On December 8, AJ Brown was asked what needs to be improved in the Philadelphia Eagles offense. He says the passing gamean honest response that got a lot of attention and was blown out of proportion.
But Brown wasn’t wrong.
And during the wild card round, we saw what he was talking about. And why did he have time to read a book in the second half of the match. It’s not like he or any other Eagles receiver is busy Sunday’s 22-10 win over the Green Bay Packers.
Jalen Hurts returned after missing two full games and most of a third with a concussion, and he wasn’t good. Hurts had a stretch between the final minute of the first quarter and 4:41 left in the third quarter in which he did not complete a pass. The Eagles’ best passing play of the game was a bad throw by Hurts that Dallas Goedert caught when thrown behind him at the line of scrimmage, then he made his way into the end zone with stiff arms.
The Eagles totaled just 121 net passing yards. Philadelphia had a very conservative game plan, but it’s not like it was executed very well either. It was good for Philadelphia because the defense was fantastic and they beat Green Bay, but at some point in these playoffs the Eagles will need more than 121 passing yards to win. Considering how many times Philadelphia has had quiet passing games this season – leading to Brown’s complaint over a month ago; Philadelphia has 12 games with 210 passing yards or fewer this season – it’s fair to wonder if Hurts can turn it on when needed. And at some point, whether it’s in a close divisional game against the Los Angeles Rams, or a shootout in Detroit in the NFC championship game or in a Super BowlPhiladelphia will need it.
Hurts can do it. Not long ago, he put on a show and nearly took the Eagles to a Super Bowl victory over the Chiefs. But Hurts’ production during the rest of the postseason will be the difference between Philadelphia returning to the Super Bowl or getting knocked out early.
Here are the power rankings of the eight remaining teams for the divisional round of the NFL playoffs: