Philadelphia is set up perfectly to win their fourth straight game and move to 6-2 on the season. The Jaguars have struggled all season on both sides of the ball. They have two wins and both came in games that the offense puts up 30+ points. The only complete game of the season that Jacksonville has played was against the Patriots, whereas the Eagles are coming off three straight team wins improving each week. The Birds get to play at home this week, the only thing that might hold them back in injuries as they will be without OT Jordan Mailata and CB1 Darius Slay, although the Eagles secondary has faired well when Slay isn't on the field. Philly is still trying to get that top spot in the NFC East which is currently held by possible ROTY Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders who are also 5-2, but have the tie breaker over The Eagles. The Commanders play the Giants this week so there's a good chance Philly stays at number two even if win this week. The Eagles went undefeated in games that they wore Kelly Green uniforms last season.
Game Info
Date: November 3rd, 2024
Start Time: 4:05 PM ET
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Stadium: Lincoln Financial Field
TV Info: CBS (Andrew Catalon, Tiki Barber, and Jason McCourty on the call)
Eagles Uniform Info: Kelly Green helmet, Kelly Green Jersey, grey pants
Jaguars Statistical Rankings 2024
Points Per Game: 21.5 (21st)
Points Allowed Per Game: 28.0 (29th)
Offensive Yards Per Game: 333.9 (14th)
Passing/Rushing Yards Per Game: 213.8 (16th) | 120.1 (16th)
Defensive Yards Allowed Per Game: 382.1 (29th)
Passing/Rushing Yards Allowed Per Game: 271.1 (31st) | 111.0 (9th)
Third Down Offensive/Defensive Conversion Rate: 31.8% (29th) | 43.1% (25th)
Red Zone Offensive/Defensive Conversion Rate: 55.2% (17th) | 68.9% (28th)
Penalties: 50 (T-14th)
Penalty Yardage: 363 (10th)
Players Already Ruled Out
Jaguars: S Andrew Wingard, WR Christian Kirk, WR Devin Duvernay
Eagles: OT Jordan Mailata, TE Dallas Goedert, CB Darius Slay, CB James Bradberry, WR Britain Covey
Jacksonville Jaguars
Defense
Jacksonville has given up 30 or more points four times in their eight games played, three of them coming in their last four games. The most they've given up this season is 47, which they allowed in Week 3 against the Bills. They give up the fourth most points and yards per game going up against an offense that ranks top 10 in points and yards per game. The two areas Jacksonville MIGHT be able to capitalize is third downs and red zone trips, but they will definitely have to clean up their play in those areas. Philadelphia ranks 21st in third down conversion rate, but Jacksonville gives up the 7th highest third down conversion rate. Philadelphia has cleaned up their red zone offense immensely as of late, but on the season they rank 19th in red zone scoring percentage, while Jacksonville is bottom four in red zone scoring percentage allowed.
Jacksonville struggles to get to the quarterback totaling only 17 sacks on the season, 13th worst in the league. Philadelphia has given up 18 sacks on the year, last week against the Bengals being their first sack-free game of the year while being down two starters on their O-line. Jordan Mailata will miss this weeks game as well which is a big help for the Jags, and especially for Travon Walker who leads Jacksonville in sacks with 6.5, 3.5 more than any other player on the team. Jacksonville only has four takeaways on the season, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries while Philadelphia has gone three weeks without a turnover after having multiple turnovers in three of their first four games this year.
Offense
You do have to cut the defense some slack because their offense doesn't help them much. They average the 21st most points per game, and have only scored 20 or more points in half of their games played, two of them being wins. Jacksonville could be without starting RB Travis Etienne again this week, but Tank Bigsby has been holding down the running game in his absence, leading the team in carries, rushing yards, YPC, 20+ yards rushing plays, touchdowns, yards per game, and first downs. The Jaguars O-line has been the one part of this team that has been consistently good throughout the season, allowing Trevor Lawrence to be taken down just 16 times which is tied for the 18th most in the league.
Lawrence hasn't been awful this season, but he has not been earning his $275M contract. He's completing 63% of his passes throwing for 1,835 yards 11 TDs and 4 interceptions. The Jaguars best receiver this year has been rookie WR Brian Thomas Jr. who leads the team in targets, receptions, yards, and touchdowns. He's the only receiver on the team to average more than 50 yards per game with 71.6. The Eagles defense had only allowed two touchdowns during their three game win streak, both coming last week, one through the air and one on the ground.
Philadelphia Eagles
Defense
During their three game win streak the Eagles defense has been setting the tone. The only reason the offense has gotten away with their slow starts is because the defense keeps them in the game. They went two weeks without giving up an offensive touchdown and allowed two last week. They've only given up 30+ points once this season and it was to the Buccaneers in Week 4, which was also the last time the team lost. Since that game no team has put up even 20 points against the Birds. The shining points have been the Eagles first two draft picks Quinyon Mitchell who has been one of the best corners in the league, and Cooper DeJean who has played lights out since he earned a starting spot and also contributes on special teams.
When the defensive line started playing up to it's expectations is when the defense finally became complete. Jalen Carter has shined in his second season leading the team in sacks with three and is second on the team in TFLs with five and has three pass deflections. Eagles free agent signing Bryce Huff has started to make his presence felt but is still far from earning his $51M contract. He has 1.5 sacks and one TFL through seven games played. Nakobe Dean is finally starting to live up to his potential and has been one of the best defenders on the team during this three game win streak. He has two sacks and leads the team in TFLs with seven. He has second most total tackles on the team behind Zach Baun.
Offense
Philly just put up the most points scored in a game this season and has been improving week by week ever since the Week 5 bye. AJ Brown played Week 1 and then was injured until Week 6 against the Browns. He and Jalen Hurts haven't missed a beat, having his WR1 back has done wonders for Hurts after his troublesome start to the season. Hurts has been turnover free since Week 6 and is looking like himself for the first time since the Super Bowl. He could be poised for another strong passing performance against a Jacksonville defense that gives up the second most passing yards per game. AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith had 84 and 85 yards last week, Brown had his first game of the season without a touchdown, him and smith each have three on the year.
Saquon Barkley has the second most rushing yards in the league behind only Derrick Henry. He's one of three players in the league to average over 100 rush yards per game, and has seven 20+ yard rushes on the season. Barkley has five TDs on the year, but it's Hurts who leads the team with seven, three of them coming last week. A lot of fans seem it's not fair that the Eagles are sticking with the tush push and not giving Barkley some TDs, but watch any clip and Saquon is having more fun doing the brotherly shove than anybody on the team. The offense finally looks like one unit again, the chemistry is back, everyone is having fun, and Sirianni finally seems to be letting Kellen Moore run his offense. It could and should be another huge week for the Philly offense.
Prediction
After not scoring over 30 points since Week 1, Philadelphia just put up a season-high 37 points and are facing the third worst team in the league in terms of points per game allowed at 28. Philly is riding a hot streak and it seems they're finally finding their groove. They're at home for the first time in three weeks and are wearing their Kelly Green uniforms. I'm gonna make a bold prediction that the Birds score in the first quarter for the first time all season and win another game in a convincing manner to extend their win streak and keep the race for first in the NFC East exciting.
Final Score: Eagles 31, Jaguars 17
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