The Philadelphia Eagles unexpectedly suffered their first loss of the season last week at the hands of the New York Jets. Despite coming into the game as a touchdown favorite, the Eagles were stymied in the second half by the Jets defense and several mistakes made by Philadelphia led to their first defeat of 2023 in a game that was there for the taking.
Things don’t get easier for the Eagles, who welcome the Miami Dolphins and their high-powered offense into town. This Sunday's game marks the first of eight in a nine-game stretch for the Eagles against playoff teams from a season ago. Seven of those games are against teams that currently have a winning record, including the 5-1 Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs.
If there was ever a gauntlet of an NFL schedule, it's this next 10-week stretch for Philadelphia. The Eagles may realistically only need five more wins to make the playoffs, but they want more in order to retain their division title and be in the running for the No. 1 seed in the NFC. There's no guarantee they win five more games with the opponents they are facing, but if any team is built to withstand this sort of scenario it's the Eagles.
Philadelphia wasn’t tested much last season and rode a huge wave of momentum into the playoffs where it steamrolled its way to the Super Bowl. Though the Eagles came up a game short of ultimate glory, they still showed that they belonged on the national stage and were going to be a contender for the foreseeable future.
This clash with the Dolphins is a great litmus test for both teams, as each of them can be looked at as a Super Bowl contender right now. Expect a high-scoring affair from these two offensive juggernauts on Sunday night.
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Birds force Tua into mistakes
One of Philadelphia’s recipes for success in recent years has been its ability to win the turnover battle. The Eagles had the third-best turnover differential in the league last season, forcing 27 takeaways. This year they have eight in six games, but all of them came in the first three games of the season.
Three straight games without forcing a turnover is uncharacteristic for the Eagles. Philadelphia hasn’t gone four consecutive games without a takeaway since 2012, Andy Reid's final season as head coach after 14 years at the helm. The Eagles went 4-12 that season.
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is prone to mistakes and has thrown five interceptions this season while also fumbling six times, though some were recovered by Miami. The Dolphins like to throw the ball a lot and Tagovailoa is very good at his reads. There's no coincidence he has the second-highest completion percentage in the league.
The Eagles can put pressure on the MVP frontrunner and force him to make mistakes. The nature of the game should make for some fireworks on both sides of the ball, so why can’t Philadelphia create some magic on defense and breathe life into the Lincoln Financial Field crowd? Though banged up, the Eagles defense will force multiple turnovers on Sunday.
Brown and Smith both feature
AJ Brown and Devonta Smith form one of the best wide receiver tandems in the NFL. Both broke Eagles records last season as they each had over 1,000 receiving yards and combined for 18 touchdowns.
This season things have been swaying toward Brown's way a little more, whether by design or not. The second-year Eagle is second in the NFL in receiving yards and is fifth in yards after the catch. Smith still has a respectable 28-334-2 stat line through six games, but there's more to be unlocked in the former Heisman Trophy winner.
The Eagles should make it a priority this week to get Smith more involved and get back to their roots that helped them succeed offensively last season. Philadelphia needs to get back to a more balanced approach after going pass-heavy last week, but this game might force them to air it out more.
Both AJ Brown and Devonta Smith thrive at home and they'll want to put on a show under the bright Sunday night lights. Even with Julio Jones in the mix, Philadelphia's dynamic duo will both score touchdowns in the same game for the first time since Week 14 of 2022.
Eagles defensive front eats
With the Eagles secondary dealing with a multitude of injuries, their defensive line has to step up on Sunday. The Dolphins have the best offense in the league at the moment and are carving up opposing defenses like they're middle school teams. The on-paper matchup shows Miami crushing Philadelphia through the air, though the expected return of Darius Slay should give the Eagles a shot.
Not many defenses have as well-oiled a pass rush as the Eagles and their big boys can get to the quarterback all day if opponents let 'em. If Philadelphia wants to improve its chances of a victory over Miami, the defense has to put Tagovailoa on his back early and often.
The Eagles nearly broke the single-season team sacks record last season and are off to a solid start this year with 20 in six games. Tagovailoa has barely been touched this season, getting sacked only six times with three clean games.
Philadelphia's front seven should be too much for Miami's offensive line to handle for 60 minutes though and the Eagles will take advantage when they can to pounce on the quarterback. Philly notches at least four sacks and holds Miami under 350 yards of offense for the first time this season.
Hurts has his best game yet
Whether Eagles fans are ready to admit it or not, Jalen Hurts hasn’t been very good this season. That's not because he isn’t a good quarterback, but because of the expectations he carried with him after a stellar 2022 campaign.
Though Hurts is on pace for his first 4,000-yard passing season and has accounted for 12 touchdowns (seven passing, five rushing) so far this season, all while leading the Eagles to a 5-1 start, there is room for improvement for last year's MVP runner-up. In fact, he'd be the first one to tell you that.
Hurts threw six interceptions last season and 15 across 30 NFL starts in 2021 and 2022. He has seven already in six games in 2023 and was just picked off three times in one game for only the second time in his four-year Eagles career. With Philly's lack of takeaways on the defensive side, Hurts' mistakes are amplified even more.
There are few quarterbacks in the NFL as resilient and poised as Jalen Hurts though and this game is a perfect opportunity for him to resurrect his season and re-enter the discussion of elite QBs in the league. Hurts is 10-5 in primetime games in his career and typically shines when the lights are brightest.
This will be Jalen Hurts' 2023 coming out party as he'll lead the Eagles on a last-minute scoring drive to snatch a victory away from the Dolphins and improve to 6-1. Hurts will throw for over 250 yards and have multiple rushing and passing touchdowns for the first time in his NFL career, firmly putting himself back in the MVP conversation.
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