Week 5: Philadelphia Eagles @ Jacksonville Jaguars Game Recap and Rant

 

Post Game thumbnail, I don't own this

So before all 3 of you guys say something, yes, I didn't make a recap after the Rams game. That is because I didn't watch the Rams game. The game wasn't shown on TV and while I kept up with some of the plays in the game, I didn't watch the whole game, so in my mind, how in the world am I supposed to recap a game I didn't watch, so I didn't. Also I probably would have ended up saying the same things that I did after the Bears game. Nick Sirianni still made bad decisions, the team didn't score any points in the second half and everything looked erratic and bad. The only good thing that happened was the fact that the Eagles spent around 58 minutes in the lead, which is good, unless you lose the game. 

Regardless of how you feel about the Eagles, losing sucks and losing in a completely different country sucks even more. The offense continued to be inconsistent and the running game still failed, however the Eagles still played almost the entire game with the lead against a team that was supposed to be much better than them, however, unlike losing the game in the last minute, this time the Eagles lost the game in the very last second, so that is really fun. So I am not necessarily going to discuss all of the things that happened in the game, but rather I am going to tell you all why the team lost. Not only because I refuse to go over everything the team does when the Eagles lose, but also it is very tough to even watch games that the Eagles lose. It is extremely painful, but alas that is what it is like being a fan. 

Darius Cooper #80 catching his 4th touchdown of the season

Makai Lemon #6 catching a pass over the middle

Quinyon Mitchell #27 first regular season interception

However, before I talk about why the Eagles lost, let me discuss impact players on the team that helped to make the game close and first I need to give flowers to Darius Cooper. I know, every time I give flowers to a player they get badly injured (have you seen the Eagles injury list?), but Darius Cooper has been playing far beyond his draft value, which was undrafted. In the Rams game, Darius Cooper had two receiving touchdowns, one that was so spectacular that it should have been an interception. Then in the Jaguars game, he caught a deep touchdown with yards after the catch right before the end of the 2nd half, to make the score 14-7! I have also been happy with Makai Lemon (because the football gods cannot take all of our impact receivers down... right?). He played extremely well by being open when needed and converting a few 3rd downs, which is something that the Eagles have been struggling with. On defense, Quinyon Mitchell got his first regular season interception in his career at the beginning of the 4th quarter on a play that stopped a Jaguars drive. Finally, I want to give Jake Elliott credit for nailing a 46 yard field goal that we thought would ice the win for the Eagles... but it didn't. 

Jake Elliott #4 field goal

So the following things were the reasons why the Eagles lost this London game against the Jaguars:

#1 The Jaguars Are Good

Let this be a lesson to all the losers out there. Winning teams find a way to win, even if it is difficult. The Jaguars were a team with a significant amount of yardage output during this game. They didn't always score, but they were able to put out yardage output. They got first downs, at the right periods of time they converted on third down, they had a relatively descent running game, they are well coached and they could score in the second half. Was the 1st half extremely ugly for them? You bet it was, the Eagles did the job of stopping the Jaguars on all of the drives except one and this included a very late second quarter drive where they were stopped at the Eagles 4 yard line going into overtime, but what happened after that? The Eagles stalled out on offense on every drive except their last, which was a mid range field goal that should have mounted the win, but didn't. Despite the penalties, their team was able to be victorious. This speaks to the leadership of their team and coaching. You might think that winning is very easy, but it isn't. It was clear that the Jaguars had overlooked the Eagles, but at the end of the day the better team always wins. Heck, they were missing their long snapper for the entire game and they were barely able to miss a beat when it came to punts and kicks. It is very clear that the coach trusts the players and the players trust the coach to make good decisions and win. 

#2 The Stagnant Eagles Second Half Offense

First half offense has been pretty good this season, in this game the Eagles were able to tie the game up on a short Will Shipley touchdown and then on a deep Jalen Hurts pass to Darius Cooper to make the game 14 - 0! Darius Cooper is playing like a man on a mission and I like his mental and physical toughness. He plays like a guy that actually cares. A lot of guys might come onto this team and tell themselves "oh I can just play for a paycheck", but not Cooper. However, once the team gets into the second half, everything starts to go to crap. They cannot run the ball consistently and the team shows their lack of experience. In the second half over the last 3 games, the Eagles have scored 3 points in the second half, which is absolutely inexcusable. They must be better, they have to be better, somehow there is a huge disconnect on the team and it just seems like everyone is happy with a small lead going into the 4th quarter and unfortunately the "witching hour" has bit the Eagles in the butt. At this point, I do not know what can be done here. The Eagles cannot run the football, the line cannot block the run in the second half and they were unable to do so against Jacksonville. The team had some success passing the ball, but it seemed like every time they made a big play, it would be followed up with losing yards or big penalties. These things absolutely kill an offense. I am happy they have gotten rid of that Makai Lemon swing pass because it isn't working. 

