NFL
By: Mark T. Wilson
The Philadelphia Eagles moved to 4-0 on the season after they defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 29-21 Sunday afternoon. As the only unbeaten team in the NFL, the Eagles now hold bragging rights in that department, but maybe, just maybe they can now get the respect as the most complete team in the NFL.
Trevor Lawerence entered the game as one of the hottest in the first few weeks. He had the Jags off to a 2-1 start with 772 Passing Yards to go along with 6 TDs and 1INT. To put it mildly, Lawrence was cooking. That was until he ran into the stifling Eagles’ defense. But a closer look will reveal that Lawrence wasn’t the first QB the Eagles have shut down this season.
Jared Goff, Carson Wentz, and Kirk Cousins have all felt the pain of the new-look Eagles’ defense. Quick; who has thrown the most yards against the Eagles in their first 4 games? Can you answer that without looking it up?
The Philadelphia Eagles have surrendered no more than 230 yards to any QB this season. And then, for a team that only had 30 sacks last year, the Eagles are finding ways to get to the QB now as they’re No. 1 in the league after another 4 sacks Sunday against the Jaguars
What Does This Mean For The Philadelphia Eagles
It means plenty. Look at it this way. Goff has been decent. The Lions have been scoring almost at will sometimes. Carson Wentz entered the game against his old team on fire with over 300 yards passing in the Commanders’ first two games before he finished with only 153 against the Eagles with 9 sacks. The same can be said about Cousins prior to and after the Eagles game.
In their Week 1 contest against the Green bay Packers, Cousins and Justin Jefferson went off with 277 passing yards for Cousins and 9 catches for 184 yards, and 2 TDs for Jefferson. However, against the Eagles, Cousins was held to 221 yards (mostly late game) and Jefferson finished the game with 6 catches for 48 yards.
With the way this defense has played, what QB should be excited to see them? Next up are the Arizona Cardinals and Kyler Murray. While Murray is indeed explosive, this is nothing new to the Eagles’ defense. If I’m not mistaken, they have their own version of Murray in Jalen Hurts. That’s someone they practice with every day. So, should we say that the Eagles have the advantage there? That’s what makes facing this unit so dangerous.
Most teams have a hard time against mobile QBs such as Lamar Jackson and Murray. However, for the Eagles, it’s looking into a mirror. But then you have the in-the-pocket guys like Cousins and Goff where the front seven can get after them with blitzes. Once the defense figured out where to make the proper adjustments, they have been in pure shutdown mode.
Just two more games before their Bye Week and with the Cardinals and then the Dallas Cowboys coming up, the Philadelphia Eagles can feast on both QBs. Once again, as an opposing QB, this is not the defensive unit you want to face.
