Despite coming away with a 22-16 win, the Philadelphia Eagles looked shaky in their meeting with the Carolina Panthers. This continues a pattern the Eagles have shown of playing down to competition. Teams such as the Browns, Panthers, and Jaguars have given the Eagles more trouble this season than the elite of the NFL. Come playoff time, the Eagles cannot afford to have an off game, or else they will be headed home early.
The Philadelphia Eagles Play Down to the Level of Their Competition
Perfect Storm
The performance against the Panthers was surprising, but not inexplicable. Bryce Young has been playing the best football of his career lately. The Panthers took both the Buccaneers and the Chiefs to the brink in their last two games and did the same to the Eagles. They made life difficult on the Eagles’ defense, which has been on fire recently. After playing so well, the Eagles were due for a slip-up at some point. It says a lot that the Eagles can play their C game, and still pull off a victory.
However, the Eagles cannot afford any losses in the race for the number one seed. They are one game back of the Detroit Lions, and cannot afford to lose any more ground. For a team that had an early bye week, getting a first-round bye would be a massive opportunity for the players to recover from the inevitable nagging injuries that come from the NFL season. Perhaps they were looking ahead, but if the Eagles play like this against the Steelers, they will not win.
Lackluster Passing Attack
A big reason for the sluggish performance against the Panthers was the passing game. Jalen Hurts only passed for 108 yards in the contest. While Hurts does not need to be Superman, the Eagles need more explosive plays out of the passing attack. Both AJ Brown and Devonta Smith voiced their displeasure about the uninspiring passing game postgame. While the absence of Dallas Goedert explains some of the issues, there are bigger problems in the passing game. There will be a point in the season where the Eagles will have to pass their way out of trouble. It remains to be seen whether Jalen Hurts can do that.
While the Eagles can still count themselves among the NFL’s elite, this was the first performance in a while which gave cause for concern. This looked more like a 2023 Eagles win than a 2024 Eagles win. Winning ugly is better than losing pretty, but as we saw last season, ugly play will catch up to you. The Eagles are still on a roll and are taking a nine-game winning streak into their matchup against the Steelers. However, when you are in a Super Bowl window, the standards are higher. Next Sunday against the Steelers, we will find out whether this was a blip, or whether real problems were exposed.
Main Photo: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
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