With the Philadelphia Eagles losing to the New York Giants on Thursday Night Football, 34-17, in what was the team's second straight confounding defeat, analyst Stephen A. Smith spoke truthfully about their outlook. While the football world wonders what needs to change for the Eagles, Smith would point to the lack of knowing their identity.
Scoring 17 points in back-to-back games, Philadelphia's offense has been stagnant, with Smith pointing out the imbalance of offense in how they are running and passing the ball. He would even say on “First Take” on ESPN that the team itself doesn't “know who they are.”
“But Jalen Hurts is no rookie,” Smith said. “He's been in this league long enough, where if you've got an offensive coordinator, of course, you want to defer to him. Of course, he's the authoritative figure, but you got to get in his ear and be like, ‘Yo, man, this is a bit predictable. This ain't working. People are calling us boring. People are calling us predictable, and then they're going out about the business of showing us that's exactly what the hell we are. And it's working to our detriment.'”
“Over the last two games, I'm just looking at the Philadelphia Eagles right here,” Smith continued. “Passes per attempt for their first four games, they were throwing the ball 25 times a game. Over the last two games, it's 35 times. They were rushing the ball nearly 33 times a game. That's dipped to 15 and a half. They were scoring 27 a game. It's now at 17 a game. What the hell is going on when we talk about an identity we don't know who they are because they don't know who they are.”
"When we talk about an identity, we don't know who [the Eagles] are because they don't know who they are."@stephenasmith shares his thoughts on the Eagles after their loss to the Giants 👀 pic.twitter.com/xamGd31f4l
— First Take (@FirstTake) October 10, 2025
Stephen A. Smith puts pressure on Eagles' Jalen Hurts
As the Eagles are dealing with offensive issues, Smith points to quarterback Jalen Hurts as being part of the problem, as he threw for 283 yards to go along with a touchdown and a pick on Thursday.
“But Jalen Hurts said it best. He's got to play better. He's got to do better, and most importantly, he's got to look better,” Smith said. “Because right now everybody's looking at him, and they're seeing how predictable the Eagles offense is, and the Giants showed that it played right into their hands last night.”
Smith and Philadelphia look to improve and snap their two-game skid as they take on the Minnesota Vikings next Sunday.
