Top reasons for Eagles’ uneven start to 2024 season, plus top reasons for optimism entering Week 5 bye |Max Sporty|

We know one thing about the Philadelphia Eagles: They can’t get past the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In four seasons with Nick Sirianni as head coach, the Birds went just 1-4 against the Bucs, with three of those losses coming by multiple scores and two occurring in the playoffs. The biggest concern if you’re the Eagles, or rather someone who happens to be invested in the Eagles, is whether this Philly outfit can top it. myselfliving up to the high standards set by two Super Bowl offers in the last seven years.

Four games are less than 25% of an NFL season That’s another way of saying the story of the 2024 Eagles is far from over. That’s not to say the first chapter wasn’t rocky. The 2-2 record is fitting, speaking of the club’s September unevenness, but everything else — the eye test, the stench of the recent past, the disconcerting trend of turnovers — suggests a bleaker status. Is this just standard fatigue that accompanies an “off” stretch for a large marketing team? Or are the Eagles actually in trouble?

Here, we’ve identified the main reasons for Philly’s lackluster start, plus reasons for cautious optimism:

The main subjects of Eagles

Hurts-Sirianni’s offense continues to be erratic

It’s never a great sign when the first thing that comes to mind for this type of exercise is the literal coach-and-quarterback. But coaches and quarterbacks have the biggest hands in a team’s success (or lack thereof), and this particular team has been pretty hilarious. Yes, their 2022 run was dominant, but since then, Hurts has been hot and cold as a decision maker, and Sirianni has routinely failed to either 1.) get the offense off to a strong start, 2.) show creative adjustments, or both.

In their three-plus seasons together, we likely have a larger sample size of Hurts being more sloppy than special under Sirianni’s watch, with heroic dual-threat efforts increasingly matched by ill-timed giveaways, plus now inconsistent explosiveness as a mixer. It is impossible to say fully where the subjects of Hurts end and those of Sirianni begin; certainly the coach is not always to blame for poor ball security or late reads of open goals. The prominent role of new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore blurs the picture further. No matter how you slice it, though, the fact is, since they went toe to toe with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII, the Hurts- and Sirianni-led Eagles too often evoked memories of the late Carson Wentz-Doug Pederson years, when every push for significant yards took a season’s worth of stretch, or big gains were undone by head-scratching picks. .

Exacerbating that reality is the fact these Eagles are far superior when it comes to skill talent, with some of the game’s best playmakers spread around the lineup. Which is exactly why Sirianni, despite a sterling on-paper resume for a fourth-year coach, rightly faced questions about his job security after 2023’s collapse from 10-1 to one-and-done in the playoffs: If it’s not the talent, then it’s got to be the guy (j) with the headphones and playbooks. Throw in the contrasting dynamics of the main dogs’ personalities — Painful, notoriously even-tempered; Sirianni, outwardly boisterous — and it’s not hard to cynically view the operation as a ticking time bomb. It would be different if there were clear signs of growth and coherence.

The defense plays soft, literally and figuratively

“Soft” refers to both new coordinator Vic Fangio’s signature approach — eliminate the big play, keep everything in front of you — and the actual execution of said approach. The latter is arguably the much bigger concern, with established but aging names like Darius Slay, Avonte Maddox and Co. picking up the missed tackles on a unit seemingly immune to dropping a ball carrier on first contact. Of course, it doesn’t help that general manager Howie Roseman — typically one for the offseason spending spree — doesn’t seem to have found a single useful pass rusher other than 36-year-old mainstay Brandon Graham, who was supposed to be enjoying a retirement tour as a rotation piece.

Fangio casts a genuine and proven voice atop the defensive staff — a far cry from the circus that was Sirianni’s in-season coordinator shuffle of 2023. And his troupe came to play in New Orleans when the talented Jalen Carter became one. -man wrecking crew to fill the once hot Saints. Rookie Quinyon Mitchell also got the nod, proving handy at the right times as a starting corner. Otherwise? Everything looks too easy for the opposing team. Baker Mayfield. Jordan Love. Kirk Cousins. It doesn’t matter the quarterback, team or scenario in particular. Anyone can go because the Eagles run so hot and cold — a nice nod to the team’s offense, perhaps — in terms of fundamentals and physicality.

It all adds up, though, because if the unit that’s supposed to carry this team — the highly paid and decorated offense — actually meets expectations, Fangio’s side might not be so physically weathered. As is so often the case, the entire operation ties together, for better and for worse: Most Eagles fans would accept mere expertise on the defensive end in 2024, and yet, that came with the assumption that Hurts and Co. would also put points on the board. Neither happened consistently.

