PHILADELPHIA — There’s no more “Positivity Bunny” in the Philadelphia Eagles’ locker room after a third consecutive loss deflated the air from the city (and the doll) and elevated fears of a 2023-esque collapse. That doesn’t mean the locker room lacks reason for positivity, though.
It helps that the Eagles host the 2-11 Las Vegas Raiders this week for a chance to change the discourse about the team, at least for one week.
“I think the direction we’re going is really good,” Saquon Barkley said. “All buying in. … I think it’s real funny, because a lot of times you hear ’23 keep coming up, and I wasn’t here in ’23, but whatever happened in ’23 I can guarantee is not happening in the locker room right now. That’s me being in the locker room, being a leader in the locker room. The vibe is not like that whatsoever. We just got to go win.”
On that note, let’s get to Barkley and this week’s Eight Eagles Thoughts:
1. Why Saquon Barkley offered reason for ‘positivity’ despite bitter loss
Lost in the Jalen Hurts hysteria this week was that Barkley and the Eagles’ rushing game looked closer to the 2024 version than they had been. The players were enthused by adjustments in the run game and game plan ahead of the Los Angeles Chargers game, and Barkley responded with a 122-yard performance. That was his second time with 100-plus yards this season after reaching the mark 14 times in the regular season and playoffs last year.
“It’s something we can definitely build on, Barkley said. “We got to be more consistent. Get positive yards, take away negative runs. … I want to put us in prime position to get more runs called. It’s easier to run the ball in second-and-6, second-and-5, rather than second-and-11 and second-and-10. We definitely made strides.”
The major difference between the 2025 Barkley and last season has been the lack of explosive runs. The Eagles generated one with a modification off the tush push that resulted in a 52-yard touchdown. Take out that gain, and Barkley averaged only 3.7 yards per carry. Of course, you cannot take out that run, just as you can’t eliminate the 17 rushes of 20-plus yards Barkley had in 2024. It’s part of what makes him one of the NFL’s best running backs.
One part of the offense the Eagles can lean into with Barkley is rushing from under center. Barkley had 10 carries for 20 yards from shotgun Monday compared with 10 carries for 102 yards from under center. If you dismiss the 52-yard run as a gimmick-type play and not indicative of under-center production, he’s still at nine carries for 50 yards, 3.55 more yards per carry than he has from the shotgun. Five of Barkley’s 10 runs from the shotgun went for zero or negative yards.
Barkley is averaging 3.4 yards per carry on 130 carries from shotgun this season and 4.9 yards per carry on 82 rushes from under center. When asked about this earlier in the year, Barkley suggested reporters made too much of the distinction. His position has not necessarily changed, though he’s not denying the stats have merit.
“I feel like for me, personally, it doesn’t make a difference,” Barkley said. “It’s running the football. Is there a difference? Yes. Outside zone is different. There’s a difference with how you set it up, your shoulders square, what you see, what you’re running. But to me, success — I’m not trying to brag here, I was drafted very high from Penn State, and the last few years in college, I was never under center. And then when you get to the NFL, you have to adapt and learn under center. I feel comfortable in either. I guess the numbers are showing (a difference). But the player I want to be, it shouldn’t be that way.”
There’s merit to using shotgun for the passing game and quarterback run game. Then again, Hurts is running less this season than in previous years. The Eagles will continue using both, but the data suggests they should run more from under center, especially if it invigorates the ground game. Barkley and the offensive line carried the Eagles last season, and Barkley has been at his best in his career in December. Every game the Eagles play for the remainder of the regular season will be in cold-weather environments — they have two games in Philadelphia, one in Washington and one in Buffalo — and this would be the time to rely on the former offensive player of the year.
“There’s some things that we definitely want to build on, and there’s some things that, little tweaks here and there to help with the scheme,” coach Nick Sirianni said. “Excited about the plan this week. We’re going to have to go out and call it at the right times, and we’re going to have to go out and execute it when necessary, every single time.”
2. Jalen Hurts’ earned equity
Sirianni responded to a question about whether Hurts could be benched as “ridiculous,” and even that response has not stymied debate in some circles in Philadelphia.
My view on it: Hurts has earned enough equity after four postseason bids, two Super Bowl appearances, a Super Bowl MVP and elite-level play on the NFL’s biggest stages to see through a slump.
