WILL EAGLES PASSING GAME CARRY THE LOAD IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE SEASON?

When he is right, AJ. Brown is virtually unstoppable. Photo from the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Philadelphia Eagles’ offense went into the Week 8 bye feeling a whole lot better themselves than they did following a a horrific Thursday night road loss to the New York Giants back on Oct. 9.

DeVonta Smith can make the case that he's the 7-11 receiver - He is always open. Photo by Andy Lewis.

In the last two games before the bye, the Eagles’ passing game accounted for seven touchdown passes (five from 25 yards or more) and 505 yards. While the players and coaches will tell you that the passing game still has room for improvement, it’s a step in the right direction.

Quarterback Jalen Hurts has been efficient in the passing game. In the win over the Giants, Hurts tossed four touchdown passes while completing 15-of-20 passes for 179 yards and a quarterback rating of 141.5.

Tight end Dallas Goedert Has been a top target for Jalen Hurts all season. He leads the team with seven touchdown passes. Photo by Andy Lewis

And, in the win over the Minnesota Vikings, he had a perfect 158.3 passer rating while passing for 326 yards and three touchdowns, including a pair of TD passes to wide receiver A.J. Brown, who’s been a passive-aggressive social media critic of the Birds' passing game.

“I will say this, [Hurts] is unbelievable at it,” Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo said. “He does a tremendous job of understanding where to place the ball, seeing the coverage, knowing how to put it in a spot where it's our guy or nobody, and he really works at it.”

But not everybody is happy with the Eagles' passing game.

 Jalen Hurts has been underrated his entire career. Photo by Andy Lewis.

Brown, who missed the Eagles' win over the Giants because of a hamstring injury, caught four passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged a game-high 30.3 yards per catch while being targeted six times.

But apparently that wasn’t good enough for Brown, who put out a cryptic social media post after the Vikings game that read, “Using me, but not using me.”

The actual numbers might dispute Brown’s complaint. He has 51 targets, the second most on the team, behind the 55 targets that DeVonta Smith has so far this season. He has 29 receptions for 395 yards with three touchdown passes. He is averaging 13.6, which leads the team’s receivers who have 20 or more receptions.

You never know what is going through A.J. Brown's head before or after the game. Photo by Andy Lewis.

Anybody can understand Brown’s competitive nature of wanting the ball because he rightly believes that he can help the team win. I’m not mad at that at all. But he has to realize that he’s gonna “get his” and there will be more than a few occasions where he’s going to put up the numbers to help his team.

While some fans are distracted by Brown’s demands for the ball, Smith is emerging as a versatile receiver in the Eagles' offense. He has 44 receptions for 588 yards and two touchdowns. He can catch the deep ball, and he can move the chains. He leads the team in first-down receptions.

Tight end Dallas Goedert has been another contributor to the Birds' passing game, especially in the red zone. He has seven touchdown passes, the most on the team, to go along with 30 receptions.

Hurts’ improved ability to connect with his receivers on the deep ball helped the offense improve a running game that has been missing in action since the Birds' NFC title win over the Washington Commanders.

The Eagles' dormant running game finally broke out of its slump by compiling 276 yards on the ground.

Before leaving the game with a groin injury late in the third quarter of their 38-20 win over the Giants, Saquon Barkley ran for 150 yards, including a 65-yard touchdown run on the second play of the game. Meanwhile, backup running back Tank Bigsby wound up gaining 104 yards on the ground.

The running game’s recent success was a by-product of the Eagles' ability to stretch the defense with the deep passing game.

“It's fantastic to watch and it opens up a lot of areas in the offense,” Patullo said. “So, when you can start hitting those, then all of a sudden, the runs start to go, and other things start to open up.” *