Eagles Today

'Fixing' The Eagles' Passing Game May Not Be Necessary

The Eagles are going to ride Saquon Barkley their impressive offensive line and the NFL's No. 1 defense as far as it will take them.
John McMullen|
Jan 19, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) looks on from the field after defeating the Los Angeles Rams in a 2025 NFC divisional round game at Lincoln Financial Field.
Jan 19, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) looks on from the field after defeating the Los Angeles Rams in a 2025 NFC divisional round game at Lincoln Financial Field. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

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Philadelphia Eagles

PHILADELPHIA - Rinse and repeat.  

The widespread belief around the NFL is that the Eagles will need to improve their passing game to reach the ultimate goal and win a Super Bowl LIX championship. Many inside the NovaCare Complex will also grudgingly admit more consistency in that aspect of the offense would make the journey far less rocky.

On the other hand, the only thing that stands between Philadelphia and its second Lombardi Trophy is eight quarters of football, the first four coming against upstart Washington in the NFC Championship Game, a team with a roster that shouldn’t be able to compete with the Eagles from 1 through 53.

The wild card is rookie playmaking machine Jayden Daniels being the cheat code for the Commanders compared to banged-up Eagles starter Jalen Hurts, who is coming off a game in which he threw for 128 yards while enduring seven sacks that took the team’s net passing total back to a dismal 65 yards, the fewest by any team in a playoff game in the last decade.

Despite that the Eagles survived a Los Angles Rams team by a 28-22 margin by continuing a risk-averse offensive philosophy that avoided turnovers, and rode the running game built on the foundation of one of the greatest offensive lines in history – a sentiment that can no longer be dismissed as hyperbole – and a gifted runner amid a historic season, as well as the NFL's No. 1 defense.

A better passing game would have made Sunday’s divisional-round win easier for the Eagles. Instead, the passing struggles and two Jake Elliott missed PATs in the snow, allowed the Rams an opportunity to steal the game.

Los Angeles reached the Philadelphia 13-yard line with 1:14 left before second-team All-Pro defensive tackle Jalen Carter restored order with consecutive brilliant pass rushes.

How close was the margin for error?

Take a look for yourself:

It would be nice to fix the passing game in one week after 19 games but that’s an unrealistic end game especially after the knee injury Hurts suffered in the third quarter against the Rams, an ailment that is certainly going to limit QB1 at the bare minimum in the NFCCG.

The good news is that paths – even narrow ones – can reach their destinations and the Eagles now only have two hurdles to go.

MORE NFL: 'Special' Barkley's Big Plays Deliver

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John McMullen
JOHN MCMULLEN

John McMullen is a veteran reporter who has covered the NFL for over two decades. The current NFL insider for JAKIB Media, John is the former NFL Editor for The Sports Network where his syndicated column was featured in over 200 outlets including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and Miami Herald. He was also the national NFL columnist for Today's Pigskin as well as FanRag Sports. McMullen has covered the Eagles on a daily basis since 2016, first for ESPN South Jersey and now for Eagles Today on SI.com's FanNation. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube.com. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey and part of 6ABC.com's live postgame show after every Eagles game. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

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