The Philadelphia Eagles are off to a red-hot start in their 2022-2023 campaign. Nick Sirianni and his boys in midnight green are 3-0 on the year and have been in talks as one of the most lethal teams in the NFC. After the Birds delivered a beat down in Washington, the morale of the franchise, city, and fans has been through the roof. However, the focus now shifts to this Sunday when the Jacksonville Jaguars make the trip north to Lincoln Financial Field, a homecoming for Doug Pederson.
Some familiar faces will be at the Linc this Sunday, as former Eagles head coach and now Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson will be in the house. Pederson is the only coach in Eagles history to bring a Lombardi trophy to the city during the 2017-2018 season when the Eagles defeated Tom Brady and the New England Patriots 41-33 to become world champions. He will no doubt be met with many boos from the crowd in classic Philly fashion, however, we must remember all the good he did for the franchise and city during his coaching tenure.
Philadelphia Eagles Need a Statement Win
Sitting pretty at 3-0, joining the Miami Dolphins as the only other undefeated teams in the league, the Birds must be locked in and prepared to handle business on Sunday. The Jacksonville Jaguars have long been the laughing stock of the NFL for many years now, but that is no longer the case. Pederson and QB Trevor Lawrence have meshed well this offseason and are producing on the gridiron thus far in the season. The Jags are 2-1 on the year, with wins against the Colts and Chargers and their only loss coming at the hands of the Washington Commanders in week 1.
The Jags are making some noise across the media with the solid start to the season that they are having. With this in mind, the Eagles need to come into this game guns blazin’ and lay a beat down on them. On paper, the Birds are a much stronger and dominant football team, they need to prove that this Sunday.
Points to Address
Second Half Scoring
The Eagles are undefeated; they have had difficulty finding the end zone during the second half of the games so far. QB Jalen Hurts, and his offense has yet to score a touchdown during the 4th quarter in any game this season. This needs to change this week to be a top team in the league. It seems the offensive fire has been fizzling out for the Eagles come the second half of games.
The Birds are being chalked up as one of the best teams in the league, but they have yet to play an entire 60 minutes of solid football. This team needs to show the fans and analysts that they can continue to score throughout the game on Sunday. What better team to do it against than Doug Pederson’s Jaguars?
Rushing Attack
Last season the Eagles led the league in rushing. The team was a monster in the trenches and ran the football down the throat of opposing defenses. While the passing attack this season has been stellar, Miles Sanders and the stable of running backs need to get things churning on the ground. Teams will notice that the air attack between AJ Brown, Devonta Smith, and Quez Watkins has been producing and will be a focal point of defense coverage. With that in mind, the Eagles can be a double-edged sword when the rushing game gets on the same level as last season.
Blitz Blitz Blitz
Philadelphia Eagles’ DC Jonathan Gannon is coming off a hot streak, limiting his last two opponents to just 15 combined points. Gannon’s defense has looked nothing short of menacing this season. The defensive line has been bullying opposing offensive lines rushing the passer, and getting in the backfield. Last Sunday, the defense recorded 9 sacks on Commanders QB Carson Wentz. This is a trend that can and must persist. Gannon was reluctant to blitz last season and had a very conservative approach to his defense last season. It can be observed that the sophomore DC has settled into his position this season and has gained confidence in his guys to blitz more often this season. Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, Javon Hargrave, Josh Sweat, and Jordan Davis all have that dawg in them and have the ability to get to the quarterback on opposing teams.
Outlook
If the Philadelphia Eagles can sharpen up their game this week and put points up on the board throughout the game, run the ball effectively, and pass rush, they will no doubt endure continued success this season. Jalen Hurts has been preaching to the media that the team still has aspects of the game to improve on, and it is time for them to do so. Hurts is the Commander in Chief of this team and has proved to be “the guy” this season.
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