The Philadelphia Eagles were unable to get it done against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday as they fell to 3-3 on the season after losing a lopsided game 38-20. Following their loss, the Eagles are facing their most important stretch of the season moving forward.
By looking at their schedule, Philadelphia's next five games will come against teams that have a combined record of 21-6. Those teams include the Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears, New England Patriots, and Seattle Seahawks.
Additionally, their next two games will be road games versus the Cowboys and Bills. Beating teams in the NFC East will be vital to Philadelphia's attempt to get back into playoff contention.
If the Eagles hope to revert to being a contender in the NFC; they'll need to beat teams who also have their sights set on the playoffs. Yes, injuries have hindered the Eagles but the same could be said for basically every team in the NFL.
Regardless of who is on the field, Philadelphia is going to have to tighten things up and get prepared to play a brutal group of games. After their rough stretch of games against talented teams, the Eagles will face the Miami Dolphins, New York Giants (twice), and Washington Redskins.
Therefore, if Philadelphia can escape with a 3-2 or 4-1 record in their next five games they'll be in phenomenal shape. But before that happens, the Eagles have a couple of things that need to be fixed on their roster.
First and foremost, Philadelphia needs to improve their play in the secondary. The secondary has been decimated by injuries but even when they've been somewhat healthy; they've still been unable to stop the pass.
In Week 6 against the Vikings, Kirk Cousins carved the Eagles defense for 333 yards and four touchdowns. Prior to Sunday, many people were questioning the play of Cousins and Minnesota's passing attack.
Now, the narrative will become how Cousins has figured things out after facing a hapless Eagles secondary. Cousins isn't the only quarterback who has had success against this Eagles defense.
Besides Cousins, Case Keenum, Matt Ryan, and Aaron Rodgers had aired it out for over 300 yards on the Eagles this season. Along with their secondary, the defensive line has to start forcing pressure on the quarterback.
Aside from Week 5 where they had nine sacks on the winless New York Jets, the Eagles had just four sacks as a team. Then, on Sunday, Philadelphia allowed Cousins to have plenty of time to survey the field and pick apart the secondary.
Altogether, it's tough to say that it's a must-win for the Eagles in Week 7 against the Cowboys. But having a 3-4 record going into Week 8 at Buffalo seems like a less-than-ideal situation for Doug Pederson's squad.
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