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Naughty or nice: 2024 Philadelphia Eagles
Although his Philadelphia Eagles are 12-2, head coach Nick Sirianni is on the naughty list this Christmas. Alex Gallardo-Imagn Images

Naughty or nice: 2024 Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles may be in first place amid a franchise-record winning streak, but they’ve also had moments that weren’t very nice. 

Naughty: The first quarter

It took Philadelphia eight games to register a first-quarter point this year, which is odd for a team with a 12-2 record. An early touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars broke the streak in Week 9 after being outscored by opponents 30-0 in the first quarter of previous games.

The team still struggles to score first-quarter points, but things have improved over the last eight games. Philadelphia has nearly closed the gap, with opponents outscoring them 32-27 in the first.

Nice: Saquon Barkley

Easily the best free-agent signing of 2024, Barkley has carried the Eagles’ offense with a league-high 1,688 yards and 11 scores on the ground. If not for quarterback Jalen Hurts and the team’s infamous “tush push” play at the goal line, he could easily have twice the number of touchdowns.

Barkley set a franchise record with nine 100-yard games in a single season and passed LeSean McCoy's single-season mark of 1,607 rushing yards against the Panthers in Week 14. He’ll need 417 yards over his last three games to break the NFL's single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards, set by Eric Dickerson in 1984.

Naughty: Nick Sirianni

After a shaky 2-2 start to the season, Eagles fans couldn’t escape the memory of the team’s 1-5 collapse to end the 2023 regular season with some calling for the head coach's job.

Sirianni did himself no favors by making a series of questionable calls in early games. However, a postgame shouting match with home fans following an uninspiring win over Cleveland was nearly the last straw. 

The coach took issue with fans who chanted, “Fire Nick,” throughout the game. 

Nice: The defense

With 275.6 yards allowed per game, the Eagles own the league’s top defense. Under new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, Philadelphia continues to frustrate opponents thanks to improved play from young linebackers like Nakobe Dean and Nolan Smith and strong performances by rookie cornerbacks Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell.

Only the Commanders (262.2) allowed more yards per game through the air than the Eagles last year (252.7), but no team has given up fewer passing yards per contest than Philadelphia (173.4) in 2024.

Naughty: Brandon Graham

A day after wide receiver A.J. Brown put Hurts on blast by criticizing the team’s inept passing game, Graham threw gas on the fire by suggesting that "things had changed" between the two on his weekly radio show

Naturally, the national media ran with it, leading Brown and Hurts to hold separate news conferences to clear the air and denounce Graham’s comments. Fortunately, the team responded well with a 27-13 win over the Steelers in Week 15, but as the longest-tenured Eagle and franchise leader in games played (206), Graham should have known better.

Nice: The Steelers game

The 27-13 score doesn’t tell the whole story of Philadelphia’s victory over Pittsburgh. Not only did Hurts silence his critics with his first 200-yard game in over a month (290), Brown (110) and wide receiver DeVonta Smith (109) each went over 100 yards for the first time all year. 

With three games remaining in the regular season, Brown, Hurts and Smith look to be firing on all cylinders, which is nice for a team with Super Bowl aspirations like Philadelphia.

Bruce Ewing

Bruce Ewing is 183 pounds of twisted steel and Happy Meals. His work has appeared on Yardbarker, 5th Down Fantasy, Inside the Iggles and MSN. Give a Philly fan a break and follow him on Twitter/X at @fantasybruce.

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