The Philadelphia Eagles are coming off of a shocking home loss to the Arizona Cardinals that virtually no one saw coming. The Eagles' loss was further exasperated by the Cardinals' offense shredding the team's defense both on the ground and through the air.
Coach Nick Sirianni's team gave up three TD's through the air by Kyler Murray and 128 yards and a touchdown on the ground to Cardinals running back James Conner.
The tough loss has bred a lack of confidence in outside circles. Eagles d-lineman Jordan Davis was destroyed by NFL analyst Brian Baldinger. Eagles star and recent Pro Bowl addition AJ Brown addressed rumors of a beef with his head coach.
With the Eagles reeling, many of their opponents in the NFC are sharpening their swords in preparation for a playoff run.
Here are three reasons to panic if you are a Philadelphia Eagles fan:
1. Competition Rising-
The Eagles are now tied with the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC East and need a win and a Dallas loss or tie to win the division after it looked like the Eagles were the favorite for much of the season.
The Lions and Cowboys put on an incredible show last week, the 49ers have been great all season, and even the Los Angeles Rams are looking like a tough out in the playoffs.
If Philadelphia doesn't finish the week strong with a convincing win against the Giants on the road this week, it may be time for concern.
2. The Scoreboard Doesn't Lie-
The Eagles have won six more games than they've lost with a record of 11-5.
But they have only outscored their opponents by 22 points on the season, a total of 423 to 401. That's far from Super Bowl title territory and is more indicative of a .500 or barely above .500 team. It also speaks to the struggles the Eagles have gone through at times this season.
Meanwhile, the Cowboys and 49ers have outscored their opponents by nearly 200 points each on the season, and even the Detroit Lions have outscored their opponents by roughly twice as much as the Eagles have their opponents.
These are all signs that the Eagles' reign atop the NFC could be in jeopardy once again.
3. Hurts' Ceiling-
Has Jalen Hurts reached his ceiling as a top flight NFL quarterback, or is the Super Bowl veteran picking his spots and saving his energy for a playoff run?
Hurts was efficient in completing 18-of-23 passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns vs. the Cardinals this past week.
It wasn't enough to win the game against Murray's team. Murray showed his explosive passing skills, outdueling Hurts and winning the game led by a strong rushing attack.
Murray is a talented player, but this type of result should not happen at this point in the season for any serious Super Bowl contender and it's exactly what happened to Hurts and the Eagles.
Hurts is still one of the best QBs in the NFC, but it's hard to say with any level of confidence that he is playing better than Dak Prescott, Brock Purdy and even Matthew Stafford heading into the playoffs at this point in time based on the Eagles' overall body of work. Hurts has the talent to outplay those players, but he has to show it consistently.
Hurts has plenty of weapons around him including Brown and D'Andre Swift among others. The time is now for the savvy former Alabama Crimson Tide QB to turn things up another notch. Hurts has thrown for more than double the amount of interceptions he did last season (14 to 6) and rushed for 160 less yards.
He needs to improve his decision-making and make more big plays if the Eagles are to reach their potential.
Otherwise, those second and third gears he needs to lead the Eagles to victory might not be there by the time the second round of the playoffs rolls around. It's a scenario that could spell disaster for the Eagles in their quest to make it back to the biggest stage in football this postseason.
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