The Eagles entered the bye week 6-0 and the NFL’s only undefeated team after a 26-17 home win over the Dallas Cowboys last Sunday.
The team has spent the week resting, attending Sixers and Phillies playoff games while preparing for the stretch run.
Philadelphia has a top-five unit on both sides of the football and is in the driver’s seat for home-field advantage in the NFC. With the team prepared to return to the NovaCare Complex on Monday, here are seven takeaways from the season’s first six weeks.
Eagles have their franchise quarterback
The final 11 weeks will be huge for Jalen Hurts, but he’s firmly established himself as one of the top young quarterbacks in the NFL.
Through six games, Hurts is 123-184 (66.8%), passing for 1,514 yards, six touchdowns, and just two interceptions.
Hurts has 77 carries for 293 yards and six rushing touchdowns as a runner.
Miles Sanders has arrived
The former Penn State and 2019 second-round pick is finally hitting his stride and is among the league leaders in rushing yards through seven weeks.
Sanders has 485 yards on 105 carries (4.6 YPC), and his four touchdowns are a major rebound from a disappointing 2021 campaign.
Eagles are postseason ready at WR
As the season progresses, the coverage will get tighter, and the competition will rise a notch, but the Eagles have surrounded Jalen Hurts with some top-flight pass catchers.
A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith are elite wide receivers, Quez Watkins and Zach Pascal are capable weapons, and Dallas Goedert is a swiss army knife at wide receiver.
Nick Sirianni knows ball
We’re a long way from the initial press conference that saw national and local media overly criticize a nervous first-year head coach.
Sirianni’s Eagles have won six straight regular games, and the former Colts offensive coordinator is 15-8 through his first 23 games as an NFL head coach. Sirianni gets his team, he’s accruing respect around the league from opposing players, and he does not far fetch to suggest he’ll take an Andy Reid-like approach to a gradual rise into the realm of the league’s best.
Jordan Davis is the future
We would love for Fletcher Cox to retire as an Eagle and ride off into the sunset and the Hall of Fame.
We know that Jordan Davis is the future, and his arrival could allow Cox to stick around a few more seasons on a reduced salary.
Davis is one of the NFL’s highest-graded defenders despite only playing 35% of the Eagles’ snaps while logging 12 tackles, with one for loss.
Eagles defensive approach will be something to watch
Jonathan Gannon will never reach the status of the late Eagles defensive coordinator, Jim Johnson, but is he that bad of a play caller and schemer?
The Eagles rank fourth in the NFL in fewest 16+ yard passing plays allowed and 23rd in 10+ yard rushing plays allowed, a product of Gannon’s approach to keeping everything in front of you.
Since last year’s season opener, they’ve allowed just 17 offensive plays of 30 yards or more, tied with the Bills for second-fewest in the league.
Philadelphia’s 14 takeaways lead the NFL, so far, his unit has been productive, but far too many times, we see the Birds getting gashed in the run game or appearing to play 10 yards off in the secondary.
Brandon Graham comeback player of the year?
Graham has talked about playing three more seasons and worked hard to rehab from a torn Achilles suffered early on in 2021.
Graham is now on pace for an NFL honor.
Through six games, Graham already has three sacks, 15 tackles, 7 QB hits, 3 TFLs, and a forced fumble and won an NFC Player of the Week award.
