By Tyler Glessner
The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Minnesota Vikings 24-7 in Philadelphia on Monday night. The biggest spotlight of the game was Jalen Hurts’ near-perfect performance and the start of some early MVP campaigns.
What many NFL fans fail to look at is the Eagles. They have more valuable assets than just Hurts to lead them to the big game in February- the Super Bowl.
Nick Sirianni, head coach of the Eagles, commented after Monday’s game, “…Why is he [Hurts] going to continue to reach his ceiling? Because he is tough, he has a high football character, and he loves football. He is going to reach his ceiling. It is fun watching him grow.” Nick Sirianni is correct in that statement; Jalen Hurts has made serious growth in his career. Coming out of Oklahoma, many draft analysts said Hurts will not grow as a passer at the next level.
Hurts can elevate Philadelphia to the next level with one simple play style, which is by using his surrounding talent.
Although the Eagles considered moving on from Hurts, they gave him many weapons to work with on this offense. Key additions that can contribute to this are three wideouts added throughout his time playing for the Eagles. Those would be the second year wideout and first-round selection in DeVonta Smith. Pro-Bowl receiver AJ Brown was acquired in a trade this off-season, and Zach Pascal was signed to the team. Besides the receivers, Hurts gets what most believe to be a top-five offensive line group, which looked laughable three to four years ago.
With a running back room of Miles Sanders, Kenneth Gainwell, and Boston Scott, Philadelphia can beat other teams in many ways.
One of those ways is its defense: Darius Slay, a one-time All-Pro corner, Fletcher Cox, Javon Hargrave, and 2022 first-round pick Jordan Davis stuffing the run game. The Eagles also have a new trade acquisition in C. J. Gardner-Johnson from the Saints. All have proven this year that they can be a piece of the Super Bowl puzzle. Philadelphia can dominate in the passing game with its edge rushers in its base four-three look while stuffing any hopes of running the ball with aggressive linebacker play.
With an injury to Dak Prescott early this year, an awful Commanders team (led by former Eagle Carson Wentz), and a New York Giants squad that surely will not keep its pace at 2-0. The Eagles look poised to take the division this year, and rightfully so.
Winning the division will not be enough for Nick Sirianni and this Eagles team, looking to avenge the embarrassing loss last year to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. NFL fans should start to respect and watch out for a red-hot Philadelphia team come January.