Daily Norseman
Our favorite football team will be taking the field again this week, and that means we have another opportunity to sit down and exchange some questions with the folks who run the SB Nation website for their opponents.
On Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings return to U.S. Bank Stadium to face the Philadelphia Eagles. That means we’re talking with Bleeding Green Nation, SB Nation’s home for Eagles football. I exchanged questions with Brandon Lee Gowton, the lead blogger over at BGN, to give us a chance to learn a little more about their team heading into this matchup. You can see my answers to his questions over at BGN, and here are his answers to the questions that I sent him.
1) The last five quarters of football have been pretty rough for the Eagles, leading to back-to-back losses after their 4-0 start. What happened at the end of the game against Denver and against New York that caused the Eagles to lose both of those games?
Vic Fangio’s defense has struggled. And while they’re not above criticism, there are multiple reasons why they deserve some level of grace.
1. They’ve largely had to carry the weight for this team due to an offense that leads the league in three-and-out percentage.
2. They’ve had some key injuries; Jalen Carter missed Week 6 and Quinyon Mitchell got hurt early on against the Giants. Top edge rusher Nolan Smith is on injured reserve.
3. They’re the youngest defense in the NFL and second-least expensive defense in the NFL.The Eagles’ pass rush simply hasn’t been good enough and there’s a major concern mark at CB2, where neither Adoree’ Jackson nor Kelee Ringo are inspiring much confidence.
That being said, the bigger onus is on an underperforming offense. An offense that is the most expensive one in the entire NFL … by a wide margin. The difference between the Eagles in first and the 49ers in second is a similar distance between second and 14th.
It’s not ALL bad; the Eagles’ offense has had some good halves this season. But they routinely go through these prolonged stretches where they struggle to merely move the ball forward at all. That’s not hyperbole. Entering last week, over 20% of their drives resulted in zero yards or fewer gained.
Offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo has naturally caught a lot of heat for the offense’s struggles. And he’s certainly part of the problem, especially as it relates to play-sequencing and such. But he’s far from the ONLY problem with this offense. The Eagles can’t run the ball behind an offensive line that’s allowing Saquon Barkley to get contacted early into the play way too often. Jalen Hurts is coming off his worst game of the season. The passing attack has struggled to maintain rhythm. Nick Sirianni isn’t providing answers.
The Eagles were fortunate to be 4-0. Give them credit for finding ways to win...
