Sep 29, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) is pressured by Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Joe Tryon-Shoyinka (9) in the second quarter at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images Nathan Ray Seebeck
Back in Week 1, I promised that this column would not just be "iS jALeN hUrtS tHe gUy?" every week. And it won't be. With a pair of fumbles — one of which was lost — Hurts continued what's been a concerning trend of not protecting the football in Week 4.
However, there will be plenty of time during the upcoming bye week to break down how Hurts gets back on track for the Eagles. Some minor notes on Hurts will be sprinkled in throughout this story, but there are also also quite a few other things to dissect after a 33-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
With that in mind, here are five takeaways from a Week 4 loss that's dropped the Eagles to 2-2.
1. The First Quarter Continues To Be A Problem
The Eagles were down 14-0 at the end of the first quarter, with a late Cooper DeJean muffed punt setting the Buccaneers up to increase the lead to 21-0 early in the second quarter on a Baker Mayfield rushing touchdown.
As Zach Berman of PHLY noted, the Eagles have scored zero total points in the first quarter through four games.
Kellen Moore's offense was particularly disastrous in the first quarter in Week 4, as the Eagles ended the opening stanza with zero total yards offensively. Obviously, that reflects poorly on Moore and Nick Sirianni. But even without A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Lane Johnson, Hurts left a big play — and possible points — on the field in the first quarter. On the first offensive play of the game for the Eagles, Saquon Barkley got behind Tampa's defense. He had close to 10 yards of space. Hurts could have thrown a lollipop and Barkley likely would have caught it, that's how open he was. But Hurts' pass wasn't even in bounds:
Jalen Hurts throws a DUCK to a wide open @saquon Barkley pic.twitter.com/NhWsidxm8z
— DIE-HARD 🦅 REALTOR® (@Eaglesfans9) September 29, 2024
Vic Fangio's defense also got gashed, particularly through the air, in the first quarter. It was just a total failure in the first quarter, and that put the Eagles in too big of a hole to climb out of.
2. Playing In Florida In September Is A Massive Disadvantage For The Road Team
At times, I've been accused of caring a tad too much about sports uniforms. But there are times where, beyond aesthetics, this stuff really matters.
With temperatures close to 100 degrees at Raymond James Stadium Sunday, there's no question that the home Buccaneers choosing to wear white jerseys left the Eagles, in Midnight Green, at a disadvantage. Frankly, it's surprising that the Buccaneers didn't go white-on-white, instead wearing their pewter pants. The point is, in these games where the heat is a factor, it's a huge advantage to get to wear white tops, as opposed to darker colored ones.
Late in the season, we always talk about how important it is for teams like the Eagles, Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills to get home-field advantage and make teams not from cold-weather environments come into the bitter temperatures in January. Well, that goes both ways. Teams like the Bucs, Jacksonville Jaguars and Miami Dolphins are accustomed to the insane heat that Florida still has at this time of the year. For the Eagles, there's not really a way to prepare for that, much as they may try.
Obviously, the Buccaneers had to deal with the effects of Hurricane Helene this week, another unfortunate reality of Florida. Our best wishes are with everyone affected by that.
It's important to remember in the future, though, that teams like the Eagles often struggle to adjust to the heat in Florida during early-season games. It's particularly difficult when you get blown off the field in the first quarter and spend the whole afternoon trying to play catch up.
3. Tom Brady Is Going To Be Fine
A week ago, we discussed how good Greg Olsen is on FOX's No. 2 team, and concluded that it's only a matter of time before he's back on a top broadcast team. But just because Olsen was booted from FOX's top team doesn't mean Brady can't be evaluated on his own.
Brady is still learning how to jump in on the 10-15 second windows between plays, get his analysis in and be done by the time the next snap takes place.
It does feel like a lot of his analysis comes after play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt leads him into it, as opposed to Brady just taking the lead when it's time for analysis, like you would see from Olsen, Cris Collinsworth or Troy Aikman.
