Perhaps no 5-2 team in the history of the NFL has faced more scrutiny than the Philadelphia Eagles, who have faced relentless questions about their lethargic offense despite their impressive record and status as Super Bowl champions. The Eagles woke up to some extent on that side of the ball last week, with AJ Brown scoring multiple touchdowns and Devonta Smith recording nearly 200 yards.
Recently, team owner Jeffrey Lurie got 100% real on how the team is staying poised despite the abundant criticism from fans and pundits alike.
“Being able, in today's world, to manage the noise in a way where it relegates it to a bare minimum — that's a key to winning,” Lurie said, via Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo of NFL.com. “You hope to have a culture that's able to do that. It's not guaranteed. But we purposely are very intentional about it.”
Lurie also spoke about the poise of quarterback Jalen Hurts.
“It's one of the reasons we build the roster the way we do with some of the people we do, like Jalen,” Lurie said. “You have to have that resilience and understanding, especially in the world today. If you can't block out most of the noise, you're not going to maximally perform. And Jalen is one of those where, the more noise there is, the better he performs.”
A strange start for the Eagles
Most teams would gladly take a 5-2 record to open up a season, especially with a pedigree as Super Bowl champions in their back pocket. However, the fact that the Eagles have far and away the most talented offensive unit in the NFL and still continue to put up puzzlingly quiet performances on that side of the ball has been frustrating for fans and drawn the mockery of supporters of their bitter rivals.
Still, 5-2 is 5-2, and the Eagles will have a great to push that to 6-2 with a revenge game against the New York Giants on Sunday. After that will be tough games against the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions.
