News Now: Key Issue the Eagles Must Address After Week 6 Win Over the Browns

The Philadelphia Eagles boast a highly talented offense with stars like A.J. Brown, Saquon Barkley, DeVonta Smith, Jalen Hurts, and Dallas Goedert. Yet, despite all this firepower, they’ve struggled with slow starts through the first five games of the 2024 NFL season. A troubling statistic highlights this issue: the Eagles have yet to score a single point in the first quarter of any game this season, marking a franchise-first.

Surprisingly, they are the only team in the league without first-quarter points, while even struggling teams like the Carolina Panthers and New England Patriots have managed to get on the board early.

This contrasts sharply with the 2022 Eagles, who ranked third in first-quarter points and were still a respectable seventh last season. Now, they sit at the bottom of the league.

Instead of delivering early blows, the Eagles have been forced to play catch-up after sluggish starts. A prime example occurred in Week 4 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where they trailed 24-0 before managing their first first down—a nearly impossible deficit to overcome.

While they rallied in Week 3 against New Orleans, such a strategy isn’t sustainable. Even after a bye week, they failed to score in the first quarter against a vulnerable Cleveland defense in Week 6, managing a 20-16 win, though it was far from the dominant performance many had expected.

These repeated slow starts raise concerns about preparation and motivation, pointing to possible issues with the coaching staff.

Nick Sirianni, who is facing growing scrutiny from Eagles fans, has pledged to address the issue. After the Browns game, he acknowledged the problem but suggested the media might be blowing it out of proportion.

“We’re going to figure it out. We’re going to fix it,” Sirianni said after the win. “We’ve known how to score in the past. We get it. You guys have a job to do and you’re going to fixate on one thing. … We’ll get it figured out on offense.” For the sake of Eagles fans—and Sirianni’s own job—he’ll need to be right.