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LANDOVER, Md. — Through eight games, five decided by seven points or fewer and two over the upstart Washington Commanders, the Eagles have revealed their strengths and shortcomings.
Barring a blockbuster trade by Tuesday, the Eagles are what they are, if not necessarily what we thought they would be at the unofficial season midpoint.
The offensive line is one of the best in football. The defensive line is just good enough to win close games. The secondary is a mess. Turnovers remain a problem. And when it’s winning time, no duo is better than Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown.
The only real question is whether that will be enough for the Eagles (7-1) to strike a death blow to the Dallas Cowboys (5-2) when they get together next Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.
In the Birds’ 38-31 win over the Commanders Sunday at FedEx Field, center Jason Kelce, tackles Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata and guard Landon Dickerson proved again it is as good as it gets. Good enough that when rookie guard Tyler Steen was an emergency replacement for Sua Opeta, the offense responded with a touchdown. The Commanders’ defensive line — tackles Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne, edges Chase Young and Montez Sweat — is among the best in the league.
The Eagles’ defensive line can close out games, Haason Reddick’s sack of Sam Howell on fourth down taking the glitter off an eye-opening effort of four touchdowns and 397 passing yards. Rookie tackle Jalen Carter didn’t play his normal shift due to a back issue, and it showed in both the run and pass defense. Jordan Davis didn’t look himself. But Reddick and Josh Sweat kept trading blows with the Commanders. Reddick’s strip sack of Howell on fourth down with 2:13 to go put an exclamation point on the victory. Troubling is it was the only sack of Howell, who had been sacked more than any quarterback entering the game.
The Philly secondary, despite the addition of savior safety Kevin Byard, has a lot of work ahead of it, gauging by how Howell carved it up. For just the second time this season, the Eagles trailed 7-0. For just the second time this season, they were behind at half, 17-10. On both occasions, it was against the Commanders (3-5) who, by the way, were beaten 14-7 last weekend by the lowly New York Giants.
Howell connected on 24 of 26 attempts (92.3 percent) for 226 yards, two TDs and a 128.5 passer rating in the first half. The Eagles couldn’t get to Howell, who literally had them bumping into each on coverage. He lit them up with dink and dunk throws, intermediate passes and longballs to Terry McLaurin.
The turnover situation is getting ridiculous. The Eagles are minus-3 on the season after two more fumbles, one by Hurts and one by Kenneth Gainwell, both inside Washington 10. Hurts lost the ball on a Tush Push, giving him 11 turnovers on the season. An interception by safety Reed Blankenship that set up the go-ahead touchdown by Julio Jones with 7:17 left is just the second takeaway in the Eagles’ last 21 quarters.
“Turnovers, we dug ourselves a hole,” Johnson said. “The offense, we executed when we needed to. Offensively we did some good things but when you turn the ball over you make the games maybe closer than they need to be.
“Obviously, it’s a big win. We left a lot of good plays out there. Our turnover margin isn’t where it needs to be.”
Hurts and Brown are enough to offset the weaknesses.
With eight catches for 130 yards and two TD grabs, Brown became the first wide receiver since the NFL/AFL merger to record 125 or more receiving yards in six straight games.
Every time the Eagles needed a play, Brown made it. His one-handed catch between two defenders in the end zone will be a YouTube favorite.
“I mean, he’s doing really impressive things,” Hurts said. “He’s playing at a very high level and consistent. … I’m proud of him as a friend and as a quarterback and I’m proud that he’s truly invested in winning and putting the team first and doing whatever he needs to do in his role to win.”
Hurts matched a career high with four TD passes Sunday, giving him 13 on the season. He didn’t throw an interception for just the second game this season.
“I don’t want to say that he’s injured or whatever, but he played a great game today,” Brown said. “He was hitting us in stride, just controlling the game, controlling the huddle.”
While the Eagles were fending off the Commanders, the Cowboys were trashing the Los Angeles Rams, 43-20, at AT&T Stadium. It’s officially Cowboys week.
“It’s going to be a big game,” Johnson said. “I saw they got on the Rams pretty good. Their defense is elite. It will be a big challenge for us.”
Contact Bob Grotz at rgrotz@delcotimes.com.
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