Eagles stats: Jalen Hurts’ turnovers, poor tackling, a lack of sacks, and slow starts are ailing the Eagles

The Eagles are back at the NovaCare Complex this week in preparation for their home matchup with the Cleveland Browns. Now, more than one week removed from their staggering loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, can they improve?

Going into the bye week, the Eagles had a number of concerns to address on both sides of the ball after a rocky start to the season left them 2-2. Here are four stats that characterize the areas that the Eagles must attack as they enter the second quarter of their schedule, which starts with one of the worst offensive teams in the league in the 1-4 Browns:

The Eagles’ pass rush has struggled to affect the quarterback, recording a 4.1% sack rate (No. 29 in the league) through four games, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. They’ve registered just six sacks as a group, which is currently tied for second fewest in the NFL, although the Eagles have a game in hand over most teams. Pressure in general, not just sacks, has been hard to come by — the Eagles have generated 42 quarterback pressures on 142 passing plays (29.6%, the eighth-lowest rate in the league).

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Opposing offenses aren’t making it easy on the Eagles’ pass rush. They’re getting the ball out in 2.59 seconds on average, fourth-fastest in the league. But even when the Eagles earn the right to rush the passer, as Nick Sirianni would say, they aren’t executing. Bryce Huff has one pressure and no sacks on 66 pass-rush snaps. Jalen Carter has 10 pressures on a team-high 114 pass-rush snaps, but he’s still looking for his first sack.

Meanwhile, Brandon Graham, at 36 the oldest member of the Eagles on either side of the ball, leads the team with a 10.9% pressure rate (seven pressures on 58 pass-rush snaps) and is one of two Eagles edge rushers with a sack this season.

The defense is having a hard time in the run game, too, averaging 3.66 yards after contact allowed per carry. That average is the second highest in the league, according to Next Gen Stats. Buccaneers running back Rachaad White did the most damage to the Eagles’ defense in Week 4, averaging 5 rushing yards after contact per carry. Two days after the game, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said he counted 15 missed tackles against the Bucs between the run and the pass, “way too many.”

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This season, the Eagles have allowed more than 100 rushing yards in three of their four games, the exception being their Week 3 win over the New Orleans Saints. The defense limited Alvin Kamara to just 3.35 yards per attempt (87 rushing yards total), his lowest rate through four games, and just 2.4 rushing yards per attempt after contact. Pro Football Focus attributed just two missed tackles to the Eagles that day. Fangio had a lot of success against the Saints’ rushing attack in six-man fronts. He acknowledged afterward that better front play prevented running backs from finding holes and getting into the secondary, where it can become harder to make a tackle.

The Eagles have been coughing up the ball on offense and not doing enough to win it back on defense, falling to a minus-6 turnover differential, which ranks No. 30 in the league. Jalen Hurts touches the ball on every offensive play, so his actions that put the ball in harm’s way are often scrutinized the most. According to PFF, 6.7% of Hurts’ passing attempts are turnover-worthy plays, a metric that accounts for passes that have high-percentage chances of getting intercepted and snaps that exhibit poor ball security. Hurts’ rate is the highest among 28 qualifying quarterbacks this season (at least 101 dropbacks).

Through four games, Hurts has four interceptions (tied for third in the NFL) and five fumbles (tied for first), including three fumbles lost. The operating word is “credited” — not all of the turnovers that show up in Hurts’ stat line are his fault alone. For example, after Hurts threw a red-zone interception against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2, Sirianni took the blame for not coaching DeVonta Smith adequately on how to run his route against the coverage the Eagles faced on the play. Regardless of who is at fault on any one of Hurts’ interceptions or fumbles, the offense must improve at minimizing turnovers as a group coming out of the bye week.

When the offense took the field to start each of four games, they seemingly left their groove in the locker room. The Eagles have scored zero points in the first quarter this season, making them the only team in the league left to do so. Last season, scoring early was one of the Eagles’ strengths, as they averaged 5.4 points in first quarters (tied for sixth in the league).

Opening drives are where the Eagles are struggling the most. They’ve faced third-and-long on all four of their opening drives, failing to convert each of those plays. In total, the Eagles have accumulated 12 net yards of offense on 13 plays on those series. It certainly doesn’t help that the offense has been missing at least one key player in the last three games: A.J. Brown (hamstring) missed the last three and Smith (concussion) and Lane Johnson (concussion) were out in Week 4. Getting those three players back will undoubtedly benefit the offense going forward, but Kellen Moore also must evaluate why his opening scripts have fallen short from a schematic standpoint.