Good Half, Bad Half

Someone needs to explain to Nick Sirianni and his team that NFL games are four quarters. Beyond that, teams are allowed to play well for all four of those quarters if they want to. Amazingly the Eagles are 5-2 without playing a complete game yet this season. That is both impressive and frustrating.

In the first half the offense scored one TD. They had three 3 & outs. That’s not ideal. The second half was a different story. The offense didn’t punt. They had a pair of TD drives. Another drive ended with a missed FG and the final drive ran out the clock to seal the game. The Eagles defense scored seven points in the first half and allowed only six. That was impressive. The defense didn’t get a stop in the second half, allowing a TD and three FGs. That kept the game closer than it should have been.

I remember thinking to myself at halftime that if that was the good half, the Eagles are going to lose. If that was the bad half, they should win. I didn’t think about the possibility that the offense and defense wouldn’t be synced up. This team doesn’t want things to be boring.

Winning is good and no one would dispute that. But the erratic play is an issue. There are always going to be lulls in games. No team is perfect all game long. You just want to see more consistency from this team within games.

The Eagles still have a tough schedule ahead of them. They have games against the Packers, Lions and Bills. Those aren’t teams that you are likely to beat if you take off half the game. If the Eagles want to have postseason success they absolutely must play more consistently.

I think this team can do that. The defense is one of the youngest in the league. Every game is a chance for them to learn and grow. Jalyx Hunt made a game-changing play in Minnesota with his pick-six. Hunt dropped an INT the week before. Drew Mukuba was better in coverage on Sunday than he’s been in some other games. The defense should improve.

There is also personnel help. They got Nakobe Dean back yesterday. He gives them depth and versatility. Vic Fangio played him and Zack Baun as ILBs and slid Jihaad Campbell out to edge in some looks. Nolan Smith will be back after the bye. The defense really needs his presence as a pass rusher and run defender.

The offense has different issues. That is a veteran group that should be playing at a high level. The OL is struggling with run blocking right now and the Eagles are 28th in rushing yards this season. It might be time to focus on the passing game. The Eagles are 28th in passing attempts. Jalen Hurts played his best game of the season against the Vikings. Turn the offense over to him and start throwing it more.

Kevin Patullo did mix things up schematically. The Eagles went under center and mixed in play-action. That led to DeVonta’s long TD. OT Fred Johnson was used as a TE in some sets. It felt like things were a bit more creative. There is still more work to be done.

Last year the offense ran through Saquon Barkley and the run game. The Eagles have tried to repeat that formula and it just isn’t working. Hopefully Sunday’s performance will get the coaches to realize Hurts and the star receivers are the key to this season.

To me, the story of the Eagles’ day was Hurts. Not just his stats, but clutch throws in tough spots. A 4th-and-4 TD to AJ Brown, 28 yards to DeVonta on 3rd and 15, 13 yards to AJ on 3rd-and-13 on the last TD drive. Then that final 3rd and 10 45-yarder to AJ to run out the clock.

— Les Bowen (@LesBowen) October 19, 2025

It will be interesting to see if the Eagles can build off the win in Minnesota. AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith had to be sky high after making so many big plays. Hurts had to feel good about his performance.

The bye week is coming up after the Giants game. The coaches can do a deep dive at that time and try to find even more tweaks to get this team where it needs to be. The good news in all of this is that the Eagles continue to win as they figure things out.

*****

It is mind-blowing that the Eagles are 5-2 and have been out-gained in every game so far. How is that possible?

The Eagles are first in the league in red zone offense.

They are third in the league in red zone defense.

I don’t think that is a sustainable formula for an entire season, but it certainly has worked to this point.

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