Skip to content
Eagles
Link copied to clipboard

Eagles for Super Bowl? Jalen Hurts for MVP? Jonathan Gannon for head coach? It’s all happening.

There’s every reason to be high on the Eagles after they dominated the Titans on Sunday.

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts smiles as he talks with his teammates late in the fourth quarter of Sunday's win over the Titans.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts smiles as he talks with his teammates late in the fourth quarter of Sunday's win over the Titans.Read moreDavid Maialetti / Staff Photographer

The Eagles delivered yet another statement — perhaps their strongest of the season — with a 35-10 drubbing of the Titans on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field. Win, lose, or draw, here’s what we learned:

Eagles are legitimate Super Bowl contenders

They already deserved that label heading into their meeting with the Titans. But there were also legitimate concerns about their potency over a last month of inconsistent football. The pass game struggled without tight end Dallas Goedert. The run defense was leaky. Special teams were a car wreck. The schedule was weak. Some of the hand-wringing was overwrought. But Tennessee, it was believed, would offer the Eagles their first true test in some time. Here was a perennial playoff team that was among the most hard-nosed, physical teams in the NFL. Here was a team that could expose weaknesses and bring coach Nick Sirianni’s squad back to earth.

But the Titans did no such thing. They got dominated in all facets and were basically run out of the Linc. The Eagles took the physicality narrative and shoved it in the faces of anyone around the league who doubted their toughness. Their defense won the battle up front and stifled running back Derrick Henry. And their offense switched gears after their best rushing outing of the season and won in the air with A.J. Brown outmuscling former teammates in his revenge game. The Eagles had already shown their offensive versatility through the first three months of the season. But there was some question as to whether defenses had figured out Sirianni’s passing attack in recent weeks. Jalen Hurts responded with one of his best throwing days, completing 29 of 39 passes for 380 yards and three touchdowns as the Eagles became the first NFL team since the 1987 Raiders to throw for 350-plus yards after rushing for 350-plus yards the previous week. Hurts was sacked twice, but the Titans didn’t notch another quarterback hit as the offensive line mostly kept a clean pocket.

The Eagles almost appeared to be committing penalties to give themselves greater challenges. They had eight offensive penalties — most on the O-line — that they were able to overcome with first downs. The pre-snap penalties were cause for worry. The offense looked disjointed early on and had to burn a timeout. The Titans were supposed to have a defense strong enough to pounce on mistakes. But they were already without their best edge rusher in Denico Autry. And then they lost their best off-ball linebacker when David Long suffered an injury. They were without cornerback Kristian Fulton for a stretch. On the other side of the ball, rookie Treylon Burks suffered a concussion and Tennessee’s best downfield threat was gone. Burks made a tremendous catch despite Marcus Epps’ ferocious hit. But his game-tying touchdown would be the closest the Titans would get.

Even Michael Clay’s special teams were positives. It was the Eagles’ most complete performance and they’ve already had four double-digit wins. But the Titans were supposed to represent the type of grind-it-out opponent that might cause them problems down the line. And that ended up nowhere near the case.

The Eagles still aren’t guaranteed the coveted No. 1 seed in the NFC with five games left. They aren’t even assured of the East Division title. Their closest competitors in each department keep winning. The 10-2 Vikings stand only a game back in the conference, but the Eagles’ head-to-head victory gives them added room. The 9-3 Cowboys await for a Christmas Eve road clash. A lot can happen in the two games in between. But Dallas should be a heavy favorite over its next two opponents — the 1-10-1 Texans and the 4-8 Jaguars. The Eagles have road dates at the 7-4-1 Giants and the 3-10 Bears. If they were to lose one of those games and the Cowboys were to win both of theirs, the rematch could be for the division crown. Dallas would hold most tiebreakers, but a lot still has to break its way before having that conversation.

Sirianni has seemingly done well to keep his players focused on the weekly task at hand. The victory over the Titans suggests great potential in the playoffs. But confident teams don’t need to look ahead.

» READ MORE: The Eagles won’t say it, but their win over the Titans shows they can win the Super Bowl | Mike Sielski

Hurts has as much claim to the MVP award as anyone

Most discussions about the MVP are premature. Remember when Carson Wentz was in the running for the award into December 2017? If there’s anything that should keep Eagles fans from debating Hurts’ candidacy it’s the memory of Wentz’s season-ending knee injury at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

But, yeah, he’s very much in that race as the Eagles enter the same time frame. The Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes is right there with him. The Bills’ Josh Allen, the Bengals’ Joe Burrow, the Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa, and the Seahawks’ Geno Smith merit consideration, as well. But Hurts gets the vote here through 13 weeks. It’s a subjective enterprise, but no other player has meant as much to his team as Hurts, and no player at the game’s most important position has been as reliable. He has yet to have what could be described as a bad game. He hasn’t even had an average one.