#3 Horrifically Awful Coaching

Those of you who read my last post know my feeling on Nick Sirianni. Respect to who he is and what was accomplished during his time in Philadelphia, but once again it is clear that he is completely clueless and out of his depth. In week 2 the Eagles were in a very similar situation here. Scored a touchdown, there are 8 seconds left and the Titans need to score a touchdown. In this situation, there were 8 seconds late and the Jaguars need to kick a field goal. What do you do? Do you A. Kick the ball deep in the end zone (the one I was calling for from my living room) or B. Kick the ball in a returnable way so they could possibly get into field goal range and you lose the game? And while I understand the philosophy of kicking the ball short because it not only wastes time and it is unlikely they get a good return. However, they did get a good return. They not only made it into the Eagles side of the field and with the best kicker in the league, booted in a field goal. At that point, I don't think a single Eagles fan was happy with Nick Sirianni. Here is why A was a better option. Because no matter what, if the Jaguars have 0 timeouts, they need to get to the sidelines to get a field goal and while there is a possibility that they could do that, the Eagles would have a chance to have a man on the sideline that might stop them from getting a completion. If they cannot find a guy on the sideline, they will likely throw the ball to the middle of the field, causing them to probably lose the game. You cannot stop the clock in that sense so the Eagles would win the game. If you kick the ball with a chance for the return team to return the ball, the thing that happened to them could happen. The Jaguars had already returned the ball with a holding call, so that was stopping them from the same thing happening here and it did. 

Eagles decide to kick the ball off deep to end the game

#4 Injuries

At this point, the Eagles are the most injured team in the NFL. There is absolutely no comparison. Going into this game they were down their top 2 running backs (1 of them getting injured in the game, so that is 3), they are down their starting receiver, they are down their starting guard, their starting right tackle retired, their starting defensive end or edge rusher is injured, their starting inside linebacker got ejected from the game, their starting safety got injured. At this point, you look at the injury report and everyone looks dead. Injuries are tough, every team is going to get one and you need to learn to live with them. I am putting injuries last here because despite the fact the team is injured, they have been in all the games they have played except for one. It is unfortunate that the team is in this situation, but at the end of the day, they need to learn how to play through it. It would be a different story if this team had these injuries in December, but we are in October and the team had 22 players on the injury list. 

Here is the thing though, you gotta keep playing the next game. Losing is tough, I know that when I started being a fan there wasn't much winning, but the way you lose shows the character of your football team. I do not expect to get that many more wins moving forward, but I see a lot of guys out there who are hungry for a win. They might not get those wins and they have to dig deep and believe in themselves. They have to lean on and trust each other. This is the only way to win in the National Football League. Because if you don't you can just expect a high round pick. 

Philadelphia Eagles injury report

Week 3: Philadelphia Eagles @ Chicago Bears Game Recap and Rant

Post Game thumbnail (I didn't make this)

So let me take the time to share that this game was absolutely embarrassing. Not the most embarrassing game on the planet (I have experiences losses against Joe Webb, Jamarcus Russell, Bruce Gradkowski and John Skelton), but this was probably the most embarrassing loss within the last ten years. This game not only exposed the lack of cohesiveness that exists on the Eagles but really comes as a reminder that this team might no longer be apart of a championship window. For about a half it might have seemed like the game was close, but at no point did I ever truly feel like the Eagles had a chance to win the game despite not only playing against a third string quarterback, but also with a team with far superior talent. It just appears that a lot of players and coaches are just collecting paychecks and not really caring about putting wins on the board. 

Joe Webb #14 bearing the Eagles in week 16 of 2010

I am not going to make this recap the same as the other two because there is not much I need to discuss in terms of what happened when in the game, moreover, this will more or less be discussing players and coaches for things that I see are wrong so that we can just clear the air. If you want an abridged recap I will put out that Ben Johnson is the Eagles' daddy. He owns us. He went to the store, purchased us for cheap and straight up abused the Eagles. You cannot tell me that Case Keenum is good, there is no way that anyone can fathom a 3rd string quarterback being as good as he was Monday Night. It is the system that he played that allowed him to force the Eagles defense to lay a complete stinker. Bears defensive coordinator, Dennis Allen also straight up abused not only the Philadelphia Eagles offensive line, but also almost every aspect of the Philadelphia Eagles. Not only did the Eagles only score 7 points, but the Eagles also turned the ball over 3 times, which unless you're the Buffalo Bills and you are playing the Chargers, you will probably never do. 

Case Keenum #11 absolutely embarrassing the Eagles

So in no particular order, here are the people I have to blame for this loss and why I blame them outside of the fact that Ben Johnson and the Chicago Bears whipped out their belts and destroyed the Eagles down their Madden Cover athlete quarterback, Caleb Williams, who sustained a strained MCL during a 9-3 loss against the Minnesota Vikings: 

Vic Fangio:

Throughout the last 2 years, Vic Fangio has been one of the greatest defensive minds in the game when it comes to making the Eagles a better defense. It was a breath of fresh air bringing him into the organization after years of Jonathan Gannon, Sean Desai, and Matt Patricia, three guys whom if you took 3 brain cells to rub together, would still be better defensive coaches than those three. The Eagles were a top 5 unit in 2024 and a top 10 unit in 2025 where the Eagles held some of the best offenses to minimal points and yards. During the 2026 offseason there were reports that he was flirting with retirement and probably just should have. The defense looks dead and uninterested. They are a direct reflection of the coach. There are maybe three to five players on the entire defense that look like they actually care. Zach Baun is one, Quinyon Mitchell is another, Jalyx Hunt is another, and Jalen Carter might be another. Suffice to say there is absolutely no excuse to show up against a third string quarterback and allow 3 total touchdowns to him. They got the ball out of Case Keenum's hands in under 2 seconds and for whatever reason, the Eagles continued to play off on defense and hope the line got home. The line actually played really well in this game and got constant pressure on Keenum, the defensive backfield looked bad and confused. Andrew Makuba is terrible, I have no idea how he was so successful in college, he is a bum in the NFL. Jihaad Campbell is not an inside linebacker. He cannot stop the run and he is always completely out of position on passes. Jihaad Campbell is an edge rusher, that is all. For whatever reason, Vic Fangio doesn't see this or he just doesn't care to change it. He looks completely out of it as it has been the 3rd week of the season and the Eagles have 0 turnovers. It isn't without trying because there were chances for interceptions, but no one capitalized on them. Vic Fangio has been an utter disappointment and with the fact that the game plan for the game was terrible, I have huge concerns that the team doesn't actually watch film. 

