The Eagles were at home coming off a bye. A banged up and bad Cleveland team came into town for their third consecutive road game. It should've been a tune-up affair where a contender like the Birds won handily by multiple scores.
On a beautiful fall afternoon that felt like an idyllic setting for this great sport, however, the Eagles won in a somewhat ugly manner in a 20-16 victory over the Browns.
The Eagles were the largest favorites of any NFL team in Week 6, a mystifying fact for anyone who watched the team's 2-2 start before limping into the bye week. With injuries that have sprung up to the likes of Lane Johnson, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and now Dallas Goedert and Darius Slay, the Eagles will gladly take being 3-2 in what looks to be a down year for the NFC East.
Still...
Even with that winning record, taking the temperature of the fan base and just simply looking at the state of this team as it pertains to its ultimate goal of raising the Lombardi Trophy once more, something isn't right. It would be a bridge too far at this juncture to say that apathy has sunk in. It's early! It's still hoodie and shorts weather in the Delaware Valley, but when a home win to move the team to a winning record still brings calls for the head coach to be dismissed, something is wrong.
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What is ultimately going wrong?
The defense was burned badly in that crushing late loss to Atlanta in Week 2 and Baker Mayfield looked like an All-Pro two weeks ago. They allowed just nine points against an inept Cleveland offense and the pass-rush finally looked lively, recording five sacks. They were certainly bending, but Vic Fangio's defense, for a day, at least, was not breaking.
The offense still feels off, scoring just two touchdowns. 372 total yards offense? Awesome on paper. It just never felt that easy nor cohesive.
No, Kellen Moore's arrival in Philadelphia did not revolutionize an offense that grew increasingly stagnant over the course of the 2023 season.
The use of pre-snap motion is an element of the modern NFL. It was strange how rarely the Eagles utilized before this season. It's implementation, however, hasn't changed much. A swing pass to Jahan Dotson running through the backfield before the play, again, did not change the complete trajectory of this Eagles offense.
Know what did change the offense a great deal though? Having A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith back in the offense. Jalen Hurts averaged an incredible 10.6 yards per pass in the win. Hurts was averaging a career-worst 7.0 yards per pass entering the game. Missing Brown for three games and Smith for parts of two was a massive detriment to the Eagles' offense, but against a now 1-5 Browns team, more than 20 points off a bye would've been encouraging, no?
Perhaps Brown and Smith reconnecting with Hurts can spur a 2022-style offensive burst:
What is happening there?
It's hard to get a read on this Eagles team and dissatisfaction from the fan base, which is barreling down upon their head coach, even in the face of a win is entirely justifiable.
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