that feat because they gave up a ton of yards but consider the defense also had a touchdown, got 2 turnovers and a couple of sacks. Couple that with the offense showing some spark in the passing game, and the effort produced a win.

The eagles, even with their "major issues" can still beat you as these issues are slowly resolved. Getting Carter, Dean and Mitchell back showed immediate dividends. Throwing the ball efficiently produced 21 points when the running game struggled. Hopefully, this convinces Sirianni and Patullo to put the game in Hurts hands more as the Oline gets healed.

Each game, each half and quarter, right down to each drive is a battle within itself......the battle for field position, controlling the ball, finding out what will work and what won't, uncovering weaknesses to exploit later in the game....like Devonte Smith harping to Patullo and Hurts about how the big play would work.... all those little battles is what coaches use to make adjustments either on the fly or in each half....

Not all teams can beat you multiple ways.....not even some playoff caliber teams. But even with their issues, the eagles are a hard team to beat. And when they beat the giants this weekend, then get into the bye week to hopefully heal up and get some other guys back, they'll get closer and closer to the team we expect to strongly contend for another Super Bowl run.