Eagles defensive coordinator, Vic Fangio

Andy Dalton:

My gosh, I loath his gentleman (in a football way). Not only does he always beat the Eagles when they play against him (twice as a Bengal in 2012 and 2016), once as a Cowboy in 2020, and once as a Saint in 2022, but as an Eagles backup quarterback, he does nothing but flop. I have seen him nicknamed the "Ginger Ninja" or "Red Rocket", but I have a new nickname "Garbage". The Eagles have the ball at the 2, they feed it to Saquon twice (up the middle no less) and then on third down, he throws a pass with no pressure in his face to Dontayvion Wicks on a drive where Jalen Hurts got down the field and you have a chance to tie the game up and the pass is intercepted by Dillon Thieneman. This was inexcusable, not only because it swings the game, but also because this man is your backup quarterback. He is a heartbeat away from being your starting if Jalen Hurts goes down. If Case Keenum played like Joe Montana, Andy Dalton played like Nathan Peterman. I don't even know why you trade him for even a 7th round draft pick because he is worth less than a bowl of peanuts. Tanner McKee should be the backup, why? Because you cannot be much worth than that. This isn't a ringing endorsement of Tanner McKee, it is merely me saying "I called that Andy Dalton was bad, but the coaches just don't see it" oh well, he probably has pictures of Sirianni, or Howie or Lurie in a compromising situation. I'm sorry, but I am being brutally honest, if Andy Dalton is your quarterback for any length of time, you aren't winning a single game. 

Jalen Hurts getting hit out of bounds causing him to go into the medical tent

Andy Dalton about to snap the ball on 3rd and GOAL from the 2

Right after the throw...

Right after the most embarrassing interception ever...

And Jalen was forced into the medical tent

Sean Mannion:

I truly don't even know if he is actually the offensive coordinator of the team. I see him calling plays, however I also see the Eagles doing very similar things to what they did last year, especially in this game. There is no imagination with this offense. I see it with the Bears, they are running some super crazy plays in confident fashion. The Eagles don't do this. I swear to god, if I see Makai Lemon in the backfield, running in motion to the right and Jalen Hurts throwing a swing pass that gets blown up in the backfield, I am going to go crazy. This play does NOT work. They have tried it 4 or 5 times and it hasn't worked. The definition of insanity is doing things that fail over and over again expecting a different result. We cannot run this play. So stop running it. Why are plays like this damaging? Well, because they kill drives. Oh look, we got a 19 yard gain, lets run this fail son of a play. Oh, look, Saquon Barkley is successfully running to the sides, let us run it up the middle into 7 man boxes, what could go wrong? These two things kill drives and we have absolutely no counter for it, it is what gets the Eagles into 3rd and 12 situations and maybe you can convert against the Titans, you cannot convert against a better defense. I am not going to go as far as to call Sean a bum because I don't even know if he can run his own playbook or if he can even call his own plays, but often times he calls horrific plays that don't work and just keeps trying to call them. 

The Eagles still do not scheme receivers open. They run a guy in motion and then just have him stand there and set. I see other teams having receivers running around behind the line and then snapping the ball as they run the complete opposite direct and beat man defense, badly. This is what I thought we were going to see more of in the Shanahan offense, but we are not seeing this. We are seeing swing passes that don't work, running backs running into heavy boxes and 3rd and long situations, which stall out drives. This isn't sustainable, the reason it worked against the Titans and Commanders is because those teams quite frankly aren't that good. 

Eagles offensive coordinator, Sean Mannion

Nick Sirianni:

The question constantly on my mind is, "what does he even do?" And I know that people will come to me saying "well what an insane question, he is a Super Bowl winning head coach!" He was brought in to be an innovative play caller and the only innovation is the tush push. When it comes to play calling, he is garbage, when it comes to building a coaching tree, he is garbage, the teams wins, but only because of innovative minds at offensive and defense coordinator and because of immense talent, but outside of the motivation factor, he is essentially the Weeb Ewbank of the current era. If you think that Jalen Hurts was carried to two Super Bowls and a Super Bowl victory, then Nick Sirriani was instantly transported to the event without really doing anything. Nick Sirianni is such a bad play caller that every time he touches a play sheet, it immediately turns into garbage. I don't even know if I can fairly criticize first year offensive coordinator, Sean Mannion because that wide receiver swing pass to Makai Lemon has Nick Sirianni written all over it. He has to be the only offensive minded Super Bowl winning head coach in NFL history to not even know how to call an offense. Like how is it that over the span of 5 years that this guy has never attended an offensive play calling for dummies course. 

