December 10, 2024   6 MIN READ

Figure It Out

DiCecco: Birds Have 4 Weeks To Rectify Passing Wrongs

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Within moments, the clip spread like wildfire, the sound bite conjuring immediate flashbacks to late last season.

Eagles team captain and defensive end Brandon Graham, shelved for the rest of the season with a triceps injury, spoke on the team’s punchless passing game while suggesting it was an internal rift between two of the offense’s marquee players acting as the elephant in the room.

“The person that’s complaining needs to be accountable,” Graham said Monday during a radio appearance. “And I’m just being honest. And he knows this. I don’t know the whole story, but I know that 1 [Jalen Hurts] is trying and 11 [wide receiver A.J. Brown] could be a little better with how he responds to things.

“They was friends before this – it’s like, man – but things have changed, and I understand that because life happens. But it’s the business side that we have to make sure that we don’t let the personal get in the way of the business.

“And that’s where we gotta do better as right now because we know it’s an issue – everybody is seeing some things – but we need to be able to talk things out as men. But we need to let personal stuff go, and let’s get right for this game because most of the time, it’s just a conversation that needs to be had. But the person with the problem gotta wanna talk to the person other than others.”

Jalen Hurts

GETTY IMAGES: Eagles QB Jalen Hurts and the offensive coaches must get the pass game fixed for the team to win the Lombardi.

Roughly an hour later, Graham walked back his statement, chalking it up to an assumption made on the heels of Brown’s postgame availability, in which the Pro Bowl wideout was rather terse in the early going.

When asked about what needs to improve offensively, Brown simply stated, “Passing.” While the response can be interpreted as a generality – offensive coaches Kevin Patullo and Kellen Moore are also involved in that conversation – the spotlight understandly shifted to Hurts, who pilots the offense and touches the ball on every play.

Graham, who spoke to ESPN’s Tim McManus Monday evening, offered some clarification:

“I just assumed [about their friendship] and it made me out to look even worse because I had it all wrong and now people are going to run with that part.”

“I made a mistake and I assumed that it was something that it wasn’t. I just want to win so bad that I don’t just want to use the media when we need to talk about something and we can fix the problem ourselves. I didn’t add to it in a good light, so that’s my bad.”

Graham, who also addressed his comments Tuesday morning over those same airwaves, did his best to get out in front of the frenzy, dousing the speculation with cold water, but the minute-long clip that continues to circulate has taken on a life of its own and has added an unnecessary element to a week in which the 11-2 Eagles are set to host the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Is it being overblown? Probably, though that’s a story for another day.

But back to Brown’s postgame response.

The star receiver was hardly the only player in the locker room to echo Brown’s sentiment on the passing game inefficiencies.

Wide receiver DeVonta Smith observed this: “We’re not on the same page.”

But the one blemish on a largely pristine 2024 resume for the Eagles is the passing game, where it ranks 31st in the NFL.

Hurts, who evidently has been gun shy, held onto the ball too long, taken bad sacks and failed to throw with anticipation, has attempted 30 or more passes just four times this season.

He has failed to crack the 200-yard passing barrier six times this season and hasn’t passed for more than 118 yards the past two weeks despite an aerial attack that includes Brown, Smith and Barkley and, when healthy, Dallas Goedert.

Sure, the Eagles have been without Brown, Smith and Goedert at various points this season, but Brown is among the NFL’s best at his position and shouldn’t require much effort in getting the football.

For perspective, Brown has logged only 15 targets over the past three games. With Brown’s ability to impact the game on a given play and to lessen the burden on the quarterback while helping the offense settle into games, 15 targets is not nearly enough for a player of his caliber.

To get the passing attack jumpstarted, start with Brown.

So, what gives?

The reality is plays are there to be made and Hurts is missing opportunities, a primary culprit behind the slow starts and stalled drives.

The passing game, directly presided over by Moore, also offers little of the creativity that was expected when Moore joined the fold.

Hurts has, however, done a much better job of protecting the football. He’s turned it over just twice over the nine-game win streak – perhaps overemphasizing risk-averse throws and missing the forest through the trees.

But for the Eagles to embark on a deep postseason run, the one-dimensional offense must morph. They have four weeks to figure it out.

In light of the passing game woes, the Eagles adopted a different identity, one wildly different from the one many had expected going into the season.

The focal point, and driving force, offensively has been Barkley, who leads the NFL in rushing (1,623) and now holds a team record for single-season rushing yards.

Barkley, averaging nearly 125 rushing yards per game, and an imposing offensive line have collaborated to form a bully-ball style offense, one that wears teams down mentally and physically. The Eagles average 190.5 rushing yards per game, tops in the NFL by more than 10 yards per game over the Ravens.

While the offense has sputtered for much of the season until Barkley has revved it up, the defense has kept the Eagles in games long enough for Barkley and the offensive line to eventually breakthrough and control the game.

That’s been the Eagles’ offense, simplistic as it might be.

A strong running game and stout defense always translates and travels in the playoffs, but for the Eagles to unlock their full potential, they must execute better in the passing game. And that starts with Hurts.

One would think talent would ultimately prevail and a switch could be flipped, but it’ll be up to Hurts and Moore to provide the balance this offense so sorely needs.

They have four weeks to figure it out.

– Andrew DiCecco (@AndrewDiCecco) is a Staff Reporter/Content Producer for InsideTheBirds.com.

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