SEATTLE (AP) — All it takes is two straight losses and one game without finding the end zone for Jalen Hurts and his coaches to start feeling the brunt of what’s happening in Philadelphia.
There’s no doubt the Eagles will play in the postseason, and a win Monday night over Seattle would seal a playoff push for Philadelphia.
But the way the last two weeks have unfolded has heightened concerns that the Eagles (10-3) have issues on the offensive end that will need to be resolved during the final quarter of the season if they want to be a true contender to make another run to the division. power.
“You have to do something about it. We’re going through some adversity right now, and we welcome adversity, right? You don’t like it. It’s like a little criticism. You didn’t like it when you first heard it, but can you use it then to help you grow? He said Eagles coach Nick Sirianni: “There is no doubt that adversity helps you grow as a team.” He added, “So, we are (upset) that we did not play or practice to our standards and we are willing to do something about it.”
Whether Hurts will be at quarterback against the Seahawks is uncertain after he was demoted to questionable Sunday due to illness and traveled separately from the team to Seattle. If Hurts isn’t healthy enough to go, Marcus Mariota will start.
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Seattle (6-7) has an equal amount of uncertainty regarding its starting quarterback in the midst of a four-game losing streak.
Geno Smith, who missed last week with a hip injury, was limited in practice and is also questionable and that could lead to a second straight start for Drew Lock.
Whether it’s hurt or Mariota, the Eagles are going through an offensive slump with just two offensive touchdowns in the past eight quarters, both coming in the second half of their upset loss to San Francisco two weeks ago. Over the past four games, Hurts has completed just 61% of his passes and has a passer rating of 84.3.
Last week against Dallas seemed to be the turning point from slight concern to actual concern for the Eagles when they failed to score an offensive touchdown in the loss. But Hurts believes this is the type of challenge we face every season.
“That’s usually what’s supposed to happen. You’re not going to get anywhere without any challenges. You’re not growing,” Hurts said. “It’s not natural to develop the right kind of personality and grow into a team, really, if you don’t go through anything together.”
Part of last week’s problems against the Cowboys was a lack of distribution. All of Hurts’ 27 pass attempts last week were directed at AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith or Dallas Goedert. While the Eagles want their best players to have the ball, they also need to make sure the likes of DeAndre Swift are involved in the offense.
Swift has a total of 19 touches in the past two games.
“I think you have to keep trying to give him the ball in different ways, whether it’s in the passing game or the jet sweep game or just giving him some direct kicks that don’t have read elements to them,” Philadelphia offensive coordinator Brian Johnson said.
Facing the Seahawks could be an ideal opponent for Philadelphia to find a solution. Last week, Seattle gave up 9.94 yards per game last week against San Francisco, the second-most by any team this season. Take the kneel out, and San Francisco averaged more than 10 yards per snap en route to 527 yards, the most allowed by the Seahawks in a non-overtime game since 2015.
It was only the eighth time since 2000 that a team allowed 9.9 yards per play in a game. Denver allowed 10.23 yards per game earlier this season when it gave up 70 points to Miami.
In the last three weeks, Seattle has allowed 24 first-half points in a loss to the 49ers. He gave up 41 points in the loss to the Cowboys. And last week he failed to slow down the 49ers again.
Obviously, the issues we feel with the Eagles offense are similarly discussed with what’s going on with Seattle’s defense.
“We know we have a lot of potential on this team. We know we have a lot of players who can play well and a lot of things we need to correct are ourselves,” Seattle Edge forward Boy Maffei said. “And there are plays that are made that we know we can handle and things that we need to adjust in our defense to be accountable for that as players.”
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The Philadelphia Eagles are facing a critical challenge as they look to ignite their struggling offense against the Seattle Seahawks. Despite a strong start to the season, the Eagles have recently seen their offensive production falter, putting added pressure on their defense to keep them in the game. However, they may have an opportunity to turn things around as they go up against a Seahawks defense that has shown vulnerability in recent games. With both teams in need of a win, this matchup has the potential to be a high-scoring and exciting battle as the Eagles aim to breathe new life into their offensive game.