Jalen Hurts' injury situation and Fangio's defense: Four burning questions about the Eagles ahead of the Packers playoff game
The Green Bay Packers played the Philadelphia Eagles in Brazil in Week 1, on September 6. Four months later, the teams will face off again. This time around, in Philadelphia, and with a divisional round spot in play. Both teams are much different now. The Eagles have one of the top defenses in the league […]
The Green Bay Packers played the Philadelphia Eagles in Brazil in Week 1, on September 6. Four months later, the teams will face off again. This time around, in Philadelphia, and with a divisional round spot in play.
Both teams are much different now. The Eagles have one of the top defenses in the league under Vic Fangio, but quarterback Jalen Hurts missed the last two games in the concussion protocol.
So, we talk with Kelsey Kramer, who covers the Eagles for A to Z Sports, to understand where Philly is ahead of the Packers game.
The Eagles played against the Packers in Week 1. What has changed since then?
The defense and chemistry have changed tremendously. Week 1 was a long time ago. The Eagles have since become an entirely different team and have found their team identity, which according to Nick Sirianni, is “physical, with a focus on playing with toughness, detail, and accountability.”
How's Jalen Hurts injury situation? Do you fear some type of rust?
As of Monday morning, Jalen Hurts is still on concussion protocol. Sirianni did say he was progressing through it and he was at the team’s Friday walkthrough, which is a good sign that he will be cleared this week. As long as he returns to full practice by Thursday, I don’t think there’s any reason to believe he will look rusty. If anything, I think he may have benefited from the two weeks of rest. But we’ll see if Sirianni has a better update when he speaks to the press on Monday afternoon.
Saquon has obviously had a great season. But how is the passing offense doing?
It’s no secret that the Eagles have been a run-heavy offense and passing comes second. But it’s not like they’re bad at passing. Let’s not forget that the last time the media gave too much attention to the Eagles' “passing issues” Hurts went 25-of-32 for 290 yards and a pair of touchdowns. It’s just the whole, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality in Philly that seems to be working.
The defense has been much better with Vic Fangio. If there's a way to exploit it, what is it?
Um, hope for injuries? Just kidding. But the Eagles defense absolutely dominated this year. They are, however, a bit better in pass defense than they are at stopping the run. They finished the regular season ranked 1st in pass defense, giving up an average of 176.4 yards per game and 21 passing TDs. Meanwhile, they finished 10th in rush defense as they allowed an average of 104.4 yards per game and nine rushing touchdowns.
4 burning questions answered as Eagles look to beat Jordan Love and Packers in NFL playoffs’ wild card round
The Eagles are favored to win.
