PHILADELPHIA -- There is something about Week 4 that serves as an inflection point for this Philadelphia Eagles team. Even the setting was the same as last year.
There was plenty of concern externally that the collapse of 2023 had carried into 2024 after Philadelphia was beaten 33-16 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers late last September, a loss that dropped the ultra-talented Eagles to 2-2.
Running back Saquon Barkley pierced through the outside panic after the game to offer perspective that proved to be right on the mark.
"I don't think we've put together a complete game -- or even close to a complete game -- so far this season," he said from the visitors' locker room at Raymond James Stadium. "But the beauty of it is, it's not college football. ... Everything we still want to accomplish is right in front of us."
Safe to say, the Eagles found their footing. They have won 20 of their past 21 games since that point, complete with a Super Bowl rout of the Kansas City Chiefs.
This time around, they walked off the field in Tampa with a 31-25 win to improve to 4-0. But the Jekyll and Hyde nature of the offense and more specifically the passing game -- Jalen Hurts didn't complete a pass in the second half after carving the Bucs up over the first two quarters -- left many feeling uneasy, chief among them A.J. Brown, whose social media post following the game has dominated the conversation locally and nationally all week.
Barkley stood in almost the exact same spot in the visitors' locker room from a year ago and was once again called on to provide the big-picture view.
"We're 4-0," he said. "But the way we played the second half this week and the first half last week [against the Rams], especially on offense, we'll have a hard time winning football games. We've just got to continue to improve, continue to jell and find ... an identity within the offense and the run game, and that's what the season is for."
It may seem borderline absurd from the outside that any real maintenance is needed. The Eagles just rattled off four wins against four quality opponents to join the Buffalo Bills as the only undefeated team in football. The line of teams that would trade their situation for Philly's would wrap around the building. But even champagne problems can develop into something deeper if not addressed.
The Eagles are 4-0 this season despite getting outgained in all four games. They are the second team over the past 90 years to start 4-0 and get outgained in all four games alongside the 2012 Cardinals, who started 4-0 but finished the season 5-11 in Ken Whisenhunt's final year as Arizona's head coach, per ESPN Research. They have outscored their opponents by 20 points this season, tied with the 2024 Chiefs for the fifth-lowest point differential by a team to start 4-0 in NFL history.
They are third in 3-and-punt percentage (34.1%) and first in percentage of drives with no first downs (46.3). They are above just the Tennessee Titans in passing yards (138 yards per game) and are better than only the New Orleans Saints in average yards after the catch per completion (3.7).
The running game was the Eagles' elixir last year, but Barkley -- the reigning Offensive Player of the Year -- ranks 42nd in yards per rush (3.1) and 22nd in rushing yards per game (59.3). Philadelphia has been largely reliant on red zone efficiency -- the offense has scored a TD on all 11 red zone drives this season, tied with the 2018 Chiefs for the second-longest streak to start a season over the past 45 years, according to the Elias Sports Bureau -- and turnover differential (the Eagles have had five takeaways to one giveaway) to get the job done along with standout play on defense and special teams.
There's a difference between when an undermanned offense is sputtering versus when a star-studded group can't get it revved up. The expectations are rightly through the roof when you have the likes of Barkley, Brown, Hurts and DeVonta Smith paired with one of the best (albeit ailing) fronts in football. Even the most selfless of high-profile players are going to get agitated when the standard isn't being met and they're not able to impact the game like they know they can.
"I see that we're struggling and I'm a guy that wants the ball in those times when we can't find a way. Give it to me," Brown said Wednesday. "When the game's on the line, give the ball to me. I want that, I want that pressure, I put it on myself, and I work hard for it."
Such frustration can make a winning locker room feel less than jubilant. (Smith, by the way, didn't talk to the media after the Bucs game either.) We saw it in 2023, coming off a Super Bowl loss when things felt gloomy even when the Eagles were 10-1. There were moments of uneasiness last season as well, including in December when Brown said "passing" was what needed fixing on offense, setting off a domino effect that included defensive end Brandon Graham suggesting Brown and Hurts were no longer friends.
The 2023 team lacked cohesion on both sides of the ball and eventually fell apart. The 2024 team was led by the best defense in football and a running game that not only carried the offense but was so effective that the other playmakers understood they had to take on a secondary role for the good of the team.
This year, Vic Fangio's unit is once again looking top-notch. The offense, meanwhile, hasn't figured it out on the ground or through the air yet. There will no doubt be internal pushing and pulling from all sides, as there was during their Week 5 bye last year, to try and get the operation humming.
A little friction is good, constant friction less so, making it pressing that the Eagles land on a sustainable formula pretty quickly here, regardless of how the standings read.
"It's been very efficient football at rates and then we've had these lulls," Hurts said, "and so we've just got to stay together and band together. Stay committed and true to the collective of going out there and playing team offense, and continue to put points on the board."
