The two most powerful teams in the NFC two seasons ago were the 15-2 Detroit Lions and the Philadelphia Eagles, the team that won the Super Bowl.
The NFL is moving fast. There are only four games into this season but the Eagles and Lions are both incredibly flawed, for different reasons. The Eagles can’t move the ball, the Lions can’t stop anyone. Both teams can be blamed for injuries, although there are also personnel issues.
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The Eagles did most or all of Sunday’s game against the Rams without running back Saquon Barkley (nerve), receiver DeVonta Smith (nerve), tight end Dallas Goedert and tackle Lane Johnson (personal reasons). That’s arguably the Eagles’ three best position players and best feature. Without them, they gained 172 yards, averaged just 3 yards per game and blew the lead in the final five minutes. Not great.
Barkley will be week-to-week with his injury and backup Tank Bigsby is on injured reserve for a core muscle injury. There is no explanation as to what is going on with Johnson.
Head coach Nick Sirianni took a lot of the blame. QB Jalen Dig takes it too; well he didn’t do everything in his time and it wasn’t a great time or the end. The offense seems to be lacking in the presence of AJ Brown, who was traded this offseason. Next up for the Eagles is a tough game in London against the Jaguars. Hurts, who only passed for 10 yards in the middle on Sunday, likely isn’t in danger of losing his job if he continues to play poorly. The Eagles just switched quarterbacks, trading Andy Dalton for Tanner McKee. The fact that both were No. 3 on the depth chart already this season indicates that neither will hurt no matter how bad he plays. But a productive game would be relaxation.
Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles had a very quiet second half in a loss to the Rams.
(Mitchell Leff via Getty Images)
There is a way out of the soup for the eagles, once they begin to become healthy. That cannot happen to lions.
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The Lions were twice in the first season. Both times, a large audience got to see a team that can still move the ball for a minute but can’t get a goal. The Carolina Panthers look to have a much better offense in Bryce Young’s fourth season, but after punting on his first drive, here were the Panthers’ next six drives: touchdown, touchdown, field goal, touchdown, touchdown, field goal. The Lions are next in the NFL in yards allowed per game and points allowed per game. For those who prefer advanced stats, they were last in EPA (expected points added) per play, 29th in success allowed and 31st in DVOA. In all of those states, the Lions’ top offense is eight; that group is a problem.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell said he and the Lions knew the Panthers would go to receiver Tetairoa McMillan often with No. 2 receiver Jalen Coker from injury. There was no stopping the Lions though. He had 14 catches for seven yards and two touchdowns.
In this part, the Lions’ defensive issues don’t seem to be fixed. A change of manager can’t turn everything around, but Campbell has been asked if he replaces Kelvin Sheppard at the table.
“I’m not talking about everybody,” Campbell said. “I’m talking about better now with what we have. And this is what we love to do. We’re going to find a better way with what we’ve got.”
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Cornerback DJ Reed defended Sheppard, saying after Sunday’s game, “It’s not a coaching thing, it’s a player thing.” The right should be done to him, and who brings another organized weekend. Without starting safeties Kerby Joseph and Brian Germen, they also lost defensive end Avonte Maddox to the end of the season. Add in the loss of Terrion Arnold, who was arrested this offseason, and the Lions secondary is a shell of what it was. The branch is certainly “close” to income, according to Campbell. Joseph’s return does not seem imminent. Branch is a good player but even if he returns quickly he is not like a perfect defense allowing 423.8 yards and 31.8 points per game.
Alarm meter: Looks like a bad defense to waste time on the Lions. The same can be said of the Eagles and their offense, although there is little hope of a rebound.
The Broncos continue to bring bad luck
In four games, the Broncos have 13 first half points. That’s the second fewest in the NFL over four games over the last five seasons, according to Josh Dubow of the Associated Press. The 2023 Giants had just nine points in the first half through four weeks.
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The first issues indicate that the script to open the game is not working. That’s one of the many problems with the Broncos offense.
Denver struggled with Sean Payton to play-call offensive coordinator Davis Webb to start the season. Payton has been asked regularly since his terrible Week 1 performance what he thinks about the play-calling, or if he will bring it back. Payton hasn’t given any indication of what he’s going to do. But it will be difficult to resist if the troublesome problems continue.
“I think the frustrations just came within the losses,” QB Bo Snow said, according to the Broncos transcript. “Obviously, we want to have a really explosive offense up and coming, but we played a really good team.”
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The Broncos played good teams: the Chiefs, Jaguars, Rams and 49ers. That doesn’t entirely excuse the offense, which is 27 yards per game this season. Something better will change soon, or the game will change.
Alarm meter: It’s early, the Broncos are at a decent 2-2, but there are many warning signs.
Lamar Jackson hurt again
Doctors took to social media on Sunday to push back even more, trying to diagnose Jackson’s latest injury. Most people thought that the ankle sprain was mild.
This is not great for Jackson, but the injury is bad news for the Baltimore Ravens. We saw how the Ravens’ season slipped last year when Jackson suffered a hamstring injury and it wasn’t the same when he returned. It doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it’s worth keeping in mind because another significant injury to Jackson changes the entire NFL landscape.
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Terror meterNo worries though. Hopefully.
Will the Cardinals make a QB change?
Jacoby Brissett is good enough to run a competent offense. It’s also not enough to make a big difference for the Arizona Cardinals when it comes to winning games.
The Cardinals are 2-14 over the last two seasons when Brissett starts. On Sunday, the Cardinals beat a Giants team they could beat, but Brissett threw three interceptions, including one on the final play that was returned for a touchdown.
Soon, Brissett will face a series of questions. The Cardinals are going to make a quick playoff run. He didn’t play well enough for the Cardinals to leave him with only losses. It’s thirty years old and it’s clearly not going to happen. The Cardinals have a third-round rookie, Carson Beck, who played well in the Hall of Fame game in the preseason, and may need a longer look before the end of the season. All of this adds up to a QB change sooner rather than later.
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Alarm meter: Brissett needs to play better soon, even that is not enough.
the rams win, but the results persist
If Sunday’s Rams-Eagles game had lasted five minutes, the conversations this week would have been intense.
The Rams were trailing by 10 points and on their way to a 1-3 start. Matthew Stafford has thrown two interceptions, giving him six in four games. He had eight all last season. Even the Rams can’t be blamed for the unfortunate injuries. They were reasonably healthy. And while the Eagles defended well in theory, they spent six days sidelined by Cas Keen, the Bears’ 38-year-old third-string quarterback.
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Aries kept the week of grief to themselves. The league scored two touchdowns to win. They are 2-2, which is not great, but a lot better than 1-3. Lock up the Rams’ attempt against the Bills on Monday night in Week 5. Los Angeles avoided a week of pain with a rematch on Sunday, but a 2-3 loss to the Bills has sparked a debate about how good the Rams actually are.
Alarm meter: He thought the Rams weren’t just a big creep this season.