Philadelphia Eagles Bye Week Self-Scout: Five Areas Philly Needs to Improve

The Philadelphia Eagles are an NFL-best 8-1 but there's still plenty to clean up at the bye week.

PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Eagles hit their 2023 bye week in a familiar position.

For 27 consecutive NFL regular-season weeks, the 8-1 Eagles have had either the league’s best record or have been tied for the standard, uncommon consistency in a sport where parity is the norm.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t areas to improve if Philadelphia wants to reach the lofty expectations surrounding the organization. 

The goal for the Eagles is not only a return trip to the Super Bowl but winning the big game instead of coming up just short and turning an NFC championship into a second Lombardi Trophy for the franchise.

One of the hardest things to do for any team is to be honest with themselves so we’ve cut out any bias and self-scouted five areas the Eagles need to get better to finish strongly and cross the finish line.

IMPROVE TRADITIONAL RUNNING GAME

The Eagles have been one of the better running teams in the NFL over the past two seasons and can always pile up 200-plus on the ground if things are clicking on all cylinders.

The key to that, though, is the plus-one aspect quarterback Jalen Hurts brings to the table when healthy and the game’s best offensive line, not the running backs.

The bye week came at an opportune time for Hurts, who has been dealing with a bone bruise in his left knee while Cam Jurgens should be ready to return to right guard on Nov. 20 against the Kansas City Chiefs after missing five games with a foot injury.

The Philadelphia offense, however, needs to sharpen up with the traditional running game. As a gun team that means Hurts handing the football off to a back in an offset look from the shotgun with few bells and whistles.

With no bellcow back, coach Nick Sirianni needs to live up to his supposed “hot hand” mentality and identify which committee member has the best stuff each week.

D'Andre Swift is the most explosive, Kenny Gainwell and Boston Scott are players the coaching staff trusts, while Rashaad Penny is the closest thing to an old-school RB Philadelphia has. 

The group doesn't have a difference-maker, however, and that's why the coaching staff's feel on game day has to be on point. 

FIND ANOTHER OPTION IN PASSING GAME

Sirianni often reinforces that his offense runs through A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert. 

With Goedert out for multiple weeks after breaking his forearm against the Cowboys, the Eagles need a third option in the passing game and even when Goedert returns to the lineup, it would be nice to have another who can do a little bit more from a playmaking standpoint when called upon.

The immediate plan is likely going to be more traffic for veteran Julio Jones with the other avenues in the passing game being receivers Olamide Zaccheaus and Quez Watkins, whose return from a hamstring injury is imminent, or tight ends Grant Calcaterra and Albert Okwuegbunam.

The TE2, Jack Stoll, has Hurts' trust but is limited as a receiver.

 

The Eagles always have ball security skills on display :: John McMullen/Eagles Today

SETTLE DOWN THE SECONDARY

This should be easy after the break when veteran Bradley Roby is expected to return from his shoulder/pec injury to settle down the slot issues while trade-deadline pickup Kevin Byard continues to get more comfortable on the back end.

Having Darius Slay and James Bradberry outside the numbers with Roby inside and Byard and Reed Blankenship handling the safety spots should be the default setting at all times moving forward.

If injuries continue to crop up, better-defined alternatives should now exist as well with undrafted rookie Eli Ricks overtaking Josh Jobe as the top outside backup, Sydney Brown and/or Ricks as the backup in the slot, and Justin Evans or Brown as the top safety backups when Evans returns from IR.

The piecemeal approach has to stop to settle down the communication issues.

MOVE TO NICHOLAS MORROW AT MIKE LB

Perhaps Nakobe Dean’s latest foot injury clarifies things at middle linebacker but the green dot should not be a rotational position.

Nicholas Morrow has outplayed Dean to date and while the former is the one viewed to be the long-term answer, Morrow is the meritocracy candidate.

If the Eagles were Morrow’s former team, the Chicago Bears, of course you stick with Dean when healthy and write off any growing pains but Super Bowl contenders should be far more concerned with serving the immediate master, not the 2024 or 2025 desires.

Morrow is currently graded as the No. 8 off-ball linebacker in the NFL by Pro Football Focus and Dean is No. 61 of 81. Morrow might be a mirage but at least run out the hot streak before reaching that conclusion.

CLEAN FOOTBALL

Hung high above the NovaCare Complex auditorium is a banner serving as a daily reminder of just how important turnovers are when it comes to deciding NFL games.

The decoration features both ball-security skills and techniques for taking the football away. The Eagles are underwater at the bye at minus-2 in turnover differential and their lone loss was a result of an uncharacteristic Jalen Hurts interception capping a turnover-heavy day against the New York Jets.

While there is a certain randomness to turnovers at times, playing cleaner football can always be accomplished with a greater attention to detail.