» READ MORE: Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown are overwhelming in a 35-10 win

All this praise comes with caveats, of course. Hurts doesn’t yet have the resumé of a Mahomes or Allen or Burrow, so it’s fair to question whether he can maintain his pace, or whether he’s a product of a system. He was steadily improving last season before he went into MetLife Stadium and laid an egg against the Giants. Is he going to have that kind of regressive performance this Sunday? It’s doubtful. But even if he does — and there will come a time, as it does for even the greatest — there’s more evidence a year later that he’ll rebound into form. Hurts has earned the benefit of any doubt.

Gannon’s scheme has never been the problem

Jonathan Gannon and the defense had maybe their roughest 60 minutes against the Packers last week. It could have been worse if the offense hadn’t controlled the clock as much as it did. The unit did intercept Aaron Rodgers twice and it did sack him four times. But Green Bay ran the ball effectively, even vs. five-man fronts, and Rodgers and replacement quarterback Jordan Love exploited Gannon’s zones with passing in between the numbers.

It was probably Gannon’s lowest moment of what has been an otherwise good second season as defensive coordinator. And next on the plate was one of the better rushing offenses in the league, even with nose tackle Jordan Davis slated to return. Gannon had been reluctant to utilize his odd-man fronts on early drives, ever conscious about leaving his secondary light. And he had paid the price on the ground against the Texans, Commanders, and Packers. But he stuck with his heavy package on run-obvious downs vs. Tennessee and Henry never got cooking. Linval Joseph started over Davis, who played only six defensive snaps, as the Eagles kept their linemen structurally tight up the middle. This clogged the middle, where Henry likes to penetrate, and allowed for outside linebackers and second-level linebackers to swarm relatively untouched to the ball. Gannon also had a safety play near the box vs. some of those sets.

Once Henry was kept in check — overall, he gained only 30 yards on 11 carries (2.7 average) — and the Titans were forced into pass-obvious third downs, the Eagles had quarterback Ryan Tannehill & Co. where they wanted them. Tannehill was able to manufacture a touchdown-scoring drive that knotted the score late in the first quarter. He had a couple of nice scrambles and completed several throws — Burks’ 25-yard catch in the end zone being the most spectacular. But Gannon’s coverages were by and large on point. Tannehill had to check down multiple times and was sacked three times on third down because he had nowhere to throw. And then as the Eagles’ lead expanded and the Titans were forced to play catch-up, pass rushers were able to pin their ears back and sack Tannehill three more times. The defense already has 42 sacks — 13 more than last season and more sacks than the Eagles have had through 12 games since 1991.

The Eagles are second in the league in sacks per pass attempt. They didn’t force a turnover against the Titans, but they still lead the league in the category with 23. Sacks and takeaways — what more can you ask from a defense? Gannon’s scheme isn’t the problem and never has been. His calls can, at times, put his players in tough spots. And the jury is still out on whether he can devise a game plan to thwart the best quarterbacks in the NFL. But Sunday offered further proof that his tactics work when deployed properly.

Minor special teams changes can have a major impact

As expected, the Eagles weren’t going to make wholesale changes on special teams. And how could they with the team 10-1? Personnel decisions were made entering this season to strengthen the offensive and defensive units at the expense of special teams, and it’s hard to argue with those choices.

That said, poor kick coverage against the Packers nearly cost the Eagles and Sirianni made it clear that all options were on the table. Clay’s standing was never in doubt. But changes were expected in personnel. In the end, promoting linebacker Christian Elliss off the practice squad was the only significant move. It paid off on the field as he recorded two special teams tackles. But it may have had a greater impact in that it delivered a message to other players that no one’s roster spot was safe. Shaun Bradley had his best showing in some time.

It was difficult to tell with the naked eye whether Clay tinkered with assignments. But the proof was in the statistics. The Titans’ C.J. Board averaged only 20.7 yards on three kick returns. He was a little more effective on punts with a 10.5-yard average per return. But the Eagles limited big plays. The greatest improvement came from Britain Covey in his punt returns. He benefited from rookie Ryan Stonehouse’s booming punts that often outkicked his coverage, but Covey had 105 yards on six returns (17.5 average) with three 20-plus-yarders. It’s his lone job and one could argue not significant enough to keep him on the roster. But he earned himself a reprieve as did the rest of the special teams — at least for one week.

» READ MORE: What can be done to clean up things on special teams?

Extra points

Nakobe Dean hadn’t exactly stood out enough on special teams to warrant a promotion on defense or even playing time. But given the opportunity to spell the injured Kyzir White late against the Titans and when most of the unit consisted of reserves, the linebacker looked the part. He notched five tackles, one for a loss, in just 15 snaps. And with White’s injury status uncertain — the Eagles never provided additional information — the rookie may finally get more of a look-see vs. the Giants. … Zech McPhearson was the sixth defensive back in the small dime package. He got beaten in man coverage on third down in one of his few snaps in that role. … Wide receiver Quez Watkins suffered a shoulder injury on the Watkins-to-DeVonta Smith-to-Hurts-back-to-Watkins trick play late in the third quarter. He said afterward that “I should be fine,” but he reportedly has a sprain and could miss a game or two.