Biggest surprises from the first 7 weeks of Philadelphia Eagles season
The Eagles are 6-1, and through seven weeks, they share the best record in the NFL at 6-1 with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Philadelphia has one of the top run defenses in the NFL, and they’ve managed to maintain a dominant stranglehold on the NFC despite playing 15+ defensive back combinations.
The Eagles have two more games before the bye (Commanders, Cowboys), and with the team looking to get healthy ahead of their most brutal stretch, here are the biggest surprises from the first seven weeks.
Jalen Hurts turnovers
Hurts has 10 turnovers this year, second in the NFL to Desmond Ridder of Atlanta, who has 11.
His eight interceptions are tied with Jimmy Garoppolo for the most in the league. Last year Hurts had 8 turnovers, with six interceptions.
Kenneth Gainwell slow start
After outplaying Miles Sanders during the 2022 postseason, the idea was that Gainwell would become the Eagles lead running back.
Even after signing Rashaad Penny in free agency and trading for D’Andre Swift, the assumption was that Gainwell would be a key figure in the NFL’s most explosive offense.
Through seven weeks, Gainwell’s 49 carries are four less than the 53 total he logged during the 2022 NFL regular season.
Still Gainwell is averaging 3.2 yards per carry, while only playing 36% of the Birds snaps.
A.J. Brown's huge start
Brown makes $20 million per season, and coming off an Eagles record 1,496 yards in 2022, the expectation was that the former Ole Miss star would be elite, and one of the NFL’s best pass catchers.
Through 7 games, Brown is on pace for over 1,900 yards receiving.
According to Reuben Frank, Brown’s 701 yards during this five-game span are the most by any NFL player in a five-game span (in the same season) since 2014, when Demaryius Thomas of the Broncos had 753 yards.
Brown’s 809 yards through seven games is the most in Eagles history, 46 more than Terrell Owens had the first seven weeks of the 2005 season.
Jalen Carter's dominant start
Expectations are always high when you are the No. 9 overall pick, but through the first seven weeks, Carter is clearly the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year, while also competing for a Pro Bowl berth and the honor of being of the league’s top overall defenders.
Carter will clearly lead any top 25 under 25 list going forward, and through seven games played, he has 13 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 2 passes defended, 5 QB hits, 2 forced fumbles, 20 hurries, and 27 total pressures in 183 snaps played (42%).
Sean Desai is a major upgrade
Desai has been forced to gameplan around a battered secondary, and every weeks the Eagles defense shows it’s versatility, along with elite pressure from his front seven.
Desai has been a major upgrade over Jonathan Gannon, employing a fast, physical and dominant defense.
Landing Jalen Carter, along with the addition of Zach Cunningham and Nicholas Morrow has been a plus.
Nolan Smith's lack of usage
Smith logged the first sack of his young career in the Eagles win over Dolphins, but through seven games played, the former Georgia Bulldogs star has logged 43 snaps (10%), and 91 snaps on special teams (53%).
The NFL is not a sprint, and Smith has seen his snaps increase gradually, but after a much hyped summer, the No. 30 overall pick is basically in his freshman year all over again.
Red zone struggles
The Philadelphia offense is nearly unstoppable until they reach the oppositions 20 yard line, then all bets are off in 2023.
The Eagles rank 1st in the NFL in first downs (169) and time of possession (34:34) and also own the 2nd-best three-and-out percentage (24.7%), behind Kansas City (23.3%).
Philadelphia’s 24.1 first downs per game are its most through 7 contests since 2011 (25.6).
Still, the Eagles are tied for 19th in the NFL in red zone percentage, and it’s an improvement from the 25th and 27th ranked percentile just two weeks ago.
Bonus stats:
After previous seasons that saw opposing teams gash the Eagles defense, Philadelphia has surrendered the fewest rushing yards per game (62.9) in the league. The Eagles’ 440 rushing yards allowed are their fewest through the first 7 games of a season since 1944 (434).
Overall, the Birds are ranked sixth in total defense (290.3 ypg), and thanks to the maturation of Jordan Davis, the Eagles have limited opponents to less than 250 total yards in each of the last 3 games, marking their longest streak since 10/29/17-11/26/17 (4).