And there were moments Sunday where it felt like Brady unnecessarily reminded viewers about his connections in Tampa Bay — there was a point in the first quarter where he pointed out that he had thrown a bunch of Mike Evans' career touchdowns — that everyone is well aware of. To some degree, FOX probably set him up to fail by repeatedly bringing up his time in Tampa. Then again, this was Brady's first game back in Tampa Bay, and only his fourth game announcing, so it's not surprising that he leaned on the knowledge that he has of the Buccaneers. As Brady gets more comfortable in the booth and moves further away from his playing days, he'll make improvements in that area.
From a positive sense, Brady having a bit of an edge in response to a Mayfield quote about making things more fun when he became the quarterback was fun to listen to:
Tom Brady responds to claims from Baker Mayfield that Buccaneers players "weren't having fun" playing alongside him.
"I thought stressful was not having Super Bowl rings.If I wanted to have fun, I was going to go to Disneyland with my kids." pic.twitter.com/G86fUGYNqc
Brady also resisted the urge to make things about himself when Brandon Graham recorded a sack of Mayfield in the first quarter. Obviously, he's probably not eager to relive Graham strip-sacking him in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LII, but he could have easily said something to the effect of "I've been on the wrong end of one of those" and didn't.
There's work to be done, but Brady seems committed to improving as a broadcaster. There will always be people who don't like his voice or just want to see him fail to prove that he's mortal and not good at everything he does in his life. But I'd bet if Brady sticks with it, he'll end up being pretty good as a color commentator.
4. Saquon Barkley Has Been Even Better Than Advertised
For as uninspiring as the Eagles have been through the first four weeks of the season, Saquon Barkley has played well enough to look like an early candidate for Offensive Player of the Year.
Barkley had a slow first half — granted, Hurts missed him on the first offensive play of the game — but was excellent in the third quarter.
On the first play from scrimmage in the second half, Barkley broke free for a 59-yard run that set up an eventual score:
Have we ever told you guys that we love Saquon Barkley?@saquon | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/5yUUFeFNma
Later in the quarter, Barkley also got probably 10 more yards than he should have on this reception:
Saquon discarding defenders 💪
📺: #PHIvsTB on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/1u1pM6sSuV
Barkley finished the game with 84 rushing yards and 32 receiving yards. He did that with significantly less touches than he'll typically get. He has an NFL-best 435 rushing yards through four weeks, and has looked the part of the superstar he was when he entered the league with the New York Giants as the No. 2 overall pick out of Penn State.
5. Maybe Having The Week 5 Bye Is Good For The Eagles
Peyton Manning was among those who hated having an early bye week. Frankly, there should probably be a pair of bye weeks in a 17-game season given the violent nature of playing in the NFL. But as long as there's only one bye week, having it in Week 5 and then having to play 13 weeks in a row (and potentially more in the postseason) does seem unfair.
However, the 2024 Eagles might be the rare team who benefit from having such an early bye week.
It will give A.J. Brown, whose been out since Week 1, an extra week to recover from a hamstring injury before returning to the lineup.
The Week 5 bye will allow both Lane Johnson and DeVonta Smith another week to recover from the concussions that they suffered in Week 3's win over the New Orleans Saints. Concussion recovery is far from an inexact science, and there's no guarantee that either — particularly Smith — are ready to return in Week 6 against the Cleveland Browns. But not having to worry about being ready for Week 5 probably allows both to exhale.
Above all else, Sirianni is probably thankful for the Week 5 bye. Whether or not you believe the Eagles should have brought him back this season, they did. It's highly unlikely they're going to pull the plug on Sirianni after just a month. But the Eagles are 2-2 at the bye, and Sirianni really struggled in Week 3's win over the Saints. If the Eagles looked like this for a few more games and had, say, a Week 8 bye, perhaps there would be a discussion to be had about making a change during the bye week. With the Week 5 bye, though, the Eagles will likely ride things out for the remainder of this year with Sirianni.
