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New York Giants Week 7: A Look at the Philadelphia Eagles Offense

Can the New York Giants defense capitalize against an underwhelming Philadelphia Eagles offense?

Brandon Olsen

Oct 13, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) runs with the football against the Cleveland Browns at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
Oct 13, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) runs with the football against the Cleveland Browns at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
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The New York Giants defense has put things together in the past month of the season and is facing a Philadelphia Eagles offense that’s struggled to live up to the hype so far.

Personnel

The 2024 season hasn’t been kind to a Philadelphia Eagles offense that looks dominant on paper but is average on the field.

Jalen Hurts leads the offense that despite running the sixth-most plays per game is averaging the 18th-most points per game.

That’s not to say that Hurts is the one to blame for these struggles though, as the Eagles are now on their third offensive coordinator in three years.

Consistency for a quarterback is maybe the most important external factor in determining their success and right now, Hurts is hamstrung by the coaches.

The Eagles went out this offseason and brought in Saquon Barkley from the Giants on a three-year contract worth $37,750,000 with $26,000,000 guaranteed.

Barkley has been the lone back used consistently this year for the Eagles, making them one of the few teams that doesn’t operate with a backfield by committee.

Despite playing just one less game due to a bye, Barkley is still third in the NFL in rushing with 486 yards behind only Derrick Henry and Jordan Mason.

With DeVonta Smith and AJ Brown, the Eagles have arguably the best wide receiver duo in the NFL but injuries have limited Smith to just four games and Brown to just two games. 

Both receivers just returned for the Eagles in Week 6 against the Cleveland Browns and had a combined 181 yards and two touchdowns on nine catches.

Incumbent starting tight end Dallas Goedert left the game against the Browns and is expected to miss some time, leaving the door open for Grant Calcaterra to take his place.

Calcaterra is an athletic pass-catcher that can be a mismatch nightmare for the Giants but he doesn’t contribute much as a blocker for an offense that wants to run the ball often.

The offensive line for the Eagles has gone through injuries this season that from left to right is currently: Fred Johnson, Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens, Mekhi Becton, and Lane Johnson.

Fred Johnson is in for Jordan Mailata, who got injured against the Browns. Johnson is easily the weak spot of that line.

The interior of the line has struggled in pass protection so far this year as well, shaping up for another impact performance by Dexter Lawrence if he’s healthy.

Scheme

The Eagles passing game is one of the more conservative passing attacks in the NFL through the first six weeks of the season.

Hurts has thrown 49% of his passes between the line of scrimmage and ten yards downfield, the tenth-highest rate in the NFL but he’s averaging 8.4 yards per attempt on those passes, the second-highest in the NFL.

The zone run is the foundation of this offense that allows both Barkley and Hurts to be threats on the ground.

This Eagles offense under Moore doesn’t look like previous offenses under Moore that were built on using pre-snap motion and thriving on the run game. 

With how static this offense is at times, it doesn’t force defenses to think on their feet and make adjustments. 

If I were an Eagles fan (thank heavens I’m not), I would be alarmed at the lack of both play action passing game frequency and the lack of it’s effectiveness.

For a team so determined to run the ball, they would ideally be more effective than they have been to this point.

The Eagles operate almost exclusively out of 11 and 12 personnel, accounting for 92.5% of their offensive snaps but 12 personnel usage will likely see a decline with Goedert out.

Overview

The Giants defense should be able to generate pressure on Hurts somewhat consistently considering the offensive line issues that the Eagles are having right now.

Fred Johnson has been the weak point of that Eagles tackle group and he’s listed as 6’7” which I usually don’t put too much stock in but every time Azeez Ojulari has faced taller offensive tackles this season, he’s produced handsomely.

Cover 2 should be a point of emphasis for this Giants defense this week as a way to force the Eagles to try and find pockets deep downfield, an area where Hurts has struggled mightily so far this season.

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Brandon Olsen
BRANDON OLSEN

Brandon Olsen is the founder of Whole Nine Sports, specializing in NFL Draft coverage, and is the host of the Locked On Gators Podcast. 

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