After giving their coaches, players, and fans a week off to wade through the rollercoaster that was the first month of the 2024 NFL season, the Philadelphia Eagles announced their return in a major way in Week 6, beating the Cleveland Browns at home 20-16.
While that final score appeared close, the actual on-field product really wasn't, as the Browns only scored a touchdown on a blocked kick and only put up nine offensive points in 31 and a half minutes with the ball. The Eagles, by contrast, were efficient through the air, even if their ground game was battered by Jim Schwartz's defense, and Vic Fangio outdueled their opponent on the ground, allowing 244 total yards in the game.
Are the Eagles back? Was their five-sack performance a new norm, or was this just an example of a good team beating up on a bad one? With the game now firmly in the rearview and the Eagles back on top of the NFC East, here are three overreactions from Week 6.
Overreaction #1:
Jalen Hurts had fixed his turnover issues
Hurts is back, baby.
That's right, after recording at least one turnover in each of the last four games – four interceptions and five fumbles – Hurts threw a nearly perfect game in Week 6. Facing off against a Browns secondary that is actually pretty good, allowing the 11th fewest passing yards in the NFL through six weeks, Hurts had an efficient afternoon. He completed 16 of his 25 passing attempts for 264 yards and two touchdowns, connected on huge deep ball gains to AJ Brown, and even got secondary players like Grant Calcaterra involved with Dallas Goedert out of action, getting his fellow Oklahoma Sooner four catches on four targets for a career-high 67 yards.
Really, the only thing Hurts didn't do was get much going as a runner, as he only had 33 yards on 14 rushing attempts for a 2.4 yards-per-rush average.
Now granted, Hurts not turning the ball over in Week 6 is absolutely a positive development. While some of his turnovers haven't been his fault, some of them have been, with the on-time MVP candidate holding the ball too long or making mistakes with the football. But to assume that his fumbling issues are done? Especially considering how much effort the Browns committed to shutting down the run? Yeah, that truly might be an overreaction, at least for now. If Hurts can string together a few more mistake-free games, then who knows, maybe he will finally shed the gunslinger label once and for all?
Overreaction #2:
The Eagles' secondary is “fixed”
In Week 6, the Eagles finally made an intentional change to their defensive starting lineup, giving Cooper DeJean the nod at slot cornerback in place of Avonte Maddox, who has largely been a liability for Philly through the first four weeks of the season.
On paper, the results were great, as DeJean picked up six tackles, half a sack, and a QB hit in addition to four punts returned for 51 yards, but he wasn't the only interesting addition to the defense.
You see, due to Darius Slay exiting the game with a knee injury, fans got to see an extended look at two more young defensive backs, with Isaiah Rodgers logging 39 percent of the defensive snaps, Kelee Ringo playing 11 percent, and Maddox bringing up the rear at four. While Ringo earned most of the headlines for one particularly brutal tackle, both the Georgia product and Rodgers looked good opposite rookie stalwart Quinyon Mitchell, who played every snap of the game.
Could Ringo or Rodgers end up starting in place of Slay in 2025, or if he gets traded before the November 4th deadline? Maybe yes, maybe no, but gosh, after spending decades without one promising young cornerback who could be the future of the position, the Eagles somehow have a wealth of talented individuals at the position.
With that being said, don't expect the Eagles to somehow become the next Legion of Boom just yet, as the Browns truly have one of the worst passing offenses in the NFL and looked absolutely stoppable in Week 6. If the Eagles can continue to limit opposing quarterbacks to sub-200 passing yard games, then hey, maybe Vic Fangio and company have really figured it all out, but if Daniel Jones, Joe Burrow, or Trevor Lawrence light them up over the next three weeks, it might be back to the drawing board.
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Overreaction #3:
Nick Sirianni should still be fired
If there's one question that gets talked about more than any other in the City fo Brotherly Love, it has to be the future of Nick Sirianni.
Some see his record and resume and wonder how on earth he could ever be on the hot seat, as the Eagles have a 66.1 percent winning percentage under the Mount Union graduate. While others? Others believe he's a certified weirdo who consistently undercuts his offensive coordinators and continues to run his offense even as Kellen Moore gets to call the plays.
After watching the Eagles win by just four points in Week 6 against a Browns team widely considered among the worst in the NFL, some still believe Sirianni should be fired, as he earned the wrong kind of headlines not for his playcalling or for his use of timeouts, but for fighting with opposing players and even his own fans at a home game.
Is Sirianni a strange dude? Yes, he certainly has his idiosyncracies and has made some unusual choices over his run as the Eagles' head coach. But come on, Philadelphia is so much better in 2024 than they were down the stretch in 2023, and if Sirianni is willing to ease up on his reigns a little further, allowing Moore to run motion more often than not, success will continue to follow Philadelphia into the future.
