NFL
By: Mark T. Wilson
The Philadelphia Eagles will take on the Houston Texans Thursday night after beating the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday. With a short week, this game is about focus. What worked in the Eagles’ favor was their ability, thanks to a big lead Sunday to pull their starters in the 4th quarter. The Eagles unleashed a new component in their offense Sunday; the deep ball. That’s been an area of concern for the team all season. But with AJ Brown catching 3TD passes all over 24 yards, things may be on the upswing.
The Texans will enter the contest 1-5 and are in the midst of a 2-game losing streak after falling to the Tennessee Titans Sunday. Will Nick Sirianni have his team mentally prepared with all the noise surrounding them and their undefeated start? Or will the Texans pull off the ultimate upset and send the Eagles to their first loss of the season?
Philadelphia Eagles Should Embrace The Deep Ball
It’s finally happening. If you want to beat the Eagles, you must control Jalen Hurts and the passing game. Well, what they’re doing lately is showing teams they can beat them deep. Sunday against the Steelers, AJ Brown caught 6 passes for 156 yards and 3 TDs. But what stood out was the fact that each TD reception was over 24 yards. For the majority of the season, the Eagles have beaten teams with short intermediate passes which set them up for their Red Zone offense while either a RB or Hurts ran it in.
The Eagles are opening up their playbook and getting the ball to their playmakers. The good news for the Texans is that they rank 2nd in Passing TDs allowed. Something has to give. Will Hurts look to DeVonta Smith more this week as Brown caught the headlines Sunday? Hurts should continue to put defenses on their heels. 5-6 deep balls a game will keep the defense honest, which will force them to not stack the box which will open up better-running lanes for Miles Sanders, Kenneth Gainwell, and Hurts.
Philadelphia Eagles Must Control The Trenches
The Philadelphia Eagles have been great all season in stopping the run. However, in their last three games, they have surrendered 402 yards combined to the Dallas Cowboys, Arizona Cardinals, and the Pittsburgh Steelers. While the teams they faced have good runners, part of the issue is how great the Eagles’ secondary is. If you can’t pass on them, the next logical thing to do is run the ball.
This week against the Texans, they must get back to what makes them special. It’s up to guys like Fletcher Cox Jordan Davis, Javon Hargrave, and the LB core to control the trenches. They must find a way to get into the backfield early and often and stop the Texans. Houston is not a great running team. The game against the Eagles should not be their breakout moment.
Eagles Must Ignore The Media
The Philadelphia Eagles are the only undefeated team in the NFL. And with that comes more pressure to perform every week. Starting the season 7-0 has been great but the rest of the world outside of the Eagles fanbase is waiting patiently for that collapse. All it takes is one game for the hounds to show their faces and label the Eagles as pretenders. And with the Eagles next four games labeled “easy wins”, they cannot afford to let one slip away.
As I stated last week, this is up to Sirianni and the coaching staff. They must drill into the player’s heads to stay focused don’t the task at hand. They should not be looking forward to going 17-0 but going 8-0, then 9-0, and so forth. Focus on the game and the opponent in front of you. The Texans are 1-5 and by all accounts, the Eagles should beat them. But this is a professional sport where anything can happen on any given day. Never mind what the media says, just play your game.
