Section 215
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Five Big-Picture Takeaways from Eagles Week 3 Win Over Jets

By Somers Price

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5.) A Step Towards an Identity

Sep 27, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Philadelphia Eagles outside linebacker Jordan Hicks (58) is congratulated by his teammate inside linebacker DeMeco Ryans (59) after recovering a fumble during the second quarter against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steven Ryan-USA TODAY Sports

On Sunday, ugly wins count as much as pretty ones do. Between games is when pundits and fans alike decide to magnify a game to the point of being unsatisfied with a win. At the end of the day, radio station and TV networks alike need something to talk about. The Eagles win on Sunday will likely go a lot further within their locker room than it will over the airwaves of Philadelphia over the next week. Fact of the matter is, only a handful of individuals know what it takes to win an NFL regular season game. Most of them don’t call into radio stations to discuss why a win wasn’t good enough.

For this Eagles team, Sunday’s win was good enough. It was good enough to learn what it feels like to walk off the field victorious. It was good enough to hand a team its first loss of the season when the whole world predicted otherwise. For now, Sunday was good en0ugh to make lining up next Sunday something to look forward to.

The NFL is unlike the other three major sports leagues in that teams generally cannot overcome an early-season swoon. Playoff spots are limited and a 16-game schedule leaves very little margin for error. How much Chip Kelly took this into account when constructing this year’s team is something we may never find out. Given the nature of the sport, it takes a strong locker room and cohesiveness to roll with the veritable punches as a team works its kinks out. The Eagles were fortunate enough to win a game along the way while they’re doing so.

The Jets likely entered Sunday with quite a bit of swagger. They were coming off a primetime shellacking of the Colts and a 2-0 mark. Despite having just as much roster turnover as the Eagles, there seemed to be a renaissance of the defensive identity that once typified New York Jets football. There’s a reason most people picked New York to win the game on Sunday and a lot of it likely had to do with the simple fact that they had been able to demonstrate a cohesion that the Eagles hadn’t.

There were times Sunday where it looked as if the Eagles might be on their way to developing their own identity. The defense, save for a couple of drives, suffocated the New York offense and turned them over seemingly at will. There was a confidence when the defense was out on the field that something moments could happen, and it often times did on Sunday. Given the amount of moving parts and uncertainty as a result of injury, it’s hard to say the Eagles have an idea of exactly the type of team they hope to be moving forward. Against the Jets, there was some semblance of a formula to a victory. If they can recapture that energy and even take it to another level, there’s no reason the Eagles can’t continue to clean up their early-season mess and come away with a division title.

Next: Sam Bradford, Eagles Offense Should Only Improve From Here

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