The 2020 Eagles are better than we're giving them credit for.
Yes, I'm talking about the 3-4-1 Eagles that lost to the Washington Football Team, tied the Bengals and were locked in a one-possession game with the Ben DiNucci-led Cowboys. I'm well aware of the negative point differential, injury issues and countless frustrating end-around runs by wide receivers or long jaunts by opposing quarterbacks.
But as we head out of the bye, I don't just think the Eagles can become a good football team. I think there's a contender hiding in plain sight and being held back by Carson Wentz's horrible first half.
You read that correctly: The Eagles are a quarterback away from morphing into a NFC contender on the fly.
Hear me out on this one.
Let's start with the offense.
It's easy to fall back on the "Wentz needs help!" refrain that's almost become second nature to many (LTBB!) defenders of the current Eagles quarterback. But the group here now is more than good enough to win with. Travis Fulgham (sixth in the NFL in receiving yards per game) is performing like a top-10 wide receiver in the NFL by almost any metric or ranking since entering the picture in Week 4. Greg Ward (60 receptions in 15 career games) has nearly a full season under his belt as a reliable slot target. First-round pick Jalen Reagor is healthy. Dallas Goedert is back. Miles Sanders and Zach Ertz should be soon. Boston Scott is a more than capable No. 2 back.
We can parse every depth chart in the NFL, but I'd argue most teams in the league would sign up for the Eagles combination of weapons right now. This isn't the "deck chairs and lawn ornaments" group from 2019. There's talent here. There's production here. And health sounds like it's about to arrive.
As far protection? Again, better than the assumption thus far. I'll concede that the Eagles decimated offensive line was bad in Week 1 and a major part of the loss to Washington. But can you honestly say (outside of a terrible individual performance by Jamon Brown vs. Baltimore) that the offensive line has been bad since? I can't. ESPN's analytics rank the Eagles offensive line with the seventh-best pass block win rate in the NFL. The revolving door and high sack totals have morphed perception. The Eagles are blocking just fine, but the offensive line looks worse due to a quarterback holding the ball too long and putting himself into harm's way.
Plus, reinforcements are on the way. When Lane Johnson and Issac Seumalo return, the Eagles will have two projected starters back while the players that replaced them are prepared and ready on the depth chart. Another (inevitable) offensive line injury in November or December won't sink this team because of Jeff Stoutland's coaching and a group that's gained experience.
Philadelphia is only averaging 23.2 points per game, a bottom-third of the league mark. But think about how many possessions have been lost (17) due to turnovers. It's not just a high mark; it's otherworldly bad. Wentz has more turnovers (16) himself than 29 other teams have in total. Think about that for a minute.
And then there's the defense, the unit most hung out to dry by Wentz's issues. Heading into Week 9, Eagles' opponents had 18 drives starting in opponents territory, by far the worst mark in the NFL. That means Jim Schwartz's defense had to try to stop a team getting the ball over the 50 yard line twice per game this season. It's impossible to play defense like that and ask for results in the modern NFL.
When you dig deeper, here's what you see with the Eagles defense:
-4th in the NFL in yards per play (5.0) allowed
-10th in third-down defense (39.6%)
-3rd in sacks (28)
-2nd in 20+ yard pass plays allowed (18)
-5th in yards per attempt (6.8) allowed by opposing quarterbacks
Led by Brandon Graham up front and Darius Slay on the back end is an Eagles defense that's way better than it's getting credit for. You can squint and see a top-10 defense in the NFL, even with a group of no-name linebackers that get exploited. And if the offense stops hanging it out to dry, we'll see that in the second half.
The second half of this season doesn't need a slew of keys. It's not about Doug Pederson's play calling or Schwartz's stick defenses. It's about the quarterback position. We don't need to rehash Wentz's stats (they are bad) again. A week-plus of that has filled our screens and WIP airwaves, and rightfully so. The Eagles are getting bottom of the league quarterback efficiency and bench-worthy protection of the football.
If (and it's a big if) Wentz bounces back to even an average level, this team will turn out to be pretty good.
If he somehow plays well, it can be really good.
And if Pederson and the franchise say enough is enough and turn to second-round pick Jalen Hurts, don't worry about if he's ready or not. If the quarterback position turns from bad to decent, the Eagles have a real chance to make noise down the stretch.
