It’s a type of football that this city is somehow used to.
The Eagles are frustrating. Are they good? Or are they not good?
A week after they had only sluggishly and clearly defeated the Packers in South America, they let the Falcons play a little too long in South Philly – and finally faltered with a 22-21 defeat in a game that really shouldn’t have been close.
Last year, a struggling Eagles team got off to an incredible 10-1 start, even though it didn’t quite look like it. There are clear issues with this football team that are similar to those we had last year, but it’s still early. Saquon Barkley had another standout game and Jalen Hurts looked spry and spontaneous with his legs. But the defense is a whole different story, as the unit allowed a 70-yard touchdown drive with less than two minutes to play, throwing away a potential win.
Each week, we’ll be documenting one player (or group of players) whose value improved and one who didn’t. Here’s a look at whose value increased and whose value decreased after Week 2:
Stock up: DeVonta Smith 📈
DeVonta Smith will be under the belt for the next few weeks as arguably the Eagles’ best player (I would argue so too), AJ Brown, is out for a few weeks with a hamstring injury.
Smith got off to a slow start on Monday night, but he has this innate ability to sneak through and around defenders. Jalen Hurts found him on tiptoe in the back of the end zone for Philly’s first touchdown of the second quarter and the footwork was just mind-blowing:
Smith caught nine passes from Hurts, a team-high, and caught seven of them for 79 yards. He’s a thin safety thread – but a safety thread nonetheless.
The options for Hurts, aside from tight end Dallas Goedert and the aforementioned Smith, leave a lot to be desired. A preseason trade for Jahan Dotson looked good on paper, but the wide receiver is slowly getting used to being an Eagle. Parris Campbell, Britain Covey and Johnny Wilson are unlikely to play a role anytime soon.
Smith will be drawing a lot of attention from the Saints defense next week. It will be interesting to see if he takes another step while his partner works on his hamstrings.
Share price falls: The run defense 📉
It doesn’t seem that long ago that the Eagles’ run defense was one of the best units in football. It was a driving force in their Super Bowl run two years ago (along with their 70 sacks) and was a strength of the defense before its season-ending collapse in 2023.
But the defensive front seven is full of question marks, young and unreliable. And it shows.
It seems clear — at least initially — that run defense will be a problem. Jordan Davis can’t lock down the middle, and the persistent deficiencies at linebacker are nothing Nakobe Dean and a makeshift unit of veterans can overcome.
On Monday night, the Falcons ran the ball at will. Bijan Robinson rushed for 97 yards on 14 attempts and his replacement Tyler Allgeier added 53 yards on nine attempts. Allowing 5.9 yards per attempt is not a good way to keep a defense fresh — although they were accurate on third downs, allowing just one attempt on nine attempts. Ironically, it was a member of the secondary who made the play of the game — CJ Gardner-Johnson crashed into Robinson on fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter, forcing a turnover on third downs.
In Week 1, the Packers’ defense allowed 163 yards on 21 carries (7.8 yards per carry) in Brazil, just enough to win. That was their recipe for success in Monday’s victory against a much weaker Atlanta team.
If the Eagles appear similarly inept next week against the Saints’ ground attack – a team that scored four touchdowns through running back Alvin Kamara and currently has the best offense in the game – they could be in trouble.
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