Have The Eagles Lost All of Their National Appeal?

In recent weeks, the Eagles have now had 2 games flexed out of prime slots, to make way for different teams. This weekend's game vs the Bengals was originally supposed to be a 4:25 game on CBS their prime slot, where they put their best game. They got flexed to 1 to make way for Bears vs Commanders. Now, a Jaguars game that was originally the Sunday night game, will be played at 4 PM two weeks from now.

It is a big change from last year, where they were constantly featured either in prime-time games or in either the CBS or Fox game of the week slot. They were getting either Network's A-Team Broadcast nearly every week. The Eagles hardly ever played in the 1 pm window.

The ratings backed up the fact that people wanted to watch the Eagles. 4 of the 10 most watched games featured the Eagles. Even in week 17, when they were in a tailspin and were playing the lowly Giants, it drew massive ratings. They were media darlings. Now 1 year later they are getting bumped from key time slots 2 weeks in a row.

So What happened? Kincade and Salciunas had Adam Schefter on the air and asked him that question. here is what Schefter said.

Those two points are fair. The Jaguars are a bad team, and they replaced this weekend's game with a battle of the exciting rookie QBs. But shouldn't Hurts vs Burrow also be a big draw? That is why they planned it to be the main CBS game this weekend to begin with. But 7 weeks in they decided another game was better

Also, opponents didn't matter last year with them. Eagles-Jets drew big numbers. Eagles-Giants was a top 10 watched game. Last year networks wanted them no matter who they played. So is it really just the opponent causing them to be flexed this year?

The truth is somewhere in between. Yes, there were better matchups, and the Eagles' opponents are not big draws in these games anymore. But it also has to do with the Eagles not being as sexy as they once were.

They have 3 more Prime Time games coming up. The Thursday Night game vs the Commanders won't be flexed. But the Sunday Night game the following week vs the Rams could be.

They also have 3 4:25 games that could be in danger of being moved to 1. It is the Steelers, Ravens, and Cowboys, so they probably won't be moved. But clearly, the NFL does not value the Eagles the way they did last year.

The Eagles badly needed a convincing win. It felt like for the past 365+ days, every Sunday, or sometimes Monday, Thursday, and 1 Friday, had been stressful, even when they won. They haven't beaten up on any team in a long time. So for them to go up to North New Jersey, and beatdown the Giants, felt good.

Related: Saquon Barkley and The Eagles Run All Over The Giants

Yes, it is the Giants. But the Eagles haven't beaten up a bad team in a while. They got the Giants twice last year, and only eked out 1 win, and lost the other. The Cardinals and Jets beat them last year. Just a week ago they snuck away with a win over the Browns. This was a new thing for this Eagles team. They faced down a bad opponent and crushed them the way they should.

A convincing 28-3 win was just what we all needed. The fact they could pull the starters in the 4th quarter was even better. For a week, everyone gets to feel good about the Eagles. It is a week with next to no negative storylines and only good vibes.

But what can we take away from it? Even if the opponent was poor, can we still take away good things? Are there things about the Giants that may be more impressive than you would think just looking at their record? Did Nick Sirianni redeem himself with some of his decision-making on Sunday?

Let's break down some of the numbers. You might think this was "Just The Giants," but that is not giving the Eagles enough credit. The Giants' offense might stink, but their defense has ranked in the top 10 this season in most stats, and the Eagles' offense scoring on them should not be discounted.

Let's start with the guy who spent the last week getting roasted by everyone around the NFL, Nick Sirianni. He more than anyone needed a good week. He got it. On 3 separate occasions, he made the bold choice to go for it on 4th down. Not only did they convert all 3, but all 3 led to TDs. His tendency to go for it on 4th down has been a sticking point for fans. Many scream, take the points, or punt it, every time he gets to 4th down. But thankfully, Nick stayed true to being aggressive, and it paid off.

If he didn't go for those 4th downs, they would have kicked 2 FGs, and punted 1 more time. The 28-3 win, would have been 13-3. 15 fewer points than they ended up with. Instead of everyone pulling their starters, the game may have come down to the wire. Instead of a convincing win, we would be talking about another unimpressive offensive performance. Give Nick credit. His aggressiveness made a massive difference on Sunday.

