NFL Playoff Preview Countdown: No. 12 Philadelphia Eagles

This is an excerpt from this week’s edition of Mike Tanier’s NFL Walkthrough, available every Monday at The Messenger…

2023 Season in a Nutshell

First three months: Jalen Hurts MVP chatter, Brotherly Shoves, weekly high-wire acts, narrow wins over weak opponents, even narrower wins over stronger opponents and a 10–1 start that briefly gave them a two-game lead over the rest of the NFC.

Final month: Despair, frustration, recriminations, heartbreak, anguish, doom, doom, doom.

It got so bad that following the play-by-play feed of Sunday’s 27–10 Eagles loss to the Giants (Walkthrough was focused on watching the Packers and Seahawks) was like listening to radio coverage of the Hindenburg disaster.

Quarterback Jalen Hurts

Hurts is not just a dual-threat on par with Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen, he’s also a field marshall with almost as much play-calling control at the line of scrimmage as Peyton Manning or Tom Brady once wielded. Some of the daring decisions that worked for Hurts during the Eagles’ Super Bowl run a year ago have backfired this season, however, with fumbles and risky throws costing the Eagles potential victories over the Jets and Seahawks. Hurts suffered a finger injury in Sunday’s loss. Whatever.

Offense

The Eagles use more zone-read and RPO concepts than any team in the NFL. Those tactics allow Hurts to choose among a variety of options — handoff to D’Andre Swift or another back, quick toss to A.J. Brown or DeVonta Smith (dealing with an ankle injury), keeper, play-action deep shot — at the line of scrimmage, based on what the defense is trying to take away. After two years, opponents have found several exploitable weaknesses, and Hurts can be baited into bad situational decisions (like throwing deep while protecting a lead or calling his own number on third-and-long) based on what look he gets from the defense.

Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata are the stars of both the league’s best offensive line and a pair of popular Christmas albums. (Landon Dickson made the Pro Bowl but does not sing, at least not publicly). Kelce, Hurts and the controversial-for-some-reason “Tush Push” make the Eagles the most effective team in NFL history at running the quarterback sneak.

Defense

Defensive coordinator Sean Desai was demoted in favor of (egads) Matt Patricia after the 49ers and Cowboys exposed the soft underbelly of the Eagles’ middle-of-the-field pass coverage, and things immediately went from bad to apocalyptic. Darius Slay (knee) should be back to patch up the awful secondary against the Buccaneers, if anyone still cares.

The star-studded Eagles defensive line (Haason Reddick, Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, rookie Jalen Carter, etc.) should have recorded more than 43 sacks. Patricia likes to drop Reddick and Graham into coverage, because Patricia is staggeringly incompetent. Also, everyone stopped tackling two weeks ago.

Special Teams

Jake Elliott is one of the NFL’s most reliable kickers. Britain Covey is a steady source of 20-plus yard punt returns.

Bottom Line

The Eagles of late November would have been the top team on this list, assuming they did not earn a first-round bye. Even after their losses to the 49ers and Cowboys, the Eagles looked like the fourth- or fifth-best team in the NFL. But the team fell apart in the second half against the Cardinals in Week 17, and Sunday was like some act of self-destructive on-field protest (when a win could have secured a home playoff game). The Eagles look so dysfunctional and demoralized that they might as well just cede their playoff berth to the Saints, who would at least appreciate it.

Look for Philadelphia to possibly squeak past the Buccaneers, then get used by the 49ers as a chew toy. The Eagles’ toughest foe has become themselves, against whom they will battle throughout the offseason.