How did Eagles' offensive line turn its season around overnight?

How did Eagles' offensive line turn its season around overnight? originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Eight weeks into the season, the Eagles had a problem.

A big one.

They had allowed 25 sacks in just eight games - 6th-most in the NFL - and the offensive line was a big-time concern.

Stout to the rescue.

The last six weeks? The Eagles have allowed four sacks, fewest in the NFL.

It's a really bright spot that probably hasn't been talked about," Cam Jurgens said.

So let's talk about it.

Since Week 9, the Eagles have allowed one sack each against the Lions, Cowboys, Chargers and Raiders and held the Bears and Raiders without a sack.

Think about some of the edge rushers the Eagles have faced.

Tui Tuipolotu has 12 but was blanked vs. the Eagles. Al-Quadin Muhammad has nine but nothing against the Eagles, and teammate Aidan Hutchinson managed half a sack. Montez Sweat left Philly with one tackle and no sacks or pressures. Maxx Crosby can be a game wrecker but after a sack early in the second quarter Sunday he did nothing.

This is the first time since sacks became an official stat in 1982 the Eagles have allowed one or fewer sack in six straight games. And that matches the longest streak by any NFC team since 2015, when the Rams had a seven-game streak with Nick Foles at quarterback for most of it.

I think we're blocking guys really well up front," Jurgens said. I think we've done a really good job in pass protection. A lot of schemes help and knowing where the quarterback's at and everything that goes along with it."

Interesting observation that the o-line knows where Jalen Hurts is now as his rushing attempts and scrambles have dropped. Because the high early sack numbers were definitely not just on the o-line, they were on Jalen dancing around in and out of the pocket and leaving himself more susceptible to taking sacks.

I think, especially for tackles, the biggest thing is just knowing where the quarterback drop is and timing up with the routes and knowing where he's at," Jurgens said.

So it helps you get off the line a little better, whether you're jump setting or vertical setting or going out at an angle, just knowing where he's at. It kind of helps you get to your spot a little better. I think it's really well coordinated right now with us."

The whole offense does seem more coordinated," as Jurgens put it.

Another factor that's helped is stability on the offensive line. Jurgens and Landon Dickerson, who were constantly in and out of the lineup early in the year, have both been able to stay on the field. Lane Johnson has been out since early in the Lions game, and the Eagles obviously miss him, but since he was sidelined the Eagles have had the same five guys out there, with Fred Johnson filling in at right tackle.

The Eagles didn't place Johnson on IR, but he's already missed four games and isn't expected to play against the Commanders Saturday.

I just feel like we tried to go out there and execute our job," Fred Johnson said. Dominate our 1-on-1's and stuff. Be on the same page as far as blitzes. defensive fronts and different schemes.

I feel like the last few weeks we've all been on the same page as far as quarterback, offensive line. We've got to keep stacking days.

I just feel like everybody's just trying to check every box. Making sure we're doing what we've got to do individually, so that helps us collectively."

Tyler Steen said the more film that's available on opposing defenses, the better prepared the offensive linemen can be.

Along with that, the more they play together, the more they can function as a single unit instead of five different guys.

You want to get all five guys just kind of all playing as many snaps as possible together, and the last month or so we've had that," he said. And I think anytime you have to bring different people in, just kind of as far as how you communicate, it can be difficult. Different guys play a different way and communication can be a little harder. You might have to be more specific when you're talking to somebody else. Timing is another thing that just comes with getting reps together.

And I think now that everybody has gotten a good amount of snaps together, we've started rolling."

Some interesting numbers:

On 28 drives where Hurts has been sacked, the Eagles have scored four touchdowns, or a TD on 14 percent of their possessions.

On 118 drives where he hasn't been sacked, they've scored 32 touchdowns, or a TD on 27 percent of their possessions.

In these last six weeks, the Eagles have improved from 27th in the league in sacks allowed to 12th.

The Eagles don't make legendary offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland available for interviews. Nick Sirianni spoke about the o-line's improvement on Tuesday and what he believes has gone into it.

Everything," he said. This is the ultimate team game, so everything contributes to that. I think we're getting good contributions (from) receivers getting open, doing good things there, good protection, Jalen reading the defenses and getting the ball where it needs to go.

It's hard to move the ball forward, it's hard to score points, when you're not consistently moving the ball forward," Sirianni explained. That goes back to our negative runs that we've talked about, but that's also sacks. So everything contributes to that, and we've got to look to continue to build upon that."