National Football League

Eagles 'not in a panic mode' over lackluster passing attack

Published Sep. 20, 2023 3:57 p.m. ET

The Philadelphia Eagles have the 11th-ranked offense in the NFL right now. Only four teams have scored more points through the first two weeks of the season and they're averaging almost 30 points per game. They're even coming off a game where they ripped through the Minnesota Vikings for 259 rushing yards. And they're 2-0.

So of course, the next logical question is this: What's wrong with Jalen Hurts?

Really, that's a question being asked in Philadelphia these days after what even the Eagles concede is a somewhat sloppy, sluggish, uncharacteristic start to the 2023 season for their once-juggernaut offense. It's not that they're not happy with the results. It's that they're not happy with how they've gotten those results.

And since Hurts was the MVP runner-up last season and then got a $255 million contract from the franchise a few months later, most of the unhappiness is being directed toward him.

"I think we are a work in progress," Hurts said after the Eagles beat the Vikings last Thursday night. "What better way to be a work in progress than sitting on two wins out of the gate in 10 days. We strive for progress, not perfection."

That's a fair and reasonable assessment, but not everyone is so fair and reasonable, especially considering what the numbers show about Hurts and the Eagles' offense so far. Hurts hasn't topped 200 passing yards in either of his first two games and he's only thrown for two touchdowns. He's also run for a total of 72 yards on what would be a career-worst 3.4 yards per carry.

He's even been sacked seven times despite playing behind what is widely considered to be the NFL's best offensive line. And A.J. Brown sure seemed upset about the way things were going when he was caught on camera screaming at Hurts on the sidelines Thursday night. And all of this comes with the backdrop of the Eagles being led by a new offensive coordinator, Brian Johnson, who has never called plays in the NFL before this season.

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Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said "we're not in a panic mode or anything like that," because of course they're not. They're still the same team that's won 18 of their last 22 games, including last season's playoffs. Sirianni did concede the obvious, that Hurts' passing numbers are down. But it didn't sound like it was one of his big concerns.

"So Jalen was, what, 18 of 23 (against the Vikings)?" Sirianni said. "So he was completing a high percentage of his passes. It was just, hey, we had 48 runs to 23 passes. Well, of course your run stats are going to look different than pass stats and it's going to appear that your pass stats may be down. Was our first game our best game passing the football? No. But there were some similarities in that game plan as well.

"Again, we are talking about a two-game sample size."

He's right, but there's also more to it than that. They ran so much against the Vikings because in the first quarter Hurts and the Eagles' offense looked badly out synch. He completed 7 of his 9 passes for 72 yards, but 54 of those came on a badly underthrown ball that DeVonta Smith, who had two steps on the defender and had to slow up and make a terrific catch to bail Hurts out. Hurts wasn't running effectively either, and he was sacked twice.

It's why, three series into the game, the offense was booed off the field.

And that came on the heels of an opening game in New England where they gained just 251 yards — their fewest since early in the 2021 season. Even Johnson conceded that was a "sloppy performance."

Why? Well, Eagles players acknowledged that the Patriots and Vikings found new ways to challenge their offense, to get pressure on Hurts with an array of blitzes and use deep coverages to limit the big plays. They would never say it this way, but it sounded and felt as if the NFL caught up to the Eagles a little, and that Johnson, in his brand-new role, hasn't yet been able to adjust.

"For sure, I think those guys have done a great job of presenting looks that haven't been on tape, that have been unscouted, trying to find new ways to challenge us as an offense," Johnson said on Wednesday. "That's one of the things we talked about. Defenses are going to adjust to what we were doing. You see the evolution from 2021 to 2023 of what they're trying to take away from us offensively.

"I think any time that you're challenged as an offense, anytime that you have to figure out a way to problem solve, it can only be a positive."

Do Eagles look like Super Bowl contenders?

It can be, but only if they can solve the problem. The Eagles would argue that they have solved it enough since they're 2-0. But the passing game stats are certainly reason for pause. Maybe that's harsh, but the expectations are sky-high for a team that was unstoppable on offense at times last season, that came within a whisper of winning a Super Bowl championship, that made its quarterback one of the highest-paid players in the NFL, and that returns almost the exact same offense from last year.

Being 2-0 is great. So is averaging 29.5 points. But the world expects more.

"Have the pass numbers been down? Yeah," Sirianni said. "Does the defense play into that? Of course it does. Not everybody has this luxury, but fortunately for us we're able to win on the ground and we are able to win in the air, and so you are able to balance off what the defense does.

"We'll do what we have to do to win the game."

Winning is usually enough, even in Philadelphia. And it probably is for now. But a 2-0 start can't eliminate the worry that Hurts and the Eagles just aren't the same this season. As long as they're winning, that's probably OK. Winning is all that really matters.

Besides, maybe the truth is that nothing is really wrong. It only feels that way.

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.