When Jalen Hurts and the first-unit offense took their well-earned rest early in the fourth quarter of an eventual 31-0 blowout over the Las Vegas Raiders, the Eagles had a run-pass ratio of 32 to 17.
There were myriad reasons for a ground-heavy attack on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field: from wintry weather conditions and schematic improvements to situational play-calling with a lead and rebuilding Hurts after a disastrous performance vs. the Los Angeles Chargers.
But mostly the Eagles ran the ball because it’s what they need to establish if they want to repeat as Super Bowl champions. Coach Nick Sirianni would never cop to looking that far ahead, nor should he, but the hapless Raiders offered the opportunity to give his directionless offense a compass for the future.
The run game wasn’t exactly efficient or close to explosive, especially on traditional handoffs to running back Saquon Barkley. The 2025 offense is unlikely to become the 2024 version of itself.
But a formula closer to that of a year ago — and, really, for most of the five years of the Hurts-Sirianni partnership — is the Eagles’ best hope. That meant, obviously, more carries for Barkley and backup Tank Bigsby, but also more diversity in the calls, more runs from under center, more up-tempo, and perhaps most importantly, more of Hurts on designed keeps.
“These are things that have been staples in our offense for a long time, and we’re just continuing to use things that we think fit for that week,” Sirianni said. “I haven’t watched anything on Washington, but next week we could come out and it could be a completely different game.
“We have core philosophies and visions of our identity, but we’ll see.”
It’s no coincidence that the Eagles’ preceding three-game slide came with Hurts dropping to throw more than he ever has, with a 70-30 ratio away from the run. That’s additional pressure for any quarterback, but Hurts has repeatedly shown that he’s most effective when he doesn’t have to shoulder the offense in the drop-back game.
Can he do it at times? Absolutely. But analytics favor more balanced play-calling for the Eagles. That’s not an endorsement for the “just run it” crowd. Modern NFL offenses have to be adaptable. There have to be pre-snap checks at the line and options at the snap to counter defenses.
But the Eagles didn’t operate that way on Sunday, even though the Raiders continued their tendencies of staying in base personnel and stacking the box. Las Vegas coach Pete Carroll often dared Sirianni and offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo to pass. And they did at times.
Hurts had key first-half throws against single coverage on the outside, one resulting in a 44-yard pass to receiver DeVonta Smith and two others that attracted defensive pass interference penalties against receivers A.J. Brown and Darius Cooper.
But most of the first 45 minutes featured Barkley, Bigsby — and occasionally Hurts — running, no matter what.
“I think the most important thing was we did a better job on earlier downs of being more consistent in the run game,” Barkley said. “And got to get credit to [Patullo] and those guys for sticking with it … even though we [had] some negative runs.”
The Eagles also had the luxury of knowing their defense would stifle one of worst offenses in the league. The Raiders crossed the 50 only once in the first half and averaged just 2 yards per play.
Barkley wasn’t much better on the ground with 2.3 yards per carry on 15 first-half rushes. Bigsby was a little better at 4.7 on three carries. But there were positive moments from under center and even in the shotgun, where they’ve struggled the most.
Hurts was more productive with four runs for 25 yards. There was a draw that converted a third down, but three zone-read keeps — while not picking up significant yards — were important because they seemingly created space in the second half.
“I think he did a really good job,” Barkley said. “Some of them [were] read, some of them [were] a feel, but it helps open stuff up.”
In the second half, Barkley had seven carries for 44 yards, even though the trailing Raiders knew the Eagles were already in salt-the-game-away mode. They added wrinkles, like having left guard Landon Dickerson pull from the back side on a Barkley 17-yard scamper.
They even used three-tight end sets from under center and ran counter and duo runs with success. And going no-huddle helped keep the Raiders defense from switching personnel and getting set. The pains of the first half paid off in the second.
“With the changes that we made last week, I think we’re just more comfortable in it,” Eagles tackle Jordan Mailata said about the Eagles’ run blocking schemes. “We were able to execute, able to get to fundamentals, the basics that we do well, especially with that on-the-ball [tempo] stuff.”
Hurts, meanwhile, ran seven times total for 39 yards. One was a scramble. Another was on a successful Tush Push. But five carries on designed runs were a season high and significantly higher than his average of 1.6 per game in the first 13 games.
“Just think the flow of how it went every week is the same in terms of going out there and trying to execute what’s called,” Hurts said. “That’s just how the cookie crumbled today.”
He ran with obvious conviction, though. Much has been made of Hurts’ reluctance to take off as much this season. His last two injuries that led to missed games came on designed runs in December. It briefly seemed like there might be a third when his leg bent awkwardly on a late third-quarter keep.
But Hurts stayed in when the Eagles switched sides to open the fourth quarter. And on the next play, he tossed a 27-yard touchdown pass to Brown. All told, Hurts completed 12 of 15 passes for 175 yards and three touchdowns. He was sacked only once.
And most significantly, he didn’t turn the ball over after his five giveaways at Los Angeles. Last week was an uncharacteristically sloppy outing for Hurts. But games in which he’s asked to throw more have produced sloppy games at times.
The Hurts who manages the offense, the one who protects the ball, and the one who runs with authority is the one who has shown he’s championship-caliber.
“Aw, man, that was amazing, wasn’t it?” Mailata said about Hurts running more. “I thought it was great. It was a great reminder that we have a dual-threat quarterback back there that can pull the ball and run the ball. And if you don’t respect that, we took advantage of that today.
“Speedy Gonzalez out there.”
The Eagles haven’t solved all their issues on offense. There will come a time when Hurts and the drop-back passing game will need to deliver. There will be a defense that, for instance, takes away run-pass option plays, or an opposing offense that can actually score.
It’s difficult to place much weight in beating one of the lesser teams in the NFL, and the subdued responses from several offensive players suggested they knew as much. Brown and Smith weren’t even in the locker room to answer questions from reporters.
Hurts’ terse answers were probably in response to outside criticism he’s recently faced. He showed more emotion than usual after his touchdown toss to Brown.
“It was just a natural reaction,” he said afterward.
The quarterback showed his resiliency once again. He benefited from a run-heavy offense, a dominant defense, and an inferior opponent. But that’s not to diminish his performance.
Hurts earned his sentiment and more than that. The same could be said for the entire offense.
“We just haven’t been playing good ball, just call it how it is,” Mailata said. “We just haven’t been, so you’ve got to celebrate the moments that we do, that we do execute, that we do, third-down touchdowns, especially big ones like that. Like, we’ve got to celebrate that.
“I’m glad that he’s showing emotion.”
Teams often take on the personality of their quarterback. The position has that much importance. But the Eagles are often their most joyous when they win running the ball.
Have they turned a corner or was Sunday just a blip?
