What we know (and don’t) about the Eagles entering Week 10 against the Packers

The bye week is over, and everything is coming up Eagles.

The rest of the NFC East is in shambles. Jayden Daniels is out indefinitely with a left arm injury, leaving old friend Marcus Mariota as the 3-6 Washington Commanders’ starting quarterback. The Dallas Cowboys dropped to 3-5-1 after their bottom-ranked defense conceded 27 points to the lowly Arizona Cardinals on Monday night. The 2-7 New York Giants … well, they’re self-explanatory.

Not only did all three NFC East opponents lose this weekend, but the 5-3 Detroit Lions and the 5-2-1 Green Bay Packers also fell in their respective contests, helping the Eagles from an NFC playoff seeding perspective.

The 6-2 Eagles will face a Green Bay team looking to rebound on Monday night. But while the Packers are reeling following the loss of Tucker Kraft for the season, the Eagles are getting healthier, with Nolan Smith, Jakorian Bennett, and Brandon Graham expected to be available to play.

Here’s what we know (and what we don’t) about the Eagles ahead of their Week 10 matchup against the Packers:

At long last, Saquon Barkley and the Eagles offensive line (and even Tank Bigsby) are starting to show signs of life in the running game.

The Week 8 win over the Giants marked Barkley’s best game of the season, as he rushed for 150 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries (10.7 yards per carry). A large chunk of his production came from his 65-yard touchdown run on the second play from scrimmage. The star running back eclipsed 100 rushing yards for the first time since the NFC championship game.

Bigsby was stellar, too, contributing 104 yards on nine carries, the bulk of which came after Barkley dropped out of the game late in the third quarter with a groin issue.

» READ MORE: Eagles acquire pass rusher Jaelan Phillips from Dolphins

What made their feats even more impressive was that Cam Jurgens was out with a knee injury and Brett Toth started at center in his place. The 29-year-old depth offensive lineman was a key piece of the Eagles’ dominance on the ground and through the air, whether he was getting out to the second level to block for Barkley on a screen pass or keeping Dexter Lawrence out of the backfield on Jalen Hurts’ dropbacks.

The Eagles executed a variety of concepts from under center and the shotgun to great success. There should be an opportunity to keep the good vibes going in the running game Monday night. The Packers got gashed on the ground in their 16-13 upset loss to the Carolina Panthers, as Rico Dowdle rushed for 130 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries (5.2 yards per carry).

Dowdle was the first 100-yard rusher the Packers have allowed this season. Can Barkley become the second?

Meanwhile, the Packers’ running game is facing similar troubles to those that have plagued the Eagles for much of the season.

Josh Jacobs, who finished sixth in the league last season in rushing yards (1,329, 4.4 yards per carry), has not been as efficient in his second season with the Packers. He is collecting just 3.8 yards per carry this year (the league average is 4.4). Jacobs has yet to surpass 100 rushing yards in a game this season.

The blocking for Jacobs up front appears to be part of the issue. The All-Pro back is earning just 1.7 yards before contact per carry (the league average is 2.6), down from 2.0 last season.

Jacobs is catching the Eagles defense at the wrong time. Vic Fangio’s group has tightened up on the ground over the last two games, ranking fifth in the league in opponent rushing yards per carry (3.6) dating back to Week 7, according to Stathead. Before that, the Eagles were conceding 4.7 yards per carry (seventh-worst in the NFL).

The return of Nakobe Dean has played a significant role in their improvement against the run. In two games on defense, the 24-year-old inside linebacker already has three run “stops,” a statistic Pro Football Focus defines as a tackle that constitutes a failure for the opponent.

The Eagles’ run defense only figures to get stronger with the return of Smith, who had five “stops” in just three games, according to PFF, before he went on injured reserve with a triceps injury. Graham could help, too, as he was one of the team’s better run defenders in 2024.

One of the keys to the Eagles’ success against the Packers will be limiting Jordan Love in the deep passing game. The third-year starter is keen on chucking the ball up for his receivers, with 11.6% of his passes traveling over 20 air yards this season (seventh in the NFL), according to Next Gen Stats.

Love wasn’t so sharp under duress against the Panthers, though. He tossed his third interception of the season with Panthers defensive end Derrick Brown in his face, causing him to throw off his back foot. Panthers safety Tre’von Moehrig snared Love’s underthrown deep pass to kill the drive.

According to PFF, Love completed four of 10 attempts for 45 yards and the interception when under pressure on Sunday. He was sacked once.

» READ MORE: Eagles acquire two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaire Alexander from the Baltimore Ravens

Strong play in the secondary and up front is going to be critical to limiting Love’s deep throwing ability. The Eagles’ pass rush is coming off its best game of the season against the Giants, with five sacks from five players — Zack Baun, Jalyx Hunt, Moro Ojomo, Jalen Carter, and Jordan Davis.

Reinforcements to the edge rusher corps are on the way, too. Not only is Smith potentially returning to action, but Howie Roseman is adding more firepower through the acquisition of Jaelan Phillips from the Miami Dolphins.

Phillips, 26, figures to serve as a top-of-the-rotation pass rusher, bolstering a group that has been mostly quiet this season from a production standpoint (4½ sacks through eight games).

Jordan Mailata said in September that it was a “sigh of relief” that he doesn’t have to play against Micah Parsons twice a year since he departed the Cowboys.

Bad news for the Eagles left tackle: He still has to play Parsons at least once this season.

Unsurprisingly, the two-time, first-team All-Pro outside linebacker has mostly looked like his typical, dominant self in Green Bay. He ranks second in the league with 44 pressures and seventh with 6½ sacks, according to Next Gen Stats.

But he isn’t invincible, as evidenced by his latest performance against the Panthers. Parsons didn’t notch a single pressure on 21 pass rushes, according to Next Gen Stats, making it his first career game without a pressure.

Parsons was double-teamed on 28.6% of his pass rushes (six of 21), which was his second-highest double-team rate in a game this year. Still, Panthers left tackle Ikem Ekwonu didn’t concede a pressure on his 13 matchups against Parsons, including nine one-on-ones.

The Eagles tend to leave both Mailata and Lane Johnson on islands, even against the league’s best pass rushers like Parsons. The Packers, just like the Cowboys did, tend to move Parsons around the line of scrimmage, so the Eagles’ offensive line will have to be at its pass-blocking best on Monday if it wants to keep the 26-year-old outside linebacker at bay.