Saquon Barkley is the name that scares the Eagles’ opponents more than anything right now. Like why wouldn’t they be scared of a player who has 2,349 rushing yards and 15 scores on the ground? Even the narrative right now is—stop Barkley, and the Eagles will cease to function. But Barkley wasn’t supposed to be the only threat the Eagles possess in their arsenal. Because of their lack of passing offense, players like AJ Brown have found life difficult this season.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, on the 25/10 show, felt the Eagles are not properly using all of their resources. And one name whom he pointed out specifically is 3-time Pro Bowler AJ Brown, “You know what’s going on out there, and you’ve got unbelievable deep threats in AJ Brown and Devonta Smith. The unique thing about AJ Brown, who’s unbelievable, is he’s got that strength to go over the middle to catch that eight-yard pass to take a hit and then to keep going for another 12, 15, whatever, 20 yards, and I just haven’t felt like they’ve been using him effectively.” See, Brown’s struggles are pretty evident this season.

The Eagles just aren’t using their passing offense to its full extent. Like they have taken the ‘run the ball’ to win games narrative to such a level that their passing offense ranks 14th in the NFL. You could simply say they have abandoned the idea of even trying something other than handing the ball to Barkley. Just take a look at this crazy stat: Among their top receiving options are Dallas Goedert, AJ Brown, and DeVonta Smith. Who do you think the Eagles have the most receiving yards in the playoffs? Well, it’s their TE Goedert who has 8 catches on 10 targets for 103 yards.

As for Brown, whom Josh Shapiro feels the Eagles aren’t using, he only has 3 catches for 24 yards. Yeah, you could say he dropped a catch for a potential TD last week. But the Eagles just aren’t trying to get that ball into him. Hurts has an average of 3.13 seconds on his throws. So, by the time he finds his targets. Brown or his other receivers may already have coverage on them. However, Brown, for one, doesn’t pay attention to those numbers. All he cares about is those results, “I can’t worry about what happened in the past or even these past two games. I know people care of that. But right now, none of that matters. It’s all about getting that win at the end of the day. So it don’t matter.”

And you know what? Brown isn’t the only one whose eyes remain on securing the W. His QB, Jalen Hurts, also wants nothing other than a win at the end of the day.

Jalen Hurts only cares about those Ws

Just imagine for a moment: Is it really fair for a QB who threw only 21 passes to record just 131 passing yards and no passing TDs to play in the Super Bowl soon? Fair or not, this remains a possibility—if the Eagles do beat the Commanders on Sunday. And the one who can make it happen is none other than Jalen Hurts. See, Hurts has only thrown for 200+ yards just once, that too against the Steelers back in week 15. And you know what’s crazier? Hurts has only eclipsed 250-plus passing yards in just 4 games out of his 17 starts with the Eagles. His best game came against the Saints back in week 3 when Hurts threw for 300-plus yards. From that day till now, Hurts has yet to reach that milestone.

But the way the Eagles are averaging 219.5 yards on the ground. It doesn’t look like Hurts’ numbers on air will change anytime soon. Now, it isn’t like Hurts is to let it change either until maybe Barkley’s running comes to a halt. Considering how they are going about winning games, Hurts doesn’t have a problem with his contributions, “I’m just doing my job. And that’s been a big part of our success and being able to get to some of the things we want to when we want.” Despite all the noise surrounding Hurts’ productions, his goal is to achieve the ultimate prize. And that’s only possible through winning, “I just take great pride in winning. That’s the most important thing. That’s the only thing that matters.” 

So, can the Eagles land their second Super Bowl appearance in 3 seasons only relying upon rushing their opponents? Or will they try to include others and not just Barkley to get those dubs?