We thought about one of those football laws earlier this week. Cornerbacks must have a short memory. Raise your hand if you have heard that. We saw the theory in action this past Sunday. Darius Slay commits a penalty to extend a Carolina Panthers drive, but the Philadelphia Eagles star responded with two fourth-quarter, fourth-down pass breakups.
Slay's efforts helped lift his team to victory. This is Philly though. Some will complain that the win wasn't as convincing as it should have been.
That short memory theory isn't just limited to cornerbacks. Every NFL team has little time to sulk or celebrate. Philly must learn from a subpar performance while simultaneously moving on to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
With so many stars on the Eagles offense, it's hard to ignore the temptation to discuss them, and we've gone back and forth with debate since watching them play inconsistently vs. the Carolina Panthers.
Here's what we're saying. We have good and bad news.
Bad news: Kellen Moore, too often, struggles to get this offense into a rhythm.
We're a long way from Shane Steichen, but if there's one thing we can appreciate from his time as Eagles offensive coordinator, it's this. He was good at calling plays to get Jalen Hurts and Philly's offense into an early rhythm.
That isn't happening with Kellen Moore. Each week, the Eagles look out of sorts and disjointed early. The game plan couldn't have been to throw the offense's first pass to Jahan Dotson and hope he makes something happen.
Bad news: Philly tends to ignore what's working (or what will work).
Can someone please explain to us why the Eagles decided so often against running the ball vs. a Panthers team that has yet to prove they can stop the run? It wasn't the offensive line's best day, but we never would have guessed Philly would lose the time of possession battle to Carolina.
Bad news: Jalen Hurts is still struggling with many of his reads.
We're not sure why Jalen Hurts, with the Eagles offense scrimmaging from the 50-yard line would sprint right and take a nine-yard loss instead of throwing the ball away. Jalen finished with 108 yards passing and two TDs, but he's still late on throws and missing others.
He flat- out missed A.J. Brown running down the sideline early. Grant Calcaterra scored his first TD. That was good, and we're happy for him. But, the reason Grant wound up in the ball in the first place was Jalen didn't see or trust that he could get the ball to an open A.J. Brown who was open a few seconds earlier.
Jalen can ball, but this is where we are right now. Reads are a few seconds late, so the throws are late too. Anticipation isn't where it should be.
But, trust us. Philly could do a lot worse at QB than Jalen Hurts.
Bad news: Players are getting frustrated.
Did you see A.J. Brown's postgame comments? Passing is the problem with the Eagles' offense? Well that stung, but Batman might have a slight point.
A.J. and DeVonta Smith combined for eight catches, a TD, and 80 yards receiving. They MUST be more involved in this offense.
The good news: The offense is relatively healthy.
Dallas Goedert is on Philly's injured reserve. There's hope that he'll be back for the postseason, so at least he isn't out for the count. The NFL is a demolition derby, and if that and Britain Covey's neck injury are the only major issues we must discuss health-wise, we have to be thankful the Birds, from an injury standpoint, are experiencing some good fortune.
The good news: Everything that isn't working is fixable.
We've mentioned many areas of opportunity, but every NFL coaching staff is entertaining those conversations. Every team is trying to improve, especially this late in the season.
Philly's issues aren't damning. All are fixable. Get A.J. and DeVonta more involved and do so early. Call plays that exploit what the opposition doesn't do well.
The good news: This offense features two legitimate MVP candidates.
There aren't many legitimate MVP candidates in the NFL this season. Philly has two we truly believe that. Jalen isn't perfect. No quarterback is. Sam Darnold and Jared Goff's games can be picked apart just as easily, but to say these guys all 'suck' is lazy.
Jalen probably won't win MVP, but he has an argument for winning. Saquon certainly has a case, but he probably won't win MVP because he is a running back. Four weeks remain in the Eagles' season. We'll see how things go, but if these guys are on the field, Philly will be favored in most of their games moving forward.