And look, I know I am "just a fan" what do I know? I can't call an offense. I don't understand all of the intricacies of play calling and line movements, shifts, blocks, motions, and routes, but I can tell you when a play doesn't work. And to be honest, that play doesn't work. It is a drive killer. I am tired of Saquon Barkley running into full boxes hoping he is going to do something different or someone is going to miss a tackle. The offensive line is one of the worst in the NFL and had something like 3 holding calls in the game, which heavily costed the team. And look, if he isn't qualified to be a play caller, fine, I just wish I wasn't gaslit by people who think the world of him and that he is so great, he isn't. He is one of the reasons why Jalen Hurts has specific limitations because there have only been two guys over the span of 5 years who have ever worked on those things with him. 

Eagles Head Coach, Nick Sirriani

Howie Roseman:

One thing that I swore I would never do is say that a person cannot do any wrong and that person is Howie Roseman. The last two drafts for Howie Roseman, coming off a very successful 2023 and 2024 drafts have been complete trash. Let us start with last year's draft with Jihaad Campbell, who once again isn't an inside linebacker, he is straight up an edge rusher. He cannot cover, he looks totally confused and not only this, he struggles to tackle and is a liability. Then there is Andrew Makuba, a guy lauded as being the next CJ Gardner Johnson out of Texas. If Andrew Makuba is CJ Garnder Johnson, then I'm Adam Sandler. CJ Gardner Johnson was the embodiment of an Eagle, through and through. A guy that despite getting injured every training camp is a full blown winner. He is an intimidator, the guy that is willing to put his entire body, mind and strength into everything. Sure he has a big mouth that often gets him into trouble, but he wins. Every time the Eagles get rid of CJ, their defense and team heavily suffers. He was the heart and soul of the entire defense. Without him, the team is not as good. 

I don't know why Howie Roseman got rid of him and traded him for peanuts, but the guy wanted to be a lifelong Eagle and unless there is something I am missing and he committed a horrendous crime, the team should have never gotten rid of him. Then there is this draft, you can clearly see Makai Lemon is getting open, but Jalen Hurts isn't finding him. For whatever reason the Eagles keep running those motion behind the back, swing pass that gets blown up because our tight ends don't block, but the man flashes in the open field, he just isn't getting the opportunities. Then there is Eli Stowers, who apparently has been so bad and is so undersized that he is on Injured Reserve and not on an active roster. All of this despite the fact that Emmanuel McNeil-Warren is a freaking monster and Howie didn't touch him with a ten foot pole. So excuse me for questioning the fact that the team is extremely lacking in talent at safety and at tight end, purely because you completely botched the draft at two positions. It is very clear that in 2024, Howie merely made the gosh obvious selections that anyone could have made and was successful for it. Now he let it get to his head and is making some very poor draft decisions. At the end of the day, Howie Roseman did for the Eagles something that all of us never dreamed he would do... Masterfully get two world championships to the people of Philadelphia, but maybe we are at the point where the team is on the decline and it is time to start over again. Again, Howie is on a much looser leash because of his success, but it appears that the success has gone to his head because he isn't doing anything to make the team better now. 

Eagles general manager, Howie Roseman

Second Half Jalen Hurts:

Now first half Jalen Hurts cannot really be criticized. Outside of the 1st drive where he hit Makai Lemon for a big gain and then the drive stalled, Tank Bisby fumbled deep in Eagles territory, then Jalen Hurts got the snot rocked out of him along the sidelines, then Andy Dalton threw one of the worst interceptions I have ever seen in my life, and finally he got the team down the field and with 1 second left on the clock ran it in (without the tush push) for a touchdown to put the team down 3 at halftime. However, 2nd half Jalen Hurts was really nothing short of bad and it truly appears that normal football mentality goes completely out the window sometimes. Like he forgets that he can throw the ball while running for a 2 yard loss instead of throwing the ball out of bounds and you can get back to the line of scrimmage. He leaves pockets to the side instead of step up running where there is nobody in a 15 yard radius of the first down marker. His throws sometimes are erratic, he is not playactioning, he plays from under center sometimes, but he isn't as successful when he is under center. He wins, I know, but that Bears defense isn't good and he got straight up taken to school. Guys are open, he doesn't throw to them. Devonta Smith is really the only receiver he trusts. He will throw the ball to Dontayvion Wicks, but not as much anyone else, even when they are open. I know that everyone misses receivers, but in this game, he missed them bad. 

To a certain extent, I trust Jalen Hurts to win most games, but you can tell when he is going to be in a lul. You can tell when he is just out of it. Sometimes he can motivate his guys to come back, like he did against the Titans in week 2, but when the entire offense is failing, there is such a small chance that he will even be effective. I cannot tell you how embarrassing that 4th down interception was where T.J. Edwards was literally listening to the play, just yards away from the line of scrimmage, Jalen targeted Devonta Smith the whole time and Edwards picked the ball off. How are you going to let a guy listen to your plays and then lose it on a turnover. Again, Jalen Hurts was dealing in the 1st half, but when the second half hit and he was stalling out on his drives and going 3 and out, it does a lot of damage to the team's chances of coming back. You could say "very few quarterbacks could have won a game where the other team was money and the ball was bouncing their way in almost every way, but you're a Super Bowl MVP quarterback, you cannot afford to make those kinds of mistakes and unfortunately we have seen all of this before. 

Jalen Hurts #1 running big in the 1st half

Bears linebacker, T.J. Edwards #53 listening to the huddle

And...

