There are various reasons for the way the Eagles have steadily shifted into a smooth, offensive flow in recent weeks, not the least of which is the competition.
They’ve won three games in a row since a Week 5 bye, scoring 20 points on the Cleveland Browns, 28 against the New York Giants and 37 in a commanding, 20-point win Sunday over the Cincinnati Bengals.
But while those three victimized opponents are only a cumulative 7-16 in the standings — before the Giants played Monday night — it’s probably unfair to point only at the Eagles’ subpar competition as a prime reason for their improvement and warn about tougher challenges ahead. For the Eagles have shown steady improvement in a few facets of their game, despite injuries on the offensive line and elsewhere.
For a prime example Sunday, there was DeVonta Smith. He caught one ball for minus-2 yards against the Giants the week before. But against the Bengals, Jalen Hurts had his eye on Smith, and wound up connecting with him six times for 85 yards, including a beaut of a 45-yard touchdown pass that broke what had been a 17-all tie and launched the Eagles to a 37-17 in Cincinnati.
“Just going out there and doing my job,” Smith said afterward. “Whether I get a lot of targets or I get a few targets, I just go out there and try to do the best I can and make the most of my opportunities. We knew we were going to get the one on one coverage (on the TD pass). Jalen, he trusts me to go up there and win a fight to (catch) the ball.”
“I think it was nice to get DeVonta the game that he had yesterday,” coach Nick Sirianni said Monday. “I think it showed up in many ways, right? You saw him make an unbelievable touchdown catch in traffic on a jump ball. Jalen put a great ball on him, we had great protection, and Smitty went up and got it. Then, I loved the third down conversion by DeVonta on the little sideline pass that Jalen put out there for him. And then DeVonta — I showed this in the team meeting today — lowering his shoulder and getting the extra yards needed. You don’t see that a lot with a guy who’s on the sideline, you see a lot of guys will step out of bounds.
“DeVonta is so tough. The reason I say that is because he’s so physically tough, but he is mentally tough, too. There are ebbs and flows of the season. You’re going to have wins, you’re going to have losses. But how do you respond? You’re going to have games where you have no catches, and you’re going to have games where you have however many he had yesterday, 6 for 86. That takes mental toughness to understand that.”
Hurts, who was 16 of 20 for 236 yards with a touchdown and, for the third straight winning week, no turnovers, indicated Sunday that his faith in Smith and other offensive Eagles has never wavered.
Regarding Smith’s limited performance against the Giants, Hurts said, “I don’t think that’s on DeVonta. We have a lot of talent and we have a lot of mouths to feed. So that’s something we have to navigate as a team.
“The one thing I’m confident in is everyone being ready when the opportunity (is there) and their number is called. He made some huge plays down the field … and on third downs he showed up big.”
Now at 5-2, the Eagles, who were one successful Washington Hail Mary pass away from taking first place in the NFC East, have to prove to the league, their fans and to themselves that this turnaround — complete with improving offensive performances and a consistently impressive defensive — can stay at that level when the competition takes a step up.
They get a home game against 2-6 Jacksonville on Sunday, which they can’t look past, but the Birds can at least secretly sneak a peek at Nov. 10, when they travel to Dallas to face their old buddies the Cowboys. And after that, the preying Commanders take them on all of four nights later.
Are they ready? Perhaps. But certainly the Eagles are more ready to compete than they were earlier in the season.
“I don’t think we’re there yet. I think we’re slowly finding it and trying to piece things together,” Hurts said. “Ultimately it comes down to cadence and rhythm and how we play, and then in the end optimizing all of the talent that we have.”
In Hurts’ case, it has come down to going from the league’s most turnover-prone quarterback to one who hasn’t turned the ball over for three straight weeks while turning QB ratings of at least 115 over those three consecutive weeks. Against the Bengals, it soared to 132.5.
Smith said Hurts’ personal improvement also has something to do with the guys around him.
“When you don’t execute a lot of that is bound to happen. You’re going to turn the ball over,” Smith said. “When you’re executing at a high level, it takes a lot of that away. When guys are not in the spots that they’re supposed to be, when guys are not doing the things that they’re supposed to do, you’re bound to have turnovers. Right now, we’re executing at a high level, guys are in the right spots at the right time, and it’s easier on (Hurts) when guys are where they’re supposed to be.”
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NOTES >> Hurts had a wardrobe problem during the game when he had to burn a timeout to get a cleat off in which he had tied too tightly. He finally switched to a white cleat, giving him multi-colored footwear. “I had to go Jalen Two Shoes for a bit,” Hurts cracked. … Nothing new yesterday on cornerback Darius Slay, who had to leave the game early with a groin problem.
Source: Berkshire mont
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