The Philadelphia Eagles are just one of three undefeated teams remaining as we head into Week 4 of the NFL season. While the Birds aren’t blowing out teams like they did last year, they’ve been able to fight through the Super Bowl hangover.
NFL Insider Jason La Canfora of the Audacy original podcast “In The Huddle” explained what he’s seen out of the Eagles this season and why their demise was exaggerated.
“Hats off to the Eagles. I think sometimes we get caught up – I know I do – too much in style points or trying to dissect every win or every outing down to the last molecule because you’re trying to predict what it means for the following week or what it means for their future totals or what it means for the division race,” La Canfora said (3:07 in player above). “But there is this Super Bowl hangover thing that’s very real for the team that loses it, and they lost it in a particularly tough manner.”
The Eagles are looking to get back to the Super Bowl after a 38-35 loss to the Chiefs last season. They’re winning games early in the season without playing their best.
La Canfora likened the Eagles’ start to an ace starting pitcher who may not necessarily have his best stuff.
“So if Hurts is the starter who’s not quite right but they’re giving him run support – that’s what the defense is doing and that’s what the run game’s doing –, I’m not going to sit here and bang on the inefficiencies in their passing game or sit here and say how much different Hurts looks now than he did a year ago,” he said. “There’s some of that going on but there’s some of that to be expected.”
The Birds’ first two wins came by just one score before a 25-11 victory in Tampa Bay on Monday night.
“They’re still winning relatively comfortably,” La Canfora continued. “It may not be the way aesthetically you want to see it, but I never thought they were losing any of these games.”
One reason for the Eagles’ strong start is their defensive line, namely former Georgia Bulldogs Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter.
“The ‘Bulldog Bunch’ is for real. That’s the new lifeblood of that defense and you’re seeing them all make splash plays,” La Canfora said. “Jordan Davis has taken a big step forward. He’s in better shape now and he understands what it means to be a professional. They were able to keep him on a pitch count last year. You look at what he’s doing now; man oh man. And Jalen Carter wrecks games. Dean gets sacks. Those kids are just scratching the surface.”
While the Birds may not yet be the offensive juggernaut that they were last season, they’re getting it done in the trenches en route to an undefeated start.
“The last nine minutes of the game the Eagles just played keepaway. That’s pretty impressive stuff what they did in the trenches,” said La Canfora. “So people who were wanting to write them off; the imminent demise of the Eagles is vastly overrated.”
The Eagles host the Washington Commanders in Week 4 before hitting the road in the following two weeks.