The New York Jets have never beaten the Philadelphia Eagles. Let that sink in. The two teams have played a dozen times and all twelve have been won by the Eagles.

The last two times the Jets and Eagles faced off was week 13 of the 2021 season and the Eagles won 33-18 with Gardner Minshew leading the way for Philly and Zach Wilson at the helm for the Jets.

Now, the undefeated Eagles come in with last year’s NFL MVP runner-up Jalen Hurts leading a daunting offense and smothering defense that has them sitting at 5-0 on the year.  All with the Jets down their top two cornerbacks.

The Jets on the other side currently sit at 2-3 riding high off their win in Denver last Sunday. The Jets will face a much more difficult test against Philly, but if Gang Green wants to get into the playoffs, they are going to have to win some of these games they should lose on paper.

With a lot of talent on both teams, here are the three matchups that I’ll be most exited to watch.

Top 3 Matchups When Jets Host the Eagles

1- Jets defensive line against the Eagles Offensive Line

The Jets already did a fairly decent job in containing Travis Kelce even with Taylor Swift in the house, and while Jason doesn’t get the notoriety his brother gets, Jason Kelce might be just as good at his position as Travis is at tight end.

The Eagles have boasted the best offensive line in the game for the past few seasons and this year is no different. They are a disciplined group who work well together and protect their quarterback.

The Eagles are a top three offensive line in both the run and pass game.

The Jets on the other hand have one of the best defensive lines in the NFL and will need them to show up in order to knock off this tough Eagles group.

2- Jalen Hurts running vs Jets linebackers

Jalen Hurts leads the second best rushing attack in the NFL not just by turning around and handing it off behind one of the best offensive lines in the business.  He is a focal point of the action.

Hurts has 55 rushes so far this year for 203 yards and is almost guaranteed to get fourth and short or goal line carries.  He has 4 rushing touchdowns on the year.  

25 of his 55 rushes have resulted in a first down. He is a defense demoralizer with his legs.  The Jets will need to have a spy on Hurts at all times which will create more one-on-one opportunities elsewhere for the Eagles.

The Jets will rely on CJ Mosley and Quincy Williams to play lights out football in the second level.  For as much as Mosley has distinguished himself as the leader of the defense, Quincy might have taken the reigns as the teams best linebacker.

Pro Football Focus grades Williams as the fifth-best linebacker overall and second in coverage, which Williams admitted was a weakness coming into this offseason. He’s first in stops, which PFF quantifies as tackles that constitute a failure for the offense. His missed tackle rate is down to 8.3 percent from 14 percent in 2022 and 12.1 percent in 2021. And he’s 10th among linebackers in splash plays, per TruMedia.

The linebackers will have their hands full considering how thin the Jets are in the secondary down Sauce Gardner and DJ Reed.

3- Breece Hall against the Eagles rush defense

The Eagles currently have the best rush defense in the league giving up only 61.2 yards a game on the ground. They are not going to be fooled into thinking Breece Hall isn’t the same player he was last year before the injury. They saw him gain 177 yards against the Broncos and look damn good doing it.

The Eagles will not be afraid of Zach Wilson and will look to make sure they contain Breece Hall at all costs. But that won’t (or shouldn’t) prevent the Jets from feeding Hall as often as possible.

This week Hall appeared on “God Bless Football” and said he is not all the way back, but he is getting there. “I don't think I'm there yet. I think eventually I will be, but I don't think I'm there yet. I'm still getting like 100% comfortable with my knee and everything like that,” Hall said.

“And, you know, it's like a new barrier that I break every week and I do a crazy juke or make a crazy cut and stuff like that as I get more and more comfortable with it and it's still getting stronger every week and it's just it's just been a blessing to not have too many hiccups and not have to take any steps back and everything.”

The better Hall gets, the most pressure comes off Zach Wilson to navigate this team to more wins.

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The Eagles are a seven-point favorite on the road in New York. They are no strangers to MetLife stadium playing the New York Giants once a year in East Rutherford. The Jets have a BYE week following this matchup before the schedule gets a little easier. 3-3 would feel a lot better going into an off-week than 2-4. 

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