In Roob's Eagles Observations: Procuring for greatness from Jalen Hurts

In Roob’s Eagles Observations: Procuring for greatness from Jalen Hurts originally looked on NBC Sports actions Philadelphia

Procuring for greatness from Jalen Hurts, an NFL story the Eagles don’t desire and a scary Eagles-Bengals matchup.

That’s a dinky pattern of what’s in retailer for you in this weekend’s edition of Roob’s 10 Random Eagles Observations.

1. The Eagles beat the Packers despite three Jalen Hurts turnovers. They beat the Saints despite no longer scoring some extent until the fourth quarter. They beat the Browns with their defense and beat the Giants with defense and hundreds Saquon. Hurts has played neatly at instances this yr and poorly at instances. Most of this yr, he’s been factual OK. And one thing he hasn’t performed is lift the Eagles to a get better from a impartial team. And elite quarterbacks wish to build that. We’ve seen some encouraging signs from Hurts currently. Three straight games with out an interception, two straight with out a turnover, some nice deep balls late in games when the Eagles if fact be told wanted them. The next circulation is for Hurts to execute gigantic-time performs to get a recreation when the running recreation isn’t running at high efficiency, the defense isn’t shutting down a 2^nd-rate offense and the Eagles desperately need Hurts to be sizable. The final time we perhaps saw that was the main Dallas recreation final yr, when he carried out 74 p.c of his passes, ran for a touchdown, threw TDs to A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith in a huge third quarter and beat Dak Prescott for the main and greatest time up to now. That was almost a yr ago. You under no circumstances know how games are going to circulation, however with Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Bolt, Tee Higgins and Bolt Brown, that Cincinnati offense is in a position to scoring somewhat a few ingredients, and there’s a extraordinarily impartial likelihood the Eagles will need Hurts to be sizable Sunday to get the recreation. That’s the following step for Hurts. This isn’t the Browns or Giants. He’s got to be elite when the Eagles need him to be.

2. The Eagles are impending an NFL story that they don’t desire. They’ve now gone 14 consecutive games with out forcing extra than one turnovers. That’s tied for the 2^nd-longest creep in NFL historical past in the inspire of a 16-recreation creep by the Saints over the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Final time the Eagles had two takeaways in a recreation was Week 12 final yr of their 21-17 get better from the Chiefs at Arrowhead. Kevin Byard intercepted Patrick Mahomes in the 2d quarter, and in the fourth quarter Bradley Roby compelled a fumble by Travis Kelce after a brief plug that Nicholas Morrow recovered. The Eagles possess gone 10 straight home games with out forcing two turnovers, tied the 9^th-longest creep ever. The Browns went 15 straight in 2016 and 2017.

3A. The indisputable truth that Ben VanSumeren – a 2^nd-yr undrafted linebacker – is turning into a viable fullback is a if fact be told significant turn of events. VanSumeren played five snaps on offense against the Giants and had a legit block on linebacker Bobby Okereke that helped spring Saquon Barkley on his 41-yard bustle in the third quarter. Not greatest that, he sprinted down the sphere in the inspire of Barkley looking for extra victims. VanSumeren has continuously been a plus athlete – he was a huge-time baseball recruit as well to soccer out of high college – however the combo of scurry, energy and instincts he’s shown in his brief bustle as a fullback has been spectacular, and it obtained’t be dazzling if the Eagles expend him increasingly extra in that characteristic. I still assume VanSumeren shall be a capable linebacker in some unspecified time in the future, however lawful now the Eagles need him extra on offense, and he’s factual extremely cheerful to derive on the sphere any contrivance doubtless.

3B. Attention-grabbing that the final four homegrown gamers the Eagles possess outmoded on every sides of the ball – Bruce Hector in 2018 and 2019, T.J. Edwards from 2019 through 2022 and up-to-the-minute Eagles Reed Blankenship and VanSumeren – are all undrafted.

4. Not one among the Eagles’ final 23 sacks has resulted in a strip-sack turnover.

5. The Eagles possess bustle 82 performs on third down this yr and 70 of them had been either Jalen Hurts plug performs or runs. Hurts has a Fifty three.7 passer rating on third down – 22-for-41 for 288 yards with one TD and three interceptions plus eight sacks. He’s bustle 21 instances for 12 first downs (and two kneel downs) and the Eagles possess had two aborted snaps. That leaves greatest 10 speeding performs by running backs – Saquon Barkley is 6-for-22 on third down (3.7 yards per lift), Will Shipley 3-for-10 at the finish of the recreation Sunday and Kenny Gainwell has a nine-yard bustle. So in true competitive eventualities the Eagles possess if fact be told greatest bustle the ball with a running inspire seven instances all yr on 82 third downs.

