Last season, the Philadelphia Eagles were hoping to avenge their painful and heartbreaking loss in the previous season’s Super Bowl to the Kansas City Chiefs. Instead, after starting the year 10-1, they lost five of their last six games and got humbled by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild-card round of the playoffs.
They made some changes this offseason by hiring new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio while bringing in star running back Saquon Barkley. They also essentially swapped pass rusher Haason Reddick, who has been unhappy about his contract situation, for Bryce Huff, who is over four years younger and on a clear upward trajectory.
Some are doubtful that the Eagles will bounce back this year. But Craig Carton sounds confident that they will fly high once again as they did in 2022.
Carton said that according to reporters who cover the Eagles locally, quarterback Jalen Hurts is over the ailments he played through last year and that he looks fast, as well as more nimble than he seemed to be in 2023.
Can Jalen Hurts and the Eagles bounce back in 2024?
In 2022, Hurts had a breakout campaign in which he silenced the doubters he had dealt with for years prior going back to his college days at the University of Alabama. He threw for 3,701 yards and 22 touchdowns while running for 760 yards and 13 touchdowns, and he was the runner-up in the MVP balloting behind Patrick Mahomes.
But last season, he threw 15 interceptions compared to six the year prior, and he played poorly in some key games late in the year against the San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks.
Yet the fact is that even if Hurts plays well enough to win the league MVP award, it will be defense that determines how far the Eagles will soar.
In 2022, their defense was rock-solid, but it fell almost completely apart in 2023. They finished at or near the bottom of the NFL in several key defensive metrics, and things were so bad that they re-assigned playcalling duties from defensive coordinator Sean Desai to senior defensive assistant Matt Patricia in December.
The hope is that rookie defensive backs Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell will become solid contributors and help offset the fact that cornerbacks James Bradberry and Darius Slay are getting long in the tooth.
With the Cowboys facing some serious issues in more ways than one, the door could be ajar for Philly to return to form this fall and winter while reclaiming first place in the NFC East.
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