He caught the most obvious interception...

Only 3 Players That Played Well:

Devonta Smith, Quinyon Mitchell and Braden Mann. I know I have been saying these three guy's names the last 3 weeks, but they are truly the MVPs on the team. Devonta Smith is so reliable. You throw the ball up on a 50/50 play, there is an 80% chance he is going to come down with the ball. The man is so mentally tough and has such this will to win. There is very little I think he needs to improve on when it comes to his game. He did disappear in the 2nd half, but I blame the offense, Jalen Hurts, the play calling and the offensive line more for that than anything. Quinyon Mitchell IS going to get his first regular season interception barring injury, he is so close. When the Eagles needed a guy on the outside that was going to stop a passing play, he stepped up. He he not swatted those passes away, the Eagles allow way more points and all of those failed conversions occurred on 3rd and 4th down, so he did extremely well on that basis. Finally, Braden Mann is playing like an All Pro punter. His punts have been on target, inside the 20, with minimal chances for the return team to recover. He is such a professional and does his job very well. 

Devonta Smith #6 with the catch

Quinyon Mitchell #27 with the swat.

The Eagles play the slightly underperforming Rams at home on Sunday and two major starters in Devonta Smith and Zack Baun aren't playing. So that significantly lowers the Eagles chance of winning the game because Jalen barely if ever throws to other receivers and the linebackers are underperforming. Maybe the team has a miracle, but I probably have a better chance of learning how to backflip than the Eagles do beating a pissed off Rams team. At least they play with heart, the Eagles play with... well... they lost to Case Keenum in this game, do you really think they are beating Matthew Stafford? 

Week 2: Philadelphia Eagles @ Tennessee Titans Game Recap

Eagles Week 2 Thumbnail (I didn't make this)

If week 1 is supposed to set the tone for the regular season, week 2 is supposed to give everyone an idea of how good your team is going to be. Now this doesn't mean that being 0-2 will mean your team is going to be really bad, but there is such a low percentage of a chance that you will be a contender if you go 0-2. In fact it goes from 25% to 12% real quick with it going from an 18% chance of you going to the Super Bowl to there only being 3 teams in NFL history to start 0-2 and go to the Super Bowl with all 3 winning it. Suffice to say, you'd much rather be 2-0 right now than be 0-2. Last week, the Eagles would win a very close game against the Washington Commanders, a team that was supposed to be worse than them and they did so with 4 drives where the team got down the field quickly and while the defense held in the first half, the Commanders were able to abuse the Eagles defense on the final two drives of the game where the Eagles would get lucky enough to stop an important 2 point conversion, netting them the win. 

In week 2 however, the Eagles would have to do something that they had never done before. Go down to Nashville Tennessee and defeat the Tennessee Titans. There was a statistic that was shown in the game where since 2010, the Philadelphia Eagles had a record of 15-2 against AFC South teams with those two losses being in Tennessee. One a loss in 2010 where the 4-2 Eagles with Kevin Kolb at quarterback would play the 4-2 Titans with Kerry Collins at Quarterback. And while the game was probably expected to be close, it wasn't as Kerry Collins threw for almost 300 yards and 3 touchdowns with Kenny Britt and 225 total yards. The game had actually been 30-19 at the very end, but then Kevin Kolb threw an interception return for a touchdown to Cortland Finnegan, which bumped up the score for the Titans. Honestly, I recollect that Pro Bowl Wide Receiver, DeSean Jackson didn't even play because of a concussion he suffered the previous week against the Titans. Regardless, all loses are tough, but that spelled the end of Kevin Kolb's chances to continue being the starter for the Eagles. 

Kenny Britt #18 catching pass against Nate Allen #29 in 2010

Then in 2018, the 2-1 Eagles went to the 2-1 Titans when Carson Wentz and Marcus Mariota were playing for the Eagles and Titans. The Eagles had held onto a 17-3 lead in the middle of the 3rd quarter until the Titans, led by Marcus Mariota would go on a tear, going up 20-17 right before the end of regulation after a touchdown rush by Mariota and then one to Tajae Sharpe. The Eagles, led by Carson Wentz would get Jake Elliott to kick a field goal to take it to overtime. Then in overtime the Eagles would get a field goal, but after a key 4th and long conversion where Corey Graham would allow a 19 yard completion to Taywan Taylor, Mariota would throw the game winner to Corey Davis and embarrass the Eagles off the field. So let us just say that while the Eagles have played better Titans teams in the past, they have greatly struggled against this franchise post movement to Tennessee. 

Corey Davis #84 catches pass over Avonte Maddox #29 in overtime 2018 win

With that said, though the Titans were seen by the NFL as being a bottom 5 team in football as they got destroyed by the Jets, whom many thought would be the worst team win football. The Eagles on the other hand had quite a few problems, biggest one being the strength and depth of their offensive line. After a horrific day against the Commanders, Landon Dickerson would be placed on injured reserve and he would be replaced by the Center Cam Jurgens and then Jurgens would be replaced by Drew Kendall, a guy that has played minimally at Center for the Eagles. The other major issues was with the Eagles defensive backfield as Safety, Andrew Makuba and Cornerback Cooper DeJean would be injured as well as Defensive Tackle, Jalen Carter would have a cast on his hand. Finally, the newly traded for defensive end for the Eagles, Jonathan Greenard would be out for the game with an injury he got during the summer. 

