Three things the Philadelphia Eagles must fix in 2024
Less than one year removed from being in the Super Bowl, the Philadelphia Eagles seem to be moving in the wrong direction. Here are three ways they can get back on track.
Fix the quarterback
After a career year and record-setting performance in Super Bowl LVII, Jalen Hurts looked nothing like his former self in 2023. While Hurts “tush pushed” his way to a career-high 15 rushing touchdowns, his game fell off in just about every other statistical category.
His 15 interceptions in the regular season weren’t just a career-high, they more than doubled last year’s total (six) and matched his total interceptions thrown from 2021-2022. Although he threw for more yards (3,858) in 2023, his yards per game were down and his 7.2 yards per attempt matched his career-low mark as a rookie.
Hurts failed to throw a touchdown in three of the team’s last five games and next year he’ll have to figure things out with his third offensive coordinator in as many years.
With longtime friend Brian Johnson out as OC, Philadelphia needs to be extra careful about who they bring in. Hurts will never be a traditional, drop-back quarterback, but someone needs to get him back to his old self.
Fix the pass-rush
Philadelphia’s defense seemed unstoppable in 2022 with a league-high 70 sacks, 15 more than any other team. The Eagles knew they’d need to find 11 sacks when they lost DT Javon Hargrave to San Francisco but hoped Jalen Carter, the team’s first-round pick, and second-year tackle Jordan Davis could pick up the slack.
Carter had a respectable six sacks in his rookie year, but Davis’ 2.5 sacks were the first of his career. It didn’t help that older players like Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham combined for eight sacks in 2023 after registering 18 sacks the year before. Linebacker Haason Reddick also saw his sack total drop from 16 to 11 with no sacks in his last five games, including playoffs.
Now that Vic Fangio has replaced Sean Desai as the team’s defensive coordinator, it will be interesting to see how the team approaches their pass rush. Fangio is best known for a bend-but-don't-break style similar to what the Eagles have done before, but his Dolphins team had the third-most sacks (56) in 2023.
Fix the secondary
No team was better against the pass than Philadelphia in 2022. With Darius “Big Play” Slay and James Bradberry on the corners and C.J. Gardner-Johnson at safety, the Eagles allowed a league-low 179.8 passing yards per game. Johnson joined the Lions in 2023, but Bradberry and Slay remained, although the former did very little to help the team.
After posting the second-highest coverage grade (77.1) of his career in 2022, Bradberry's 2023 score dropped to 52.0, according to Pro Football Focus. Last year, he saw the seventh-most targets of any cornerback (95) while allowing the 15th-most receptions (56).
Philadelphia drafted safety Sydney Brown and cornerback Kelee Ringo in the 2023 NFL Draft and each saw limited action in the regular season. Once again it will be up to Fangio to get them ready as both should see more snaps in 2024.
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