Sticking with the offense, dont discount the fact they scored 28 points on this team. Their defense is good. Coming into the week, they gave up just 20.1 pts per game, the 10th-lowest number in the league. They scored 7.9 points more than the average NFL team.

If that doesn't seem like a big difference, consider this. 20.1 points per game as we said is 10th in the league. 28 points would be the 2nd worst number in the league. And it is not like they have played bad offenses. Vikings, Commanders, Bengals, and Seahawks are all top 10 offenses so far this year. Only the Vikings of that group scored more than 21 points.

We gave Nick credit where it is due, so let's do the same for another embattled Eagles. bryce Huff has gotten a ton of heat for how unproductive he has been this season. But maybe being back in his old stomping grounds reminded him he is supposed to be an elite pass rusher. He was all over Daniel Jones on Sunday. 5 pressures and a sack. 

Not only was it his 1st week with the Eagles with multiple pressures, but he only had 2 total pressures before this week. If they get that guy, the guy who was near the top of the league in pass Rush Win rate last year with the Jets, this defense can be great.

It was not just him either. Nolan Smith is suddenly all over the place. In just 15 pass rush snaps he had a sack and 3 pressures. Jalen Carter got 2 sacks. Nakobe Dean had 2 sacks. Josh Sweat now has a sack in 3 straight weeks. They played 2 bad O-Lines in the last 2 weeks. But they played some bad O-Lines earlier in the season and didn't show up. So seeing the D-line dominate bad O-lines certainly feels good.

After years of ignoring Cornerback in the draft, the Eagles went heavy there this year. So far, it is paying off. Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean both started on Sunday, Mitchell outside and DeJean in the slot. They allowed a combined 18 yards on 7 targets. Keep in mind, that Mitchell was covering Malik Nabers a decent amount.

Both have been nothing short of fantastic early in their career. Mitchell has drawn several tough matchups and didn't blink. Dejean has only played 2 weeks, and vs two bad offenses, but watching him play makes you think he is going to hold up against tougher competition. Those 2 currently look like a dangerous combo, who they could have out there for a while to come. Slay by the way has also been fantastic. He might be getting up there for a corner, but he is still playing at a very high level, and like Mitchell went up against Nabers and mostly shut him down.

We will give you 1 negative stat. As impressive as the offense was overall, they still struggled with the scripted plays at the start of the game. They have now played 6 games, and have 0 points in the 1st quarter. The first two drives of any game should be your best stuff. But for the Eagles, it has been their worst stuff. It is not until they get into the game and adjust to the defense that they start scoring. They average just 10.25 yards per drive in the first 2 drives of the game this season. Barely a first down per drive. They have 4 turnovers and 8 punts in those 12 drives.

The maddening part is, in quarters 2, 3, and 4, they are elite. They average 22.3 pts per game in those 3 quarters. If they scored in the 1st quarter the way they do in the final 3, they would average 29.7 points per game, the 2nd most in the NFL. Even if they played half as well as they did in those other quarters, they would improve to 8th. Instead, they are 17th in the league in pts per game, despite playing better than nearly every other offense in the final 3 quarters.

They need to figure that out. vs good teams with good offenses, they might dig themselves into holes by starting this slow. You saw it play out like that in the Bucs game,

After knocking the Eagles offense, let's praise it. No offense has been as explosive as them. Despite already having the bye week, they lead the NFL with 10 plays of at least 40 yards. 3 of those came on Sunday, 2 by Saquon Barkley, and 1 by AJ Brown.

It was Brown's 3rd such catch. Despite playing in just 3 games. The most any player has is 5, and everyone ahead of him has 3 or 4 more games played than him. Saquon now has 4 carries of at least 40 yards. Dallas Goedert has 2 40+ yard catches, tied for the league lead for TEs, despite playing in only 5 games. Devonta Smith has 1. This offense, despite some struggles, is explosive. They have 4 players who can take it the distance at any moment. That is something worth being excited about.