Past Eagles quarterbacks have been benched, and I’m not suggesting Hurts has a lifetime appointment to the role. However, this is still the same calendar year as the Super Bowl win! This isn’t Carson Wentz in 2020 (during a losing season and after never winning a postseason game in which he started) or Donovan McNabb briefly getting benched in 2008 (while the Eagles had one playoff win in the previous three seasons). It would be premature and unproductive to make such a decision now.
Plus, Hurts is still a high-level quarterback. He must use his legs with greater frequency, and he can throw with better anticipation (as he did in overtime to DeVonta Smith on a critical third-down conversion). The Eagles haven’t won with Hurts by accident, though. That equity is earned.
This is not to suggest there isn’t curiosity about how the passing game would be called with No. 2 quarterback Tanner McKee, who was an effective passer last season when starting in Week 18. The Eagles used under-center play-action in that game more than in any game in which Hurts started, which suggested the coaching staff tailors the offense to what it believes the quarterback requires. When variables aren’t working in an experiment, you sometimes change the control, but Hurts isn’t an experiment. He’s the franchise player, and he’s earned more than enough leeway to withstand a four-interception game and a five-game stretch.
Jordan Davis has emerged as a defensive leader for the Eagles in Jalen Carter’s absence. (Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images)
3. Jordan Davis endures in December
Had the Eagles won Monday, the game might be remembered for Jordan Davis’ performance. The fourth-year defensive tackle excelled with Jalen Carter out of the lineup, finishing with 1.5 sacks, six quarterback pressures (and a pressure rate of 27.3 percent) and six “stops,” which NFL Next Gen stats defines as critical plays that stop first downs.
Davis has had impressive games before, but notably, this occurred in Week 14. Davis’ conditioning has been a key part of his emergence into a larger role this season. He’s played 61 percent of the defensive snaps this year. Last season, it was 37 percent. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said Davis’ technique has “definitely” improved, but better conditioning and weight loss are “a big part” of Davis’ success.
“I looked at a picture of me earlier and usually … the white jerseys are always the tightest, so when you’re feeling good in the white jerseys, you’re doing something,” Davis said. “So, feeling wise, it’s been great. It’s been amazing. … And it’s really cool to see the work we’ve put in finally come to fruition.”
Davis has also emerged as a vocal leader for the defense, Fangio confirmed.
“Jordan is really a fun guy to be around, good personality, likes being here, comes to work, enjoys work,” Fangio said. “He’s not a captain … but the biggest player is also becoming one of the biggest voices.”
4. Brandon Graham, defensive tackle
Speaking of vocal leaders playing defensive tackle, let’s take a minute to discuss Brandon Graham.
Yes, I wrote defensive tackle.
With Carter sidelined, the Eagles are playing the 16-year veteran at defensive tackle. He’s bounced inside on passing downs in the past (you might remember his Super Bowl LII strip-sack of Tom Brady), but he rarely filled his stand-up edge rusher role against the Chargers. He was a true down lineman.
“BG actually played defensive tackle in the game, probably (for) the first time in his career, when it was either-or situations, not just rush,” Fangio said. “He helped pick up the slack of losing Jalen Carter and did a nice job. … BG is the ultimate pro. He’s got strength. He knows how to play blocks. I think he’ll be better this week moving forward.”
If you watched “Hard Knocks” this week, you saw Graham in the defensive line meeting room while the other edge rushers were upstairs in their position meeting. That signaled a shift for Graham, who is trying something new even at this stage of his career.
“My training camp is over,” Graham said. “I’m trying to do everything I can for the team.”
5. A change for Jake Elliott
The Eagles need more consistency from kicker Jake Elliott, and a change at long snapper might help. The Eagles brought long snapper Charley Hughlett back to the active roster after he missed two months with a core muscle injury.
Elliott was perfect on all his kicks — 4 of 4 on field goals, 12 of 12 on extra points — in his four weeks with Hughlett. Without Hughlett, he’s 12 of 17 on field goals and 19 of 20 on extra points.
“I don’t know that you can necessarily make that correlation,” Elliott said.
Some of those misses were just unfortunate ones, not the product of snaps, Elliott said. A few of them were in windy conditions, although he also missed three kicks in domes. That included a 48-yarder at the end of the first half Monday.