The game started with a bang where after the Titans went 3 and out, they punted to the Eagles and on the first play by the Eagles (a dive up the middle, of course) Saquon Barkley would sustain an arm stinger and would be out for the entire first half. In his place, the Eagles would install Tank Bigsby and Will Shipley. The two of them did just okay in the first half with Bigsby scoring the Eagles first points of the game during a drive where Bigsby ran for 7, 4, 4 again, 2, 9 and then 2 to get into the end zone. So while he wasn't necessarily gashing the Titans, he got the yards on that drive when it mattered and that honestly matters more than bulk of yards. 

Saquon Barkley #26 recording just 9 rushing yards after getting injured with a stinger on the 1st play

Jalen Hurts #1 was a tactical for most of his 1st drive

While Tank Bigsby definitely profited early, the Eagles as a team didn't. If you have ever seen the movie SAW 4 where the message of the film is to think before acting because Officer Rigg was a guy that didn't think before running into a crime scene because it might not have been safe. You would know that at the end of the movie, Officer Rigg has a chance to save his captured friend, Detective Eric Matthews had he not immediately ran into the warehouse room before the timer hit zeros. Sufficed to say, Detective Eric Matthews got decapitated by two giant ice blocks and Detective Rigg ends up getting shot and left in the warehouse room. Suffice to say, this is exactly how I felt after an amazing 64 yard drive to the Titans 8 was intercepted Amani Hooker and then returned all the way back to the Eagles 10. It was NOT a great way to end the first drive and then after 4 plays, Titans quarterback, Cam Ward would run a QB sneak to get the Titans to take the lead. 

Amani Hooker #37 picks off Jalen Hurts and returns the ball for 92 yards

Cam Ward #1 on his way to score his 1st rushing touchdown

Like said before, the Eagles would tie the game up, but they would also take the lead with their defense holding the Titans to 16 yards on their 3rd drive after two really bad Titans penalties, one being a holding call on a short run and the other being an unnecessary roughness call on Titans receiver Calvin Ridley to force the Titans to punt. The Eagles would finish the half on offense with an 81 yard drive where Jalen Hurts took control on a 16 yard deep pass to Devonta Smith, 2 intermediate passes to the newly acquired receiver, Dontayvion Wicks and then a 22 yard strike to Devonta Smith to put the Eagles up 14-7. And while there were a few Bigsby and Shipley runs mixed into there, it was great to see the Eagles operate out of a slow moving offense and capping it off with a touchdown to end the half for them. The Titans, however, wouldn't give up as they would spend the next minute 49 seconds getting the ball down the field thanks to an Elic Ayomanor 28 yard play and then a key screen to Tyjae Spears for a gain of 27. This would eventually set Joey Slye up for a 37 yard field goal that he would make to get the score to 14-10 at halftime. 

Tank Bigsby #8 scores 1st touchdown for the Eagles

Devonta Smith #6 with a big touchdown catch to put the Eagles up 14-7

For the first time in the last 25 some odd years, the Eagles had 3 drives in one half and every drive made it into the red zone. However, the 2nd half for both the offense and the defense was terrible. Let us start with the offense which started the half netting negative 13 yards thanks to an illegal formation penalty by Lane Johnson and then an 11 yard sack by Jacob Martin, which forced Braden Mann in to punt the ball for the first time in the entire game. The Eagles would get into Titans territory thanks to an 11 yard Saquon Barkley catch and they almost got a touchdown on a Jalen Hurts to Devonta Smith deep catch, but the one problem was that Smith landed out of bounds... The Eagles got points, but only a field goal by Jake Elliott to the tune of 58 yards. It is bad that the Eagles couldn't get a touchdown here, but good because Jake was able to not be "Smelliott". 

Saquon Barkely #26 catch on 3rd down

Jake Elliott #4 after kicking a 58 yard field goal

And now for the defense, which was formidable at the beginning of the third quarter became a shadow of themselves at the end of the quarter. It started with a 9 yard completion to Wan'Dale Robinson for a first down where he broke coverage and caught the ball next to the sideline, then a deep pass closer to the middle by Calvin Ridley for 25 yards to get the ball into Eagles territory. Finally, Cam Ward would hook up with Calvin Ridley once again for a 10 yard gain to get the ball into the Eagles red zone. The Eagles would get the Titans to 3rd and goal from the 1 where Cam Ward would playaction, roll out left and then barely get into the end zone for the game tying touchdown. He would get up and do the "mali" or the "Zombieland" or the "scuba" celebration. I don't know what exactly to call it, but it looks like the dumbest thing I have ever seen. Whenever I see it I think "what ever happened to dabbing"? You'd must faster see me plank than you would ever see me do the "mali". Regardless, it amped up Titans fans and players and gave them the confidence to succeed, so I guess it was good at something. 

