January 14, 2025
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images
The Eagles' passing schemes have taken some weird approaches with Jalen Hurts under center.
The Eagles beat the Packers on Sunday to advance to the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs and now we know the rest.
They'll face the Rams again after L.A. beat the Vikings Monday night in Arizona.
Focus is shifting to the next one now back at Lincoln Financial Field.
But before the page fully turns, here are a few odds and ends from the 22-10 Wild Card win over Green Bay...
Jalen Hurts went 13-for-21 passing against the Packers in Sunday's win. He threw two touchdowns – a liner to Jahan Dotson right off the bat and then Dallas Goedert's rampage of a screen in the third quarter – but only racked up 131 yards and got sacked twice within an offense that stagnated for a good stretch of the game.
To Hurts' credit, he didn't turn the ball over. But to many, he did look underwhelming again.
What was the real problem though? Hurts or the playcalling?
Former QB and current ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky believes the latter.
"I thought Jalen Hurts played as well as he could given what he was asked to do," Orlovsky said as he broke down some film over Twitter/X. "My biggest concern in the pass game coming out of Sunday is no one's open."
See what he's saying below:
The tape never lies
— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) January 13, 2025
People’s “opinions” do pic.twitter.com/m4mFgcaoos
Whatever you think of Orlovsky as an analyst, there is one consistency through the majority of the clips he reviewed: A lot of those plays and routes went pretty far up the field and just took too much time to develop.
That was a big issue from last season, too, though it seems to have persisted even with Kellen Moore in command of the offense.
Granted, Hurts did miss a couple of quick outlets in Orlovsky's breakdown (Gainwell had an open window on a check in one and Goedert was loose dragging across in another), but at the same time, why weren't there more of them?
The Eagles in the Jalen Hurts-Nick Sirianni era keep falling into this habit of overcomplicating the passing game and then needing to reset themselves – and probably unnecessarily so.
A.J. Brown has proven near unstoppable on quick slants. They can exploit that and easily attack underneath, which, in theory, should open up the rest of the field because it would keep the opposing defense honest.
The Eagles never really tested the Packers in that way, and likely left yards and points on the table because of it.
MORE: 10 awards from Eagles-Packers
Now, the last time Hurts and the offense were that underwhelming through the air was back on December 8 when they narrowly beat a struggling Panthers team.
Hurts went 14-for-21 on his attempts for 108 yards. A.J. Brown only saw four targets for four receptions and 43 yards, and looked visibly frustrated afterward, which snowballed into that week's major storyline.
On Sunday, Brown had just a single catch for 10 yards on three targets, but he did turn "Inner Excellence" into a bestseller on Amazon after the FOX broadcast caught him reading the book on the sideline midgame.
Update on the football pic.twitter.com/gzTzceMlxg
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) January 13, 2025
No aggravation this time.
"I was not frustrated at all," Brown told the media at his locker postgame. "I figured that's what y'all probably thought. I wasn't frustrated...Why you always think I'm frustrated?!..Man..."
Brown said that he always has the book on the bench with him during games. This was just the first time he got caught on camera with it.
It helps him keep his mind clear in between drives, he explained, even in times when he isn't seeing the ball.
"For me, this game is mental," Brown said. "I just believe I can do anything and everything, but I gotta make sure I'm meant to do it.
"It's something like how I refresh every drive, regardless of if I score a touchdown or I drop a pass, I always go back to that book every drive and just refocus."
Hey, if it works.
And for what it's worth, usually when Brown has a quiet game like he did on Sunday, the next one is big for him.
After that Panthers game, he saw 11 targets and caught eight of them for 110 yards and a touchdown against the Steelers a week later.
Hopefully, that trend holds.
MORE: The numbers don't matter now, Saquon Barkley just wants to win
Quinyon Mitchell finally came up with his first NFL interception, and it sealed the win late against the Packers.
The rookie cornerback had the celebration queued up.
Mitchell got up from the end zone grass after picking Packers QB Jordan Love's desperation toss and signaled for fellow rookie DB Cooper DeJean to come over.
Then Mitchell recreated "The Pedigree," the signature move of retired WWE wrestler Triple H.
The Eagles rookies caught The Game's attention.
There’s a reason we say ‘Don’t try this at home’…congrats on the win Quinyon & @Eagles! https://t.co/HNr3Al33Cc
— Triple H (@TripleH) January 13, 2025
The Eagles had the game in hand on Sunday, but then Saquon Barkley finally found his opening and had nothing but green grass in front of him.
But instead of running downfield for one more score, he slid at midfield to run out the clock.
— 🤙🤙🤙 (@burnacity2025) January 13, 2025
"Situational football," he said of the slide afterward. "No más. It's first down, you win the game. So get the first down and get down."
The Eagles kneeled it out from there.
That looked and felt a bit familiar though.
Let's turn the clock back to December 16, 2007, with Brian Westbrook and the Eagles trying to hold a late lead over the Cowboys in Dallas:
History doesn't repeat but, man, can it rhyme.
MORE: Dallas Goedert's signature moment, other Eagles thoughts
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