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Five questions the Eagles need to answer in the second half of the season

Harry November 9, 2024

Now approaching the midway point of the regular season, the Eagles enter a crucial juncture, well positioned for the upcoming playoff push but with a lot to prove.

What could be the determining factor in how the team will fare in this difficult period? Here are the five biggest questions facing the Eagles in the second half of the regular season and beyond:

Can the pass rush impact high-leverage plays?

While the Eagles’ passing offense has had a few dominant games this season, the group has lacked overall consistency, leaving a question mark about tougher matchups.

According to Next Gen Stats, the Eagles ranked 29th in total quarterback pressure and 22nd in pressure rate through eight games. Josh Sweat and jalen carter He’s been the most effective — Pro Football Focus credits Sweat with 30 pressures and Carter with 28 — but production drops off significantly after those two. Brandon Graham Moro Ojomo and Bryce Huff are third on the team with 12 pressures each with 11 pressures.

Huff’s lack of contribution Considering the Eagles signed a three-year deal worth $51.1 million in the offseason as the eventual replacement for the Pro Bowler, the Eagles stand out most Haason Reddick. Instead, Nolan Smith has taken most of the snaps opposite Sweat since the bye week, racking up 10 pressures and 2½ sacks in that effort.

The Eagles had a good showing against the Joe Burrow-led Cincinnati Bengals last month, which is cause for optimism. Likewise, they rank 10th in ESPN’s pass-rush win rate metric, which tracks how often a player comes off a block within 2.5 seconds of the snap.

Still, the most effective formula for containing the league’s elite point guards (the ones teams will face most in the postseason) is to run an effective four-man offense without the need to send in extra help. The Eagles didn’t show the ability to do that consistently enough in their first eight games and were unsure of their passing offense over the next nine and beyond.

Can and will Jalen Hurts win the shootout?

One of the most obvious changes resulting from last month’s bye week was the shift in offensive approach from a group that threw the ball early and often to one that relied heavily on a dominant running game.

The Eagles entered the bye week ranked 16th in early pass percentage. RBSDM.com. But since their Week 6 game against the Cleveland Browns, no team has had less passing plays on early downs than them.

The formula is both clear and understandable. Saquon Barkley He leads the NFL in rushes of more than 10 yards, which means the offense doesn’t need to throw the ball to be explosive. It’s hard to argue with that shift, which has also opened up play-action for Hurts and has helped him go four straight games without a turnover while connecting on shots downfield every Sunday.

However, even if this formula is effective, can it be used every week? The Eagles need to get some of their remaining games back with their current form, but there isn’t much evidence of Hurts successfully running back at a high volume when paired with a similarly high-powered offense. The season opener against the Green Bay Packers might be the best example, but even in that game, Hurts had three turnovers. Hurts had one of his most impactful games against the Bengals, finishing with just 22 putbacks in a game that could have turned into a shootout had it not been for an impressive second-half performance by the Eagles defense.

Considering the heights he has reached in his career, it is reasonable to say that Hurts can drop 40 times and be effective, but it is also fair to note that he has not shown that yet this season.

Can Barkley maintain his elite production?

It’s also worth noting that as long as Barkley continues to be one of the league’s most reliable high-volume offensive players, the Eagles may not need the answer to our second question very often.

Barkley entered Week 10 in the top five in a variety of statistical categories, from total rushing yards and yards per carry to more advanced metrics like rushing yards above expectation or explosive rushes per play.

The 27-year-old has become the central figurehead of the Eagles offense, but his usage begs the question: Can he stay at that pace without any problems? Barkley averaged 22 touchdowns per game, on track to finish the season with a career-high 376 touchdowns. For context, he had 352 touches in both 2018 as a rookie and the 2022 season.

One or two lopsided results could help the Eagles reduce their current usage, but it’s important to recognize that the few games in which the team has rested starters in the fourth quarter have contributed to its current pace not being higher than it is.

Whatever it’s worth, Barkley said he wasn’t worried about it. Still, the Eagles will need him at or near his peak for the final stretch of the season.

Which way will the Eagles’ turnover differential go?

The Eagles, who had a nightmare start to the season and were among the worst teams in the league in terms of turnover difference, have gradually moved closer to the middle of the group since the bye week.

It’s no coincidence that the team’s four-game winning streak coincides perfectly with a stretch where the offense committed just one turnover to the defense’s four. And while he was the Eagles coach Nick Sirianni While we’ll talk about the idea that turnovers might be something coachable, the only giveaway the team made was a fluke turnover from Barkley, confirming the idea that luck is the primary factor in a team’s differentiation by the end of the year.

So will the Eagles stay lucky or disciplined? Hurt’s four-game turnover streak, the longest of his career, is an encouraging sign.

Whether they can keep that up could be a deciding factor in how this season ends, especially considering the Eagles are 17-0 in games where they win the turnover differential since the 2022 season.

Will Sirianni’s approach to game management work?

Sirianni’s decisions both late in the match and surrounding fourth defeats it backfired Although the coach deserves praise for his aggressive approach at times, he has underperformed at various points this season.

True, this approach led to the Eagles gaining 447 total yards but only 28 points last week, and was a contributing factor to the team’s success. Week 2 loss to Atlanta Falcons additionally. Still, the Eagles have converted on 11 of 17 fourth-down attempts this year, giving them the seventh-highest conversion rate, thanks in large part to Tush Push and Sirianni’s consistent willingness to take chances in short-yardage situations.

Leaving aside the fluctuations in the winning probability of a single call, it is difficult to measure the overall impact of the decisions a coach makes in these situations on the team in the long term. But if it shows up in a big moment later this year, it won’t be that hard to measure.

Eagles reporters Olivia Reiner and EJ Smith will preview the Eagles’ Week 10 matchup with the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday at 2:55 p.m. on Gameday Central.