One play after a Jalen Hurts fumble — and only three plays into the second half — the Philadelphia Eagles were trailing the Los Angeles Rams 26-7 in their NFC championship game rematch, with an offensive effort that was lustily booed by the home crowd.
Whether it was the jeers or simply desperation, the deficit seemed to wake up the struggling Eagles’ offense. After having averaged only 22 points a game in the first two weeks of the season, Philadelphia’s offense scored 20 in the second half alone Sunday, en route to a 33-26 win.
And the key to scoring explosion was simple: Get the ball to receiver A.J. Brown.
Through their first 2½ games, the Eagles’ offense looked pretty mediocre despite their 2-0 record.
Over the first two weeks of the season, quarterback Jalen Hurts threw for only 253 yards total, with zero passing touchdowns. Hurts’ 5.6 yards-per-attempt average through the first two games of this year was lower than Saquon Barkley’s 5.8 yards-per-carry rushing average in 2024.
As a result of the anemic aerial attack, Brown — a three-time Pro Bowler — was ineffective. Over the first two weeks, he had only six catches on 10 targets for 35 yards. After never having averaged fewer than 13.7 yards per reception in a season in his career, Brown was at 5.8 yards per catch through two games.
In the first half on Sunday, Philly’s offense somehow looked worse.
Hurts was only 4-of-8 for 17 yards, and, including sacks, the Eagles had minus 1 yard passing. (Philly’s 33 total yards were its lowest in at least 10 years, according to The Ringer’s Sheil Kapadia.) And Brown was held to zero catches on only one target.
But beginning with their second drive of the second half, even with star right tackle Lane Johnson out of the game because of injury, first-year offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo finally began to call some shots downfield, and the gamble paid off.
Philly scored touchdowns on three of its final four possessions of the second half, all of which came via Hurts’ arm. He threw for 209 yards and three scores in the third and fourth quarters, leading the Eagles to 20 consecutive points. (Philly’s final touchdown came on a blocked field goal return as time expired.)
“We got so many good players on this team, and at times you can feel like we’re being conservative, and I don’t think it should be like that,” Brown told reporters after the game. “I think it should [be] let your killers do they thing and play fast and play aggressive. I’m not saying that we haven’t been, but for me personally, that’s what I would like.”
And after having thrown Brown’s way only once in the first half, Hurts threw him the ball nine times in the second. Brown finished with six catches for 109 yards and a touchdown. He matched his season reception total while eclipsing his yardage total in one half.
The key was finally pushing the ball upfield.
According to NFL Next Gen Stats, through the first 10 quarters of the season, Hurts had attempted only seven passes over 10 air yards, completing two. In the second half against the Rams. he threw nine passes over 10 air yards, connecting on seven for 154 yards and two touchdowns.
“We have pride in this win, as ugly as it was and as beautiful as it isn’t,” Hurts said after.
Are the Eagles’ offensive issues definitely fixed? One area of concern is the rushing attack, which is considerably less explosive than it was last season.
Through its Super Bowl run, Philly averaged 5.0 yards per carry a year ago, with Barkley alone rushing for over 2,000 yards. This season, the Eagles were averaging only 3.9 yards per rush entering Sunday — 20th in the NFL — and they managed only 3.2 yards per carry against Los Angeles.
“No victory Monday for us; we’re going to go back to work,” head coach Nick Sirianni said in his postgame news conference. “We do have a lot of things to clean up.”
Part of the issue might have been the team’s reluctance to test defenses deep through the air. If Philadelphia is finally committed to throwing the ball beyond the sticks — and getting it into the hands of one of its best players — the early season offensive lull may be coming to an end.