The Eagles’ preseason opener in Baltimore turned into the kind of game nobody in Philadelphia wants to sit through twice. A 24-7 loss to the Ravens didn’t just expose a shaky night on offense - it made clear there’s plenty of work left for the depth chart from top to bottom.
There were a few bright spots on defense, including two turnovers forced, but that was about the extent of the good news. The rest of the night belonged to a sputtering offense that never found any rhythm, even with veteran quarterbacks trying to steer the ship.
Andy Dalton’s first stretch at quarterback was a grind. Philadelphia managed just 27 yards on its first three drives, and the offense never looked dangerous early.
Sean Mannion’s first outing as a play-caller also pointed in a clear direction: this group wants to throw. The Eagles passed six times and ran three times over the first three drives, and while that could shift once Saquon Barkley is in the mix, the early lean was obvious.
On the defensive line, Ty Robinson kept building on the momentum he’s carried from training camp. He posted a tackle for loss, a quarterback hit and a sack in the first quarter, a strong opening that backed up the buzz around him. Robinson, nicknamed the Vanilla Gorilla, looked disruptive from the jump.
Up front on offense, Willie Lampkin made his presence felt in a very different way. The center delivered a nasty block in the first quarter on a third-and-15 dump-off to Will Shipley, driving a Ravens defender about nine yards and throwing him to the ground another three yards in the air. He continues to look like a real force.
The secondary, though, had a rougher time. Kelee Ringo got beaten badly on a second-quarter touchdown when Ravens rookie wide receiver Ja'Kobi Lane found too much space and turned it into a 16-yard score. Ringo did grab an interception late in the second quarter in the back of the end zone, which at least kept the night from getting worse.
Mac McWilliams also had a tough first half. He was beaten repeatedly by Baltimore receivers, and the stat line told its own story: nine tackles and no pass deflections against a backup and third-string quarterback isn’t the kind of performance that jumps off the page for the right reasons.
The bigger issue was the backup offense as a whole. Philadelphia produced only 81 yards and two first downs in the first 30 minutes.
That’s a brutal return, especially with two veteran quarterbacks involved. The unit simply didn’t do enough to create any optimism.
Tank Bigsby’s usage was another eyebrow-raiser. He logged just two carries for five yards and had one target that wasn’t caught. For a player who averaged 5.9 yards per carry last season, the lack of touches stood out.
One of the few encouraging offensive notes came from Eli Stowers. He was flagged for a penalty on the first offensive play, but after that he settled in. Stowers caught all three of his targets for 12 yards and handled his blocking duties well enough to leave a better impression than he had in OTAs and the early part of camp.
Shaun Wade also made a case for himself in the secondary. The former UFL cornerback finished with four tackles, a pass deflection and a forced fumble in the third quarter that Philadelphia recovered. In a game where the Eagles’ defensive backfield had its share of problems, Wade gave himself a little room to stand out.
In the end, the score told the story. The defense had a few decent moments, but the offense was basically absent. For a team leaning on depth, that’s the part that has to be fixed fast.
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