Elliott, a nine-year veteran with two Super Bowl rings, has connected on 76.2 of his field goal attempts this season. That ranks 30th in the NFL among kickers with at least 10 attempts. He’s missed two field goals from the 40s for the first time since 2021.
6. Nick Sirianni before halftime
Elliott’s missed field goal came at the end of the half when the Eagles elected to settle for a 48-yarder even though they were at the 30-yard line with 10 seconds and two timeouts. The offense ran a play with sideline routes, most of which were deep. Hurts threw the ball out of bounds, and the Eagles did not get any yards before the field goal.
“We have plays in our offense to be able to advance it without getting too much in the middle, and then we have plays in our playbook that try to advance it on the sideline,” Siriainni said. “We chose the one on the sideline, and it didn’t work.”
Such end-of-half sequences have been uncharacteristic for the Eagles compared with recent seasons. The Eagles have had eight drives start in the final minute of the first half this season, have not scored a point and did not attempt a field goal until Monday. Four of those drives started inside their own red zone, although two had 1:19 left on the clock. For the most part, they’ve played conservatively.
Last season, the Eagles scored a touchdown on a drive that started at their own 35-yard line with 36 seconds remaining. In 2023, the Eagles scored two field goals and a touchdown, including a touchdown on a drive from their own 35-yard line, with 25 seconds remaining. The year before that, the Eagles scored two field goals and a touchdown in these situations, with the field goals coming on drives that started inside the opponent’s territory, including one at the opponent’s 5-yard line.
“That’s obviously something that I’ve always studied,” Sirianni said earlier this season. “I have actually looked at every end of half under a certain time. There are moments where you sit on it, there’s moments that you don’t. Throughout those studies, there’s negative things that can happen in those moments as well, but you always take everything. You take the clock into account. You take your amount of timeouts into account. We have a formula for when we do, when we don’t.”
Pay attention to this in future weeks. The Eagles are 6-1 when they score on a drive that begins in the final 90 seconds of the half.
7. Eagles-Raiders connections
There’s familiarity between two unfamiliar opponents Sunday. The most obvious is Raiders quarterback Kenny Pickett, who was the Eagles’ No. 2 during their Super Bowl run last season and will start in Geno Smith’s place. Pickett is a New Jersey native who grew up an Eagles fan, started in the NFC East-clinching game last season and took the final snap of the Super Bowl.
“Obviously, we have respect for Kenny,” Fangio said. “I don’t think there’s (an) advantage just because he was here, that we know him. He’s in a different offense running a different scheme. I think all of that’s way blown out of proportion.”
The Raiders have five former Eagles on their roster, and the Eagles have three former Raiders: Marcus Epps, Jakorian Bennett and Byron Young.
Bennett came over in a summer trade for defensive tackle Thomas Booker. At the time, the trade seemed a sensible swap considering Booker played at a position with a surplus, and the Eagles needed help at cornerback.
Though Bennett started 11 games for the Raiders during the past two seasons, he has not emerged as a starter in Philadelphia. He played 24 defensive snaps in seven games this season and has been relegated to special teams. The meeting with the Raiders is meaningful to Bennett, who has friends on the other side and trains in Las Vegas. Still, it’s unlikely he’ll have the chance to influence the game on defense.
“It’s been tough,” Bennett said. “But I just try to stay ready — you never know when the opportunity comes. I try to manage everything, what I have control of. … It’s not how I planned, but it’s (presented) to me for something I don’t see yet.”
8. Eagles-Raiders prediction
It’s hard to find a more inviting opportunity for the Eagles to break a three-game losing streak than the 2-11 Raiders coming to Philadelphia on a frigid December afternoon. A loss would be catastrophic and unlikely, considering the Eagles are 12-point favorites. The focus will be on Hurts and the offense, although a strong performance from that group might be more meaningful for their confidence than the outcome. The Eagles’ defense can dominate the line of scrimmage, and that might be enough for the win. The Raiders haven’t scored more than 17 points in the past five games and allow a league-high 50 sacks.
This game could look similar to the last Eagles-Raiders game in Philadelphia in 2017, when the Eagles were 10-point favorites and escaped with a 19-10 win on a bitter evening when the Raiders had 137 net passing yards. I’m expecting another 100-yard performance from Barkley and an overpowering performance from the defense to get the elusive ninth win. Eagles 24, Raiders 10