Crossing Broad
At last, the NFL regular season has arrived.
Admittedly, we didn’t write very much about training camp, because it’s camp. This is an Eagles team coming off its second Super Bowl win in eight seasons, and there weren’t a lot of high-profile position battles or storylines to talk about. For the most part, this is the same championship team, with an internally-promoted offensive coordinator and some defensive changes. Plus, there were 20 beat writers down there every day, providing observations and video clips and stats, so camp was well-covered for the hardcore fans who like to dig in over the summer.
Now, we turn to the Cowboys on Thursday night, with five thoughts on the season:
The Eagles bring back 10 of 11 starters on an offense that hung 40 on the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. Same group that posted 27.2 points per game while running for 179 on average and converting 41.7% of third downs and 70.4% of fourth downs. They finished third in time of possession and gave the ball away only 15 times, which was tied for sixth-lowest in the league. Across the board, they were top eight in pretty much every meaningful statistic.
So there’s nothing that requires fixing on the offensive side. The only change is at right guard, with Mekhi Becton departing in free agency. Landon Dickerson will get back to 100% health soon enough at left guard, while everything else remains the same.
Among the few questions on the offensive side – does Jahan Dotson get more involved in the passing game? Can Dallas Goedert stay on the field? Do they continue to go heavy 12 personnel with Grant Calcaterra? And if the Eagles do throw the ball more this season, how many targets go beyond A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Goedert, and Barkley?
These are first world problems. There’s nothing to adjust until a team comes out in 2025 and finds a way to slow this unit down. Otherwise, you continue to stuff the football down opponent throats.
You look at the Eagles’ depth chart and you probably have the most concern about safety, CB2, and the EDGE group. Andrew Mukuba might be the answer in CJGJ’s spot, if he gets himself healthy. Coincidentally, two of these three spots were positions of concern in 2024.
Regardless of whether Adoree Jackson, Kelee Ringo, or Jakorian Bennett ends up at CB2, you feel less enthused compared to the Quinyon Mitchell/Darius Slay tandem from a year ago. Recall, though, that Mitchell was a total wild card going into last season. A first round pick, sure, but a wildcard nonetheless. So was Cooper DeJean, who didn’t even start the season on the field. No one knew if either guy was going to pan out, and the end result was a dominant Super Bowl win.
So how concerned can we truly be when we went...