6. Nakobe Dean is the main linebacker drafted by the Eagles with two sacks in a recreation for the Eagles since Mychal Kendricks against the Bears in 2013. Sooner than that? Matt McCoy in 2006, Jeremiah Trotter in 2000 and then William Thomas and Seth Joyner several instances in the Nineties.

7. The Eagles possess had extra successful seasons since 1991 than before 1991. The franchise has had 43 successful seasons since its inception in 1933. They had 21 from 1933 through 1990 and 22 from 1991 through 2023.

8A. The Eagles might perhaps well perhaps also very neatly be scoreless in the main quarter this yr, however they’re averaging 22.3 ingredients after the main quarter, the 6^th-absolute top scoring average in the league over the final three quarters. They path the Lions (26.3), Commanders (25.9), Ravens (24.9), Payments (23.7) and Bears (23.0). If they scored at the identical chase in the main quarter because the three others, they’d be averaging 29.7 ingredients per recreation and uncouth 5^thin the NFL in scoring in the inspire of the Ravens (31.1), Commanders (31.1), Lions (30.3) and Bucs (29.9).

8B. Conversely, the Eagles’ creep of eight consecutive scoreless first quarters going inspire to final yr is 14^th-longest in NFL historical past. The story is 13 straight scoreless first quarters by the 1976 and 1977 Falcons. The creep began in 1976 below Falcons head coach Marion Campbell, who was fired after the season and became Dick Vermeil’s defensive coordinator in 1977 and in the kill replaced Vermeil as Eagles head coach in 1983. Totally five groups possess opened a season with a longer creep of scoreless first quarters. The Eagles’ six-recreation creep is longest since the 1991 Packers opened with a seven-recreation creep. The NFL story is shared by those 1976 and 1977 Falcons, who every opened the season with nine straight games with out a 1^st-quarter point.

8C. The Eagles possess bustle 112 performs in the main quarter since they final scored on Jalen Hurts’ 12-yard touchdown plug to Julio Jones with 42 seconds left against the Playing cards at the Linc on New Year’s Eve.

9A. The Eagles possess under no circumstances had fewer than five gamers in a season without a lower than one interception. By six games this yr, greatest Reed Blankenship has an interception. In 1977, 2011 and 2012 the Eagles had greatest five gamers with an INT: Bill Bergey, Herm Edwards, Randy Logan, John Outlaw and John Sanders in 1977, Nate Allen, Nnamdi Asomugha, Jamar Chaney, Kurt Coleman and Asante Samuel in 2011 and Colt Anderson, Asomugha, Coleman, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and DeMeco Ryans in 2012. The most Eagles gamers with an INT in a season is 16 in 1944. Two NFL groups possess gone through a complete NFL season with two gamers selecting off a plug – the 2004 Playing cards and 2018 49ers (at the side of frail Eagle Jaquiski Tartt).

9B. Darius Ruin’s recent creep of 13 games with out an interception is greatest two off the Eagles story for a starting cornerback of 15 straight games with out an INT living by Sheldon Brown in 2008.

10. That matchup between Fred Johnson and Trey Hendrickson scares me. Gigantic Fred is a high-effort guy and a tight bustle blocker, however he’s no longer an elite plug blocker. I wrote when Jordan Mailata first got anguish I would set up Mekhi Becton out at left care for and Tyler Steen at lawful guard to derive your strongest five available. But with Becton out with a concussion that’s no longer an option lawful now, so the Eagles must plug alongside with Johnson at left care for except they made up our minds to stick Jack Driscoll available. Professional Football Focal point plug block grades possess Johnson at 36.2, which ranks him 76^th out of 80 offensive tackles who’ve played no lower than 100 snaps this yr. And Hendrickson is a machine. He had 17 ½ sacks final yr and has seven already this yr. Over the final five years, his 60 sacks are 3^rd-most in the league, in the inspire of greatest T.J. Watt (66 ½) and Myles Garrett (62). Resplendent impartial firm. Thus far this yr, Hendrickson has lined up on the defensive lawful facet – which might perhaps well perhaps be reverse Johnson – on 97 p.c of his snaps. It’s no longer in Jeff Stoutland’s nature to supply inspire to his tackles attributable to of what it takes faraway from the offense, however in this case he has to supply Johnson some inspire or Hendrickson might perhaps well perhaps damage the recreation. That’s furthermore Jalen Hurts’ blind facet and he spoke this week of how the pocket is different when Mailata isn’t available, and he has to be hyper-mindful of Hendrickson Sunday or it might perhaps perhaps perhaps also very neatly be a tricky day for the offense. One other motive it’ll be major for Hurts to derive rid of the ball swiftly and expend the mid-differ recreation and for the Eagles to possess success running the ball.