It’s become too easy to pin the Eagles’ collapse on one person, one unit, or one bad decision. Jalen Hurts gets blamed for how the offense has been built.
The offensive coordinator takes heat. Nick Sirianni gets dragged into it.
Howie Roseman is hearing it more and more. Vic Fangio is starting to absorb some of the frustration on defense, and Michael Clay’s special teams - with Jake Elliott’s field goal attempts and Braden Mann’s punts - keep putting the offense in ugly field position.
The reality, though, is that this has turned into a group failure. From Roseman all the way down to the position coaches, everybody has had a hand in it.
The Rams game felt like the turning point. The Eagles had control for most of it and still walked away with a loss that changed everything.
They led 20-10 with 7:26 left in the fourth quarter, then blew an 11-play, 62-yard drive that burned 6:45 off the clock after failing to score from the Rams’ two-yard line. Matthew Stafford then ripped off a 98-yard march in three and a half minutes to cut it to 20-17.
The Eagles followed that with a one-yard possession before punting, and the Rams answered with a 79-yard drive in less than two minutes to take a 24-20 lead.
That’s the moment this team felt broken beyond repair.
Up to that point, the Eagles had plenty of arguments swirling around them about who was responsible for the offense going sideways, but they were still winning enough to stay in the contender conversation. Hurts reportedly said this was the game where he suffered the calf injury, which became the start of the end of his season.
Still, he had the team in position to win, just like in London against the Jaguars. The problem was that Fangio’s defense couldn’t handle the Rams’ adjustments for half a quarter, and “Mannion’s” offense couldn’t get a first down when it mattered most.
One yard, then -15 yards on the next two possessions - it was hard to believe it actually happened.
The loss to the Giants at The Linc on Sunday, the first home defeat to New York since 2013, felt like the final blow to an era. The bigger question is which era is actually ending.
Is it the Hurts era? The Sirianni era?
Both? At this point, the two are tied together, and it’s going to be interesting to see which one Jeffrey Lurie and Howie Roseman choose to back first.
It’s easy to point at Sirianni because of the way he has deferred to Roseman, but Hurts has already shown how much his presence matters. Any real reset would require another full roster overhaul, and that’s the kind of thing people trust Roseman to handle because he’s done it before. The question is whether that approach can keep working.
After three Super Bowl appearances in seven years, the model has clearly produced results. But how long can it hold?
Is Hurts the franchise quarterback this team can’t afford to lose? No quarterback has looked good this season under Sirianni and Mannion’s offense.
Or is the issue the offensive line, which hasn’t been able to block anyone? Or the new offensive line coach, whose unit wasn’t very good in Minnesota last year and has carried that over here?
Looking at these games objectively, the line rarely gives the quarterback enough time to make plays.
Now the Eagles head into the bye week, and it feels like the season is already over in playoff terms. They’ll need major changes on offense, wins on the field, and help from other teams to keep any hope alive.
On a personal note, the writer says the usual routine of posting radio clips of good moments may have to change. After seven straight losses, the gimmick doesn’t fit anymore, and they haven’t posted an Eagles clip since the win at Tennessee. Maybe now it becomes a feed of anything entertaining Merrill Reese and Mike Quick say instead.
Would the Rams loss have led to the same slide anyway? Probably.
Three of the last four seasons have been full of doom and gloom, and the sense here is that change is overdue. The only thing left unresolved is what that change will actually be.
In Other News...
Eagles Mock Draft Signals A Bigger Reset Than Fans Expected
The Eagles have given themselves a lot more flexibility for the next few drafts after moving Jordan Davis to Jacksonville, and that kind of draft capital tends to change the way a team thinks about everything. A recent mock draft leaned into that reality, using Philadelphias current positions to map out a broader roster reset, with the usual blend of trade scenarios and best-player-available logic that comes when a front office suddenly has room to maneuver.
What makes the exercise more intriguing is how closely it ties the future of the roster to the bigger questions already hanging over the team. The projections are built around the idea that Philadelphia may need to address premium spots early and often, while also acknowledging the uncertainty around Jalen Hurts and the long-term shape of the offense. It is speculative by nature, but it does underscore how quickly the Eagles could be entering a new phase. [Read more 🡒]
Eagles Trade Partner Is Now Apologizing After Deadline Deal Fell Apart
The Bengals were looking for edge-rushing help after placing rookie Cashius Howell on injured reserve, and the deadline buzz briefly pointed them toward Philadelphia and Arnold Ebiketie. But the proposed deal never got over the finish line, leaving the Eagles with a trade partner that backed away once the full cost became clear.
Zac Taylor later apologized on behalf of Bengals executive Duke Tobin, saying the unexpected price tag was the reason the move fell apart and adding that Philadelphia had been a good trade partner. For the Eagles, it was a reminder that even when there is interest in moving a player, the final terms can shift quickly enough to stop a deadline deal in its tracks. [Read more 🡒]
Eagles Draft Picks Are Suddenly Playing For Much More Than This Season
The Eagles focus has shifted quickly from the immediate chase to a broader evaluation of what they have on hand, with recent moves involving Cam Jurgens and Jordan Davis and the likely season-ending injury to Jalen Hurts forcing the staff to look harder at the younger pieces. In that kind of stretch, players such as Makai Lemon, Eli Stowers, Markel Bell, Jihaad Campbell and Andrew Mukuba are not just filling snaps, they are getting a real chance to show how they fit into the future while the team sorts through a losing streak and uneven play on both sides of the ball.
Offensively, Sean Mannions group has had trouble finding consistency, and Vic Fangios defense has had its own ups and downs, which only raises the stakes for the recent draft classes now on the field. The Eagles are no longer just asking whether these players can help in the moment, but whether the reps they are getting now will change how the organization views their roles going forward. [Read more 🡒]