Despite the Eagles’ winning ways, Philadelphia’s offense has greatly struggled this season, which has amounted to internal frustrations about Jalen Hurts’ conservative approach and reluctance to move the ball downfield.
Yet there might be an even bigger culprit that is slowing the Eagles down, and it has less to do with Hurts and the Philadelphia offense and more to do with how they are being attacked.
Per NJ.com, the secret to stopping Philadelphia’s talented offense is to line up with a five-man defensive front and ditch the nickel and dime packages that have become popular in the NFL.
Kansas City Was First To Crack The Code
It should come as no surprise that the Kansas City Chiefs were the first to flush the common philosophy of playing with five men in the backfield. After all, Chiefs’ defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is one of the greatest defensive minds in the NFL.
The Chiefs suffered a humiliating 40-22 loss to Philadelphia in the Super Bowl that was not as close as the score indicated. Despite taking Saquon Barkley out of the game by loading the box, Kansas City had no answer for the Eagles’ high-flying passing attack.
A source with advanced analytical information spoke to NJ.com, saying, “I think the Chiefs learned from what they did in the Super Bowl when they ran nickel against the Eagles 76 percent of the time. I couldn’t believe it when they did it because Steve Spagnuolo, you’re talking about maybe the best in the business. And we had seen it all year. The Eagles last year had the third ranked offense against the nickel and 22nd against everything else.”
This year, the Chiefs ran much less nickel coverage and had success in their Week 2 matchup, narrowly falling to the Eagles 20-17 in the Week 2 Super Bowl rematch at Arrowhead Stadium.
Since then, only the Vikings have played mostly nickel against Philadelphia, and the Eagles took advantage, with Jalen Hurts throwing for 326 yards and three touchdowns in a 28-22 win over Minnesota on the road.
The statistics were striking—Philadelphia averaged almost six yards per play against nickel defenses in 2024, but only 4.3 against standard four-DB alignments. In the run game, the Eagles gained 5.6 yards per carry against nickel looks, dropping to 3.8 versus four-cornerback fronts.
The trend has held this year: Philadelphia is gaining 5.9 yards per play against nickel coverage and only 4.2 yards per play against base defenses, yet opponents are still using five or more defensive backs on 58% of their plays.
However, teams have tightened up against the run even in nickel packages, limiting the Birds to 4.6 yards per carry versus five-plus DBs and 3.8 against base defenses during the 2025 season.
Cowboys Could Run Troubling Five-Man Fronts Against Philly
Sunday’s matchup against the Cowboys appears to be the perfect bounce-back opportunity for Jalen Hurts and the dormant passing attack, as the Dallas defense ranks 31st in points per game allowed and 30th in yards per game allowed.
But the Cowboys made multiple defensive acquisitions to bolster their front, adding linebacker Logan Wilson from the Cincinnati Bengals and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams from the New York Jets before the trade deadline.
Those trades paid off immediately, as Dallas allowed a season-low 236 yards and recorded four sacks during their 33-16 win over the lowly Raiders. Along with Williams, the Cowboys’ defensive tackle room includes veteran Kenny Clark and interior pass rusher Osa Odighizuwa, who had eight pressures during Monday night’s win over Las Vegas.
The Cowboys played with all three defensive tackles multiple times against the Raiders, and could employ the same strategy against the Eagles’ offensive line, which will likely be without center Cam Jurgens (concussion) and right tackle Lane Johnson (foot). With improved linebacker play from DeMarvion Overshown, Dallas has the security to play with five-man defensive fronts.
The source continued, “So if the Cowboys stay in the five-man line and don’t play a lot of nickel, the Eagles won’t score a lot of points. Twenty is probably the most they’ve scored against teams that have done that.”
If Dallas can employ their five-man front, it would essentially be daring Hurts to fight through pressure and throw the ball into tight windows downfield. So far, the strategy has been effective, with the quarterback preferring the safer options, which has gotten the Eagles off the field.
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