Cam Ward scoring his second 4th quarter touchdown

Titans players doing the "Mali" or the "Scuba" or whatever this abomination is

Not much occurred at the beginning of the fourth quarter in terms of the Eagles or Titans doing anything. The Eagles would gain 2 yards on 3 plays and the Titans would gain 21 yards on 5 plays thanks to a Tony Pollard 18 yard run, but then the drive would stall out. The Eagles attempted to get something going on the ensuing drive where Hurts hooked up with Devonta Smith, then there was a 10 yard holding penalty on Johnny Mundt during a Hollywood Brown run. This would force a Darius Cooper 23 yard pass to get into Titans territory, which led to a 5 yard run loss to Makai Lemon on a pitch play that hasn't worked all season. We will get to my distaste for this kind of play later on in the recap. The final play of the drive included a play that actually was draw up fairly well, but was poorly executed. This happened when Titans All Pro Defensive Tackle, Jeffrey Simmons completely destroyed Cam Jurgens on a rush, got up in Jalen's face during his passing motion on a pass deep to Devonta Smith that probably should have been a touchdown... if it wasn't a duck thanks to a poor follow-through, that was intercepted by Marcus Harris to give the ball back to the Titans. 

#26 Marcus Harris interception from Jalen Hurts

The Titans would then push the ball down the field thanks to two 9 yard rushes by Tony Pollard, a massive over the middle pass to Elic Ayomanor, then the Titans would be backed up by a 10 yard penalty thanks to holding, then a 3 yard loss forced by Moro Ojomo, then an illegal formation penalty on the Titans, which the Eagles accepted for force 2nd down and then a 6 yard pass to Carnell Tate. Now you'd be thinking "great, the Eagles are going to likely force a punt", well... you'd be wrong as the greatest nightmare scenario took place where the entire defense allowed Tyjae Spears to run the ball down the left sideline for a 27 yard run where only the sideline could stop him. It was only thanks to Jalen Carter sacking Cam Ward and two throw away plays by the Titans offense did they bring old Joey Slye onto the field to kick a 33 yard field goal. The score was 20-17 and I had flashes to 8 years previous where seemingly the same thing happened. I was definitely thinking to myself "I did not have the Eagles losing to the Titans on my bingo card". 

Tyjae Spears #2 huge run on 3rd and long into the red zone

Joey Slye #6 kicking the go ahead field goal for the Titans

However, like Lloyd Christmas said in "Dumb and Dumber", so you're telling me there's a chance... the Eagles still had 1 minute and 56 seconds left and let me just say, they didn't waste a single one. What did Hurts do on 3rd and 6 at his own 39? He jetted a 20 yard pass to Dontayvion Wicks, then a 9 yard pass to Devonta Smith, then a 6 yard pass to Devonta Smith, some of these needing spectacular catches to complete. This is where I really had that Chargers game from last year on my mind where Jalen Hurts had numerous chances to win the game but kept throwing dumb interceptions and the game ended on a really bad interception. A controversial call happened next where Jeffrey Simmons held Jordan Mailata's helmet, had almost a free rush to Hurts, Jalen would run right, turn himself around, then toss the ball right to the line of scrimmage. Admittedly, I think the ball landed right ahead of the line, but it was so close that it was too close to call. Titans fans wanted intentional grounding, but they didn't get it. Likely because Jalen was out of the pocket and because the ball got very close to beyond the line. I can see the gripe, but officials are really bad at calling intentional grounding. 

Jalen Hurts under attack on the final drive

Jalen Hurts looking poised on the final drive

Footage of Jalen Hurts out of the pocket on "alleged" intentional grounding

Ball landing at the line of scrimmage on "alleged" intentional grounding

Jeffrey Simmons #98 holding Jordan Mailata's #68 facemask on "alleged" intentional grounding play

The previous play happened on first down, on second down, Jalen ran for a gain of 4 to the Titans 22 where Drew Brees exclaimed that Jalen has to dive head first to get the first down while a bunch of other defenders are actively trying to concuss him... Great advice Drew, great advice! Hurts would then throw a spectacular pass down the left sideline because he didn't listen to Brees' concussion worthy exclamation and then on the final play of the drive, the Eagles would line up with a tight end to the left and three receivers to the right, Devonte Smith would go on to trip (I don't know if this was planned) and the Titans were in a cover zero formation with Jeffrey Simmons for some reason dropping back with 14 seconds on the 3 yard line with 0 timeouts. Darius Cooper would run around the back side, Hurts would deliver a high, lollipop pass that would be completed in the back of the end zone where Cooper had to toe tap in. The Eagles scored and were up 24-20 with like 6 seconds left and after 2 plays, the Titans were unable to score and the Eagles had won their second game of the season. 

Drew Brees saying Jalen Hurts should slide head first

Devonta Smith #6 on a clutch 3rd down catch 

Right before the Darius Cooper go ahead touchdown

Jalen Hurts #1 throwing the football

Darius Cooper #80 secures the go ahead touchdown

Now I think if that was any other failing franchise I would have said "well... it is just the Titans and we almost lost", but since it was a team that the Eagles had not beaten in their city... EVER, I think it was a bit of a different story. Obviously the Titans aren't good with them being in the bottom 5 of teams this season, but there were quite a few players who showed off their skills in the game and were instrumental in the Eagles victory. The first one being Devonta Smith, a guy who caught 10 passes and totaled 117 yards on the game with 1 receiving touchdown and could have had a second at the beginning of the 3rd quarter. It seemed like he was always at the right place at the right time, totally killing it in the game and was hauling in passes all over the field, including on the sidelines and with the inclusion of spectacular passes. If Devonta Smith isn't in the game, the Eagles FOR SURE lose. The next player that the fans are claiming did well was Drew Kendall, who was taking the place of Cam Jurgens, who was pushed over. Many pointed towards his numerous good snaps, his composure against Jeffrey Simmons and was able to ensure that everything was organized on the Eagles final drive for a touchdown. Finally, I need to point out the works and talents of Quinyon Mitchell and Riq Woolen, who each allowed 2 receptions on 4 targets for 16 and 21 yards a piece with no touchdowns. 

