Eagles news: Nick Sirianni downplays locker room comments, concern over passing offense; schedule, standings

Nick Sirianni said the comments out of the locker room showed that his players care, but is there any cause for concern over the psyche of a team that’s 11-2 but not playing up to the “standard?”

“No, not at all,” Sirianni said. “I think this is a very mature team of great leaders and mature guys that are hyper-focused on how to get better. Are you going to have moments of being disappointed that you didn’t reach your standard of how to play?”

Sure. But it’s Week 14, and it’s hard to imagine it’s a good sign that the most important players involved in the passing game are expressing concerns that the unit isn’t all on the same page at this stage of the season.

Last week, the NFL announced that Eagles running back Saquon Barkley was third in the NFL in Pro Bowl voting, behind Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and running back Derrick Henry.

A week later, not only has Barkley passed Henry, but he's erased nearly the entire 4,079-vote lead that Jackson had on him.

Here's a look at the latest top 5 ...

Jalen Hurts barely attempted to throw the ball downfield, despite multiple times when a receiver, Brown especially, appeared to be open. He hung onto the ball longer than normal, too.

Sunday wasn’t a singular outlier. The Eagles also struggled to move the ball deep downfield during their previous game in Baltimore. They’ve become a run-first offense riding MVP candidate and new single-season rushing record holder Saquon Barkley.

Is that emphasis on the run game making Hurts trigger-shy?

There was a lot of talk about, well, the talk coming out of the Eagles locker room following Sunday's win. Despite the victory and a pair of touchdowns, Jalen Hurts only had 108 passing yards and A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and the Eagles quarterback all talked bout that not being up to the standard after the win.

On Monday, head coach Nick Sirianni was asked about some of the negative comments, his thoughts on them, and how he addresses them.

“When you guys asked me yesterday what I thought, normally I always got to watch the tape. But I think it’s no secret that we weren’t up to our standard in that area yesterday," Sirianni said, agreeing with his players. "So it’s just going back to work. What I do know, when guys — I love that guys care and that they care about how they perform, they care about us meeting our standard and that just leads into getting better.

This season’s sample size is large enough to hold most of the concerns that will stem from Sunday’s win at bay for now, but a few things have the potential to stick. Chief among them are Jake Elliott’s continued struggles, which are seemingly exacerbated by the wind conditions at Lincoln Financial Field in recent weeks to go along with an increasingly poor record from more than 50 yards out.

Nick Sirianni said a strong, hurting wind factored into his decision to forgo the chance at a 54-yarder to ice the game late in the fourth quarter against the Panthers, but it’s fair to acknowledge Elliott missed a 52-yarder earlier in the game and also missed a point after touchdown that was negated by an offside penalty.

Elliott hasn’t made a kick from farther than 50 yards out all season, with the missed 52-yarder putting him at 0-for-5, with attempts from 51, 52, two from 57, and 60 yards all going wayward.

Grant Calcaterra wasn’t sure what the reaction would be back in Portland, Ore., if he made a mistake on the field while his brother was watching at a crowded bar 3,000 miles away surrounded by rabid Eagles fans.

"Maybe they’d hold their tongues," the Eagles tight end said earlier this season.

That reaction will have to wait as there was no misstep on Sunday by Calcaterra and the scene at the Lombard House was perfect.

The Eagles (11-2) managed to clinch a playoff spot after their 22-16 victory over the Carolina Panthers. But Sunday’s performance was anything but perfect as Jalen Hurts struggled, completing 14 of 21 passes for just 108 yards. Despite the Birds' struggles, there was at least one bright spot in the game: Saquon Barkley.

Barkley, now at 1,623 yards on the season, set a new single-season franchise rushing record, eclipsing LeSean McCoy’s record set in 2013 (1,607). He ran for 124 yards on 20 carries, making this his fourth straight game over 100 yards. As fans chanted “MVP” at Lincoln Financial Field, he was getting more praise from former Eagles running back McCoy on social media.

“Listen, as I watch the game, I’m going to give a super special shoutout to my boy Saquon Barkley, also to the offensive line, for breaking my single-season Eagles franchise record of rushing,” McCoy said. “26. A lot of love coming from 25. Now, go get that other record 2,100 yards for Eric Dickerson. Fly, Eagles, Fly. I see y’all in New Orleans. Let’s get it.”

A.J. Brown offered terse, pointed answers like the following when asked how hard it was as a wide receiver to get into rhythm with the Eagles attempting so few passes.

“Incredibly tough,” he said.

DeVonta Smith didn’t mask his dissatisfaction with the offense even though the Eagles had won.

The only thing missing was Nick Sirianni taunting the home fans.

It felt like Cleveland all over again. An inferior opponent entered with a toothless team on a great day for football, and the Eagles declined to show up. Only a bobbled would-be touchdown catch by Xavier Legette with 44 seconds to play saved a likely upset from happening. They were 13-point home favorites, but if there was skin on their teeth before the game it’s not there any longer, because that’s how they beat Carolina, 22-16.

As a refresher: Coming off a bye week for Game 5, Sirianni was booed at Lincoln Financial Field against the Browns — also a win — and taunted the fans. The team played poorly, and won barely, and the locker room was fuming. And so it was again Sunday, as the Eagles took the Panthers lightly with the Pittsburgh Steelers looming next week.

Eagles running back Saquon Barkley is closer to setting a new NFL rushing record after another 100-yard performance against the Carolina Panthers Sunday at the Linc.

With four games left to play, Barkley is closing in on Eric Dickerson’s NFL rushing record, set 40 years ago in 1984.

Barkley has already topped his career high of 1,312 rushing yards, which he racked up in 2022 with the Giants, and tied his career mark of 11 touchdowns, which he set during his rookie year in 2018. Barkley also passed LeSean McCoy and set a new Eagles record for rushing yards in a season. Not bad for a free agent the New York Giants let walk to a division foe.

For the fourth consecutive season, the Eagles are headed to the playoffs.

The Eagles clinched a postseason berth on Sunday thanks to a confluence of factors, including their 22-16 victory over the Carolina Panthers. The outcomes of three other games helped punch the Eagles’ ticket to the playoffs — the Detroit Lions’ win over the Green Bay Packers on Thursday, the Atlanta Falcons’ loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, and the Arizona Cardinals’ Sunday defeat at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks.

All eyes are on the playoff seeding with four games remaining in the regular season. The 12-1 Lions are the front-runners to snag the No. 1 seed in the NFC, which would earn them a first-round bye and home-field advantage through the conference championship round.