Philadelphia Eagles lead the NFL with 47 rushing TDs since Jalen Hurts became the team's starting quarterback in Week 14 of the 2020 season; watch Washington Commanders @ Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football, live on Sky Sports NFL from 1.15am, Tuesday morning
Tuesday 15 November 2022 06:08, UK
The Philadelphia Eagles are 8-0 for the first time in franchise history, and with the chance to move to 9-0 with victory over the Washington Commanders on Monday night - live on Sky Sports NFL from 1.15am, Tuesday.
The Eagles are the league's lone remaining undefeated team and, while their success certainly hasn't shocked the watching world - it was well-known they had one of the strongest and deepest rosters in the NFL coming into the season - for the team to still be unbeaten at this stage is perhaps a surprise.
The Eagles only just finished above .500 last year with a 9-8 record that saw them sneak into the playoffs as the No 7 seed in the NFC, before being trounced 31-15 in the Wild Card round by Tom Brady and the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Eagles only just finished above .500 last year with a 9-8 record that saw them sneak into the playoffs as the No 7 seed in the NFC, before being trounced 31-15 in the Wild Card round by Tom Brady and the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
It was expected this season that Brady's Bucs, along with the new reigning champs, the Los Angeles Rams, as well as playoff regulars the Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers would again reign in the NFC. While, over in the stacked AFC, the Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals were widely considered to be among the league's best, let alone the cream of the crop in their own conference.
Yet, through nine weeks of the season, none of the Buccaneers (5-5), Rams (3-6) or Packers (4-6) sit above .500, the 49ers and Bengals only marginally do so (both at 5-4), while even the Bills (6-3) and Chiefs (7-2) have had their hiccups this season.
The questions concerning Philadelphia coming into the season had largely centred around their starting quarterback, with the falsely-held perception being that the second-round draft pick out of Oklahoma in 2020 wasn't an elite enough thrower of the football to make the step up in the NFL.
Jalen Hurts had lost his starting job in college at Alabama to current Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa after being benched midway through their 2018 National Championship title win over Georgia. Hurts had started the game completing just three of eight throws for 21 yards.
Though he transferred to Oklahoma and enjoyed great success there in his final year of college, throwing 32 touchdown passes and finishing second only to current Bengals QB Joe Burrow in the Heisman Trophy voting, Hurts was considered a risk at NFL level - enough to see four other quarterbacks drafted ahead of him, including Burrow and Tagovailoa.
"Philadelphia are a team that are thriving under the spotlight. They’re enjoying being the kings of the NFL. They’ve been nothing but business all year long. It doesn’t matter who they play; they usually come out on fire and dominate the game. This team is pretty special."
Hurts showed flashes in his rookie season in the NFL when relieving Carson Wentz as Philly's starter down the stretch, and in his second year when steering the team to the playoffs, but doubts remained after his Wild Card showing against the Bucs where he was picked off twice and completed only a touch over 50 per cent of his passes.
Hurts has shown huge growth in year three. He has 2,042 passing yards through eight games, with 12 touchdown passes to only two interceptions. Add to that a further 326 yards on the ground and six rushing scores.
Admittedly, he isn't doing it all on his own. Running back Miles Sanders has 656 rushing yards and six TDs, averaging a career-high 82 yards per game in 2022, while the Eagles lead the NFL in rushing touchdowns (47) since Hurts became the team's starter in Week 14 of the 2020 season.
As for the passing game, star receiver A.J. Brown has been a huge help to Hurts following his trade from the Tennessee Titans in the offseason.
Brown's 718 receiving yards is the most by an Eagles player through the first eight games of a season since Hall of Famer Terrell Owens in the 2005 season, in which Philadelphia reached the Super Bowl.
Brown, as perfectly demonstrated with his 156 yards and three touchdowns off six catches in the Eagles' Week Eight win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, is a pure matchup nightmare for defenders.
The Steelers had him double-covered on the majority, if not all, of his scoring grabs, as he made sure to point out to them (literally!) as he counted up the number of players he beat in celebration of the final one of his touchdowns.
And, paired with explosive second-year wideout DeVonta Smith, the duo make for one of the most devastating receiver tandems in the league.
The Eagles currently rank third in the NFL in both total offense (391.0 yards per game) and defense (299.0 YPG allowed), while they also sit second in scoring on offense (28.1 points per game) and are only just nudged out into fourth on defense (16.9 PPG allowed).
Philadelphia have also tallied 26 sacks of the quarterbacks so far this season, tied for third-most in the league. It makes the addition of Pro Bowl defensive end Robert Quinn from the Chicago Bears before the trade deadline all the more remarkable. Quinn had 18.5 sacks last season, the second-highest number in the NFL.
It is just yet further indication that the Eagles are fully 'all in' on the 2022 season as they look to make a Super Bowl run.
Lasting the entire year undefeated may well be a stretch but, as their 8-0 start to the season has shown, this is an Eagles team that likes to defy the doubters. How much further can they go?
Watch the Philadelphia Eagles host the Washington Commanders on Monday Night Football, live on Sky Sports NFL from 1.15am on Tuesday morning.
