Outside of some pretty well documented kicking woes, 2024 has been an excellent season for the 11-2 Philadelphia Eagles.
Currently riding a 9-game winning streak, having not lost a game since late September, the Eagles are proving to be one of the foremost Super Bowl contenders in the NFC, alongside the 12-1 Detroit Lions.
An emboldened Vic Fangio-led defense has turned into one of the league’s best, with rookie cornerback Quinyon Mitchell currently playing at a top-5 level in the NFL, alongside a defiant rushing offense headed by likely Offensive Player of the Year, Saquon Barkley, has turned the Eagles into one of the most dangerous teams in the entire league.
Philadelphia Eagles Struggling To Get Jalen Hurts Going Through The Air
GettyAJ Brown vs. New York Giants
However, the passing offense under quarterback Jalen Hurts and new offensive coordinator, Kellen Moore – formerly of the rival Dallas Cowboys – has started to falter over the past few games.
Hurts has not managed 200 passing yards in any of his last 3 games, and has not managed a 300-yard game since September 22nd at the New Orleans Saints.
Whilst some of this can be attributed to the Eagles’ dynamic rushing attack, headed by both Barkley and the dual-threat nature of Hurts, it is still concerning relative his prior years’ numbers:
He is on track to record just over 3400 passing yards, his worst total since his first full year as a starter back in 2021. And this total may well end up lower, given the increasingly low passing totals of the most recent games against the Panthers, Ravens and Rams.
Star wideout, AJ Brown, gave a very concise answer as to the root of the offensive’s issues, “passing”, as he too is on pace to record his worst receiving total since 2021.
Kellen Moore Proposes Solution To Passing Woes
On Tuesday, Moore spoke to the media in response to these recent problems in the passing game. The essence of his plan to fix said “broken” passing offense, is to increase Brown’s involvement – or indeed his likelihood of involvement, per team transcript, via Pro Football Talk.
“I’m going to focus more on trying to find different ways of increasing the likelihood of the ball going to him. Ultimately the quarterback has to play based on the reaction of the defense and trust that there’s progressions within a play.
For us we’re always going to evaluate how we can get it to him sooner and create those opportunities. It’s really about probability. Not every play is going to be able to say 100 percent of the time it’s going to one player in particular, but how can we improve our opportunities there?”
Generally speaking, getting the ball to your most dynamic playmaker is a good start when looking at improving the passing game. But this may not affect the long term success of the offense through the air, as Jalen Hurts has not demonstrated consistent top-tier ability as a thrower since his Super Bowl runner-up season with former offensive coordinator, Shane Steichen.
Perhaps another man is needed to scheme open players for the Eagles’ $255 million man, or indeed Philadelphia should keep running the same run-driven formula that has helped them to 9 straight wins this season – and a potential #1 seed in the conference.
