NFL: Eagles to host Jaguars

Oct. 2—PHILADELPHIA — After facing Jalen Reagor and Carson Wentz, the Philadelphia Eagles will face another significant person from their recent history. This time, former Eagles head coach Doug Pederson will lead the Jacksonville Jaguars (2-1) into Lincoln Financial Field this afternoon.

At 3-0, the Eagles enter as the only undefeated team remaining in the NFL and will be looking to make it four straight wins against a Jaguars team that looks like an entirely different team, one that struggled throughout the 2021 season.

The game also marks the first time that Pederson and current Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni will have a chance to square off as the leaders of their team. Friday, Sirianni said that he was not taking it as he was personally going against Pederson.

"Any time I'm going against any head coach, I'm going to get super competitive against them," Sirianni said. "And that doesn't matter if it's Doug, Frank Reich, whoever, I'm going to be competitive, because I want to win and I want to win big. That's always my goal. I'm not lining up against him to do anything, but am I trying to win the things I believe that are important for the head coaches against Doug? Yeah, I am."

Here are five things to watch in Sunday's game against the Jaguars:

How the Jaguars try to defend quarterback Jalen Hurts

In the first three games of the season, Hurts has completed 66-of-98 of his passes (67.3%) for 916 yards, four touchdowns, and an interception. Defenses have tried different ways to slow Hurts down, but nothing has stuck so far.

Jaguars defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell was on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers staff last season and played a part in frustrating Hurts and the Eagles offense in the Wild Card round loss in Tampa Bay that ended the Eagles' season last year.

One thing that Caldwell could do to try to slow down Hurts, especially with his ability to run, is using a "spy," having a player such as rookie linebacker Devin Llyod follow Hurts around and step up if Hurts begins to take off. The danger is that it means the Jaguars will have one less player in their pass rush or coverage.

Can the Eagles get the run game against the Jaguars' front seven?

The Jaguars are tied with the Buffalo Bills for the fewest rushing yards allowed this season, only giving up 141 yards through three games. The low rushing total could be attributed to teams getting behind early and needing to throw the ball to stay in the game. However, the Jaguars do fill the gaps for running lanes effectively, with nose tackle Davon Hamilton playing well in the middle of the Jaguars defensive line.

The Eagles will need left guard Landon Dickerson, center Jason Kelce and right guard Isaac Seumalo to get a quick jump off the ball, get leverage on Hamilton, and take him off his spot to create running lanes.

Slot machines

Wide receiver DeVonta Smith, who cornerback Darius Slay refers to as "Skinny Batman," had a monster game yesterday, catching eight passes for 169 yards and a touchdown. Smith has had success this season because the Eagles are using him everywhere and in their formations. Surprisingly, Smith is doing very well in the slot.

PFF calculates that Smith has been in the slot for 21 snaps and is the seventh highest-graded player (88.9) based on production in that area. Smith has caught six of his seven targets from the slot for 91 yards. Having Smith lined up in the slot allows him to get a free release most of the time and for him to enter his routes unimpeded.

The same could be said for tight end Dallas Goedert and wide receiver Quez Watkins, who have put pressure on secondaries in the seams, with Watkins drawing two pass interference penalties last week against the Washington Commanders. The Eagles could do well if they get matchups against Jaguar safeties Rayshawn Jenkins and Andre Cisco.

How will the Eagles defend Jaguars WR Christian Kirk in the slot with cornerback Avonte Maddox out

The Eagles will be without Maddox because of an ankle injury, which could impact the game because of the way Kirk has been playing this season.

Kirk has 18 catches for 267 yards and three touchdowns this season, mainly lining up in the slot. According to PFF, of the 198 offensive snaps Kirk has played, he has lined up in the slot 126 times. Before he was ruled out for Sunday, Maddox was aware of where Kirk lines up and knows that he will be facing a good receiver across from him Sunday.

"He moves around, and I've seen him in the slot a lot," Maddox said. "He can definitely get open, and he has good speed and good hands. He's very quick and shifty. I've seen him on film, and he was able to get the ball a pretty good amount of times. It is going to be a good matchup this week."

The Eagles could use Josiah Scott and fill use him as the slot cornerback, giving him some help from a safety if over top if he needs it. The Eagles could also roll safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson down into the slot, being that was what he did with the New Orleans Saints before the Eagles acquired him in a trade before the season began.

Getting pressure on Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence

The Jaguars have allowed a league-low two sacks this season, partly because of Lawrence's ability to scramble and buy time, but the Jaguars offensive line has done well, keeping him upright. The Eagles are coming off a week where they had nine sacks on Wentz.

The Eagles front four must find ways to pressure Lawrence to get him to rush his progressions and try to get him to commit turnovers. They could do so if reigning NFC Defensive Player of the Week Brandon Graham can get to Lawrence and get another 2.5 sacks like he did last week.

Contact the writer: Lboyer@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6026; @pubsportsboss on Twitter