The main reasons for optimism of Eagles

Did we sound like the Eagles are actually 0-4? Welcome to the cold reality of high expectations in the NFL. If this were 2021, after all, and both Hurts and Sirianni were newly full-time at their respective jobs, then this kind of sloppy 2-2 start would be par for the course. But we live in the shadow of the last two seasons, in which that same contingent nearly dethroned the Chiefs on the ultimate stage, then suffered a brutal meltdown the following season. This year, 2024, was always going to be a referendum on the direction of the franchise: Can Sirianni, with an overhauled staff, finally maximize his star talent?

On that front, the early returns aren’t exactly promising. Again, such a tenuous 2-2 start is probably fine if it’s a keen little wildcard bid you’re after. But if some sort of large-scale buyout is the only accepted endgame, well, every step along the way will be under the microscope. Especially in this city, where soccer reigns supreme. And especially after the way 2023 ended, when even the staunchest Eagles believers might have embraced the freshness of a slate wiped clean.

Fortunately, things can change quickly in the NFL. Just ask the Eagles from last December. Or, if you prefer a dose of sunshine, the 2017 Eagles, who lost their MVP-caliber quarterback with weeks until the playoffs and went on to win it all. Or the 2008 Eagles, who briefly benched their star quarterback after falling to 5-5-1, only to storm all the way back to the NFC championship. Miracles happen in this league, and these current Eagles might not even need one to get back into a postseason-bound groove. Why? Because they still have these reasons for optimism going forward:

The above weapons should return

If we’re just zeroing in on this season, the Eagles played three of their four games without AJ Brown, who was nursing a hamstring injury. Brown’s impact on the lineup cannot be overstated. He’s one half of one of the NFL’s best receiving duos, but on his own he’s probably one of the five best offensive weapons in the game — almost automatically open because of his combo of size, strength and speed, and a reliable safety cover for Hurts. . It’s no coincidence that his arrival in 2022 coincided with the Eagles’ Super Bowl run, and that his quieter involvement in late 2023 coincided with Philly’s dismal exit.

Brown now gets an extra week to recover as the Eagles approach a much-needed Week 5 bye, as does fellow starter DeVonta Smith, who left the Saints game with a scary concussion. Smith was just as critical to the passing attack as a go-to option in critical spots. Ditto for right tackle Lane Johnson, a perennial Pro Bowler and pinnacle of both run and pass blocking, who sat out the Bucs loss with a concussion of his own. If even one of these three were to regain their place in the lineup after the bye, let alone the full trio, it would not be difficult to foresee Hurts and Co. at least better to extend the field.

Saquon Barkley was better than advertised

Yes, that’s right; not just “as good” but better, even for a running back on a rare big money free agent deal from the Eagles. Aside from a single, extended drop at the end of the team’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons, the ex-New York Giants star was virtually perfect in his Philly debut. Each week, he single-handedly elevated the Eagles’ offense with a breakout run, and each week, he sheds initial contact to maximize his yardage. Taking care of the ball well only does so much when you’re behind, of course, but if this man can stay on the field, he’s ready to fill the highlight reel for the rest of the year.

If, somehow, the Eagles can finally pair Barkley’s explosion with a healthier receiving corps, smarter situational decisions, and perhaps some refined discipline or a positive turnover return from Fangio’s defense, they would certainly have the makings of a complete team. There are many “ifs,” but Barkley’s dynamism has been so apparent, and so consistent so far, that he already deserves to be the focal point of the team’s offense.

The greater Eagles record still stands

You probably don’t want to point backwards to make a case for these Eagles, considering how 2023 ended, but sample sizes can be an important measuring stick when assessing the actual state of NFL team. So what do we know about these Eagles considering an even bigger picture?

While battling pesky tendencies, we know Hurts is capable of producing MVP-level production when operating confidently with a full arsenal of weapons. We know Fangio is capable of controlling a top-10 defense. We know that Roseman, head of the front office, is as bold as anyone when it comes to adjusting the roster in the offseason. Could his next trick involve another splashy attempt to rewrite the defensive front that has helped power each of the franchise’s last two Super Bowl bids?

These are all more general and fanciful hopes, perhaps. But recent history tells us there’s enough talent and resource — in Hurts’ case, for example, a knack for making big spots, even when the rest of the game looks ugly — to believe that this 2-2 beginning is just the rough start of a later well-oiled machine. Even the embattled Sirianni still owns a 36-19 career record, with three straight winning seasons and playoff appearances in three years on the job.

Perhaps, after all, this beginning will prove to have foreshadowed further struggle. In that case there will then be a renewed opportunity to hope for wider change. But until then, only October is upon us. So book in.