What we learned from Eagles-Patriots: Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis splash. Is spineless defense cause for alarm?

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Eagles escaped Gillette Stadium with a 25-20 victory over the New England Patriots to start the season, however ugly the performance may have been for most of the game. A short week ensues with plenty of mistakes to clean up. Here’s what we learned from the season opener:

Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis each went into the season with ever-heightening expectations and a major role on the Eagles’ defensive interior. On Sunday, each of the Georgia products delivered.

Davis had a game-changing play in the early going and Carter was constantly beating his one-on-one matchups and even defeating double teams at times, occupying a pass-rush specialist role similar to Javon Hargrave’s from last year.

Carter, the rookie defensive tackle, in particular, has a presence about him on the field. The combination of quickness off the ball and powerful hands to shed blocks makes him a threat on every play. By the fourth quarter, he was long overdue for a sack and finally got home, fittingly wrestling Mac Jones to the ground to help salt the game away as New England center David Andrews made a futile effort to dislodge him.

» READ MORE: Inside Jalen Carter’s circle: How the rookie is learning to be a pro after a turbulent path to the Eagles helped provide a fresh start

If the Eagles’ coverage synced up better with their rush (more on that later), Carter may have had more than one sack. According to Next Gen Stats, Carter had six pressures, which is tied for the most of any rookie defensive tackle in a game in the last five years.

It’s important to temper expectations considering the Patriots’ offensive line was missing three of its four starters, but that’s still a staggering stat for Carter’s debut.

As dominant as Carter was, it was Davis who pulled off one of the most important plays of the game in the first quarter, forcing an Ezekiel Elliott fumble on a screen pass. It gave the offense the ball at New England’s 26-yard line and set up the unit’s only touchdown of the day, putting the Eagles ahead, 16-0.

The play was an obvious display of what makes Davis more than just a gap-plugging nose tackle, even if his pass-rush ability may be a work in progress. The 6-foot-6, 340-pounder read the screen and closed the gap between him and Elliott in a hurry, laying a surprising hit from behind on the former Cowboys running back and jarring the ball loose. The second-year player also logged his first career sack — well, half of one — when he and Haason Reddick corralled Jones in the fourth quarter.

If the defensive front is going to come close to the level of production it had last year, it will be in large part thanks to the two Georgia defensive tackles. The early returns are promising.

What’s not promising is how the other two levels up the middle of the Eagles defense fared in the first live action of the season.

For as much as Nick Sirianni made of shrouding the starting spots at linebacker and safety going into the game, the Patriots were more than prepared to test both spots with success. With all the injuries to their offensive line, the Patriots substituted the run game with screen passes on the perimeter and underneath routes to challenge the linebackers to cover.

Two of New England’s three touchdowns came at the expense of the Eagles’ safeties to some degree as well. Hunter Henry had the first one, beating Reed Blankenship on a double move out and up and rising up for a well-placed pass from Jones.

The second touchdown came with Bourne lined up against James Bradberry, challenging his outside leverage before breaking inside. Bradberry seemed to expect safety help from Justin Evans, who had his eyes on the opposite side of the field before breaking late on the ball. Evans, 28, missed three years due to injury before returning to football with the New Orleans Saints last year. The Patriots tested his mettle, and got results.

Same goes for Zach Cunningham, who the Patriots also sought out for several completions in the middle of the field. According to PFF, he was targeted 11 times on Sunday and surrendered nine catches for 71 yards on those targets. Jones had four completions of 10 yards or more up the middle, including a fourth-and-8 conversion where Henry discarded an off-balance Cunningham before managing a one-handed catch in the fourth quarter. Jones was able to get the ball out quickly all evening, which kept the pass rush from capitalizing on the Patriots’ shoddy offensive line. According to Next Gen, Jones’ 2.52-second average time to throw was the fourth shortest of all quarterbacks going into Monday night.

» READ MORE: Source: Eagles’ new starting LB Nakobe Dean expected to miss multiple weeks with a foot injury

The Eagles eventually went away from Cunningham in favor of Christian Elliss, but Nakobe Dean’s foot injury left them with only two linebackers and no other options. Dean will miss at least a couple of weeks, leaving an already-thin linebacking corps alarmingly undermanned.

Some of the Eagles’ pitfalls in the opener can be chalked up to a sluggish start after a lenient preseason, but the concerns about the middle of the field were apparent going into the year and were confirmed even more against the Patriots. The offenses on the schedule will get much better as the year wears on, especially in the playoffs (looking at you, Kyle Shanahan). The Eagles linebacker and safety spots have to improve, either with personnel changes or schematically.

In his first game action since last February, Jalen Hurts looked out of sorts.

Perhaps trying to make more of an effort to protect himself after signing a $255 million contract, Hurts had a few uncomfortable slides to avoid contact and a mind-numbing fumble that could have cost the Eagles the game. Hurts usually has sound instincts when it comes to avoiding contact or when to fight for extra yards, but he looked like a player still adjusting to shedding the red non-contact jersey on Sunday.

» READ MORE: The Eagles are 1-0, but have some reason for concern after the offense struggled vs. the Patriots

The Patriots’ defensive scheme gave the Eagles plenty of trouble as well. They played man on the outside but passed off routes in the middle of the field, causing confusion and leading to Hurts leaving clean pockets a few times. The Eagles’ offensive front struggled as well, which didn’t help.

Hurts’ body of work last year is reason enough not to sound the alarms, but Sunday did serve as a reminder that there are still areas for him and the offense to improve. It may also be a good idea for him to get a little dirt on his jersey in a preseason game next summer.

Speaking of that, it is telling that Nick Sirianni conceded the Eagles’ starters may have benefited from a series or two in the preseason.

Playing in the preseason is a double-edged sword, of course. The laundry list of injuries to Eagles reserves this summer is evidence enough of the risk — it’s also worth remembering that Hurts took a late shot on the sideline last year playing in the preseason opener against the New York Jets.

» READ MORE: Eagles-Patriots report card: It wasn’t pretty, but the Birds won their season opener

The Eagles’ health going into Week 1 is, in part, because of the lack of preseason action and the lighter training-camp schedule, but those things have contributed to some season-opening drama the last two years.

Next summer, it wouldn’t be surprising if Sirianni tried to strike more of a balance, as risky as it may be.