Now that we have discussed the impact players of the week, I am going to go on to discuss the players who should have just stayed home. Including Cam Jurgens. I think like with Landon Dickerson, the 2024 season as well as the previous two seasons completely destroyed Cam's morale and durability and I think the tush push might be to blame. He isn't the same player. He is slow, he doesn't have the ability to defeat stunts and he just gets destroyed by almost every stunt against him. He is just very bad and I do not even think rest is going to fix him. It was almost like every time they showed him he was either falling to the ground or was like an invisible wall that a defender was moving through. This gave Jalen Hurts a host ton of trouble, which led to him taking 3 sacks on the game. The other player that probably could have stayed home was Saquon Barkley. Gone is 2024, a year where he went absolutely bazerk and put up over 2 thousand rushing yards and was the offensive player of the year. Gone are the days of an amazing offensive line, gone is his durability, and gone is the play calling of Kellen Moore. He had 1 rush for no gain and then left the entire half and ended the game with like 4 rushes for 9 yards. That isn't a pro bowl caliber running back, that is a guy on the decline. The final thing that never needs to show up again are the swing passes to Makai Lemon, which do not work. Not only because they are insanely telegraphed, but also because the receivers cannot hold blocks to help the rookie get a lot of yardage after the catch. It is a wasted play because since it first was used in week 1, it hasn't done anything. 

The final player that people are saying did poorly was Jihaad Campbell and a lot of that has to do with the fact that from 2024 to 2025, Nakobe Dean was so good. Thankfully he decided to bring his services to the Raiders and not the Cowboys, but in his place has left a hole in the defense, especially in places of stopping the run, which Tony Pollard completely gashed the Eagles in the 2nd half. Campbell just doesn't seem to be at the place that many Eagles fans thought. a former first round, SEC linebacker should be. Now he isn't as bad as Marcus Epps has been, but he also just wasn't that good on Sunday against the Titans despite leading the team in tackles. 

Jihaad Campbell #11 trailing Tony Pollard

Marcus Epps #39 getting hurdled over

The final thing I am going to do is rate Jalen Hurts and I will be honest, there are a few good things he did and a few bad things with a certain number of caveats. Firstly the fact that his 3rd down passing was off the charts. The Eagles are a team where on 1st down they are ranked 32nd in yards, on second down, they are 21st in yards and then on third down, they are 1st. It was Jalen Hurts who helped make the team convert on those key 3rd downs because they were usually long yardage needs and many quarterbacks cannot do that. The other truly positive thing was the final drive where there was less than 2 minutes left, there were no timeouts and the team had to go like 68 yards down the field. I'll be honest here, Jalen showed out. He had 1 really bad play on the drive and he never let the pressure get to him. Almost reminded me of a week 2 game by Michael Vick against the eventual Super Bowl Champion Ravens. This was a game where there was 4 minutes and 43 seconds left left and Vick was able to get the team down the field on the back of 371 passing yard performance with 1 passing touchdown and 2 interceptions and capped the game off with a 1 yard touchdown rush. That Eagles team would also extend to 2-0, but after injuries and poor play and coaching they would go to 4-12 by the end of the year. Suffice to say, I think Jalen showed poise and never gave up. 

Now to the poor aspects of the game for Jalen. Despite the fact that the first 3 drives made it into the Titans red zone, that doesn't mean it was all sunshine and rainbows. That interception on the first drive was absolutely inexcusable. I understand Devonta was being held a bit, but it was a pass into a very covered player that was intercepted into a 14 point swing. The Eagles were absolutely dominating at both sides of the ball up to that point and the fact that this gets rid of points outright helps the opponent win. I don't care which team you are, if you turn the ball over in the red zone, you will have a tough time winning the football game. The next aspect of Jalen's game I didn't like was his happy feet. I don't know if this will always be an issue for Jalen, but the guy leaves the pocket way too early. I don't know if he was pressing because of the guys that were starting in front of him or because he felt like he was under immense pressure, but there were numerous times where he bailed left or right when he still had time and he still had numerous step up lanes. In fact there was a play where the linebackers moved out into coverage, there were four linemen and he never had the inkling to run the ball. Those options are there, he is a dual threat quarterback, he can manipulate defenders with his legs. My thought is he is looking down field for someone to deal the ball to and the defenders are just getting to him far too early. This was happening during the majority of the 2nd half and he just didn't have a counter for what the defense was trying to do against him there. I get that Simmons was bearing down on him often, but you are faster than him, use that speed to your advantage. The 2nd interception by Hurts was just a good play, not only by Simmons, but also by Marcus Harris. 

However, a win is a win, it is true that you can't always blow out bad teams. It is definitely better to be 2-0 than 0-2 or even 1-1, but at the end of the day, all of the teams are kind of still feeling themselves. The Eagles have gone 2-0 many times and sometimes doesn't do anything when it comes to playoff or season success. You have to continue to improve and even start to right some of the negative aspects of the team. Glaring weak spots on this team are the offensive line, the poor running game, poor play by the safeties on the team and a lack of consistency by the offense. If these things aren't improved on then it could be a long season at a time where the Eagles could gain a lot of ground over the division.