The Eagles are five games into a season that has already gone off the rails in a few different ways, but nobody inside the building should be treating it like the end of the road just yet.
Yes, the start has been ugly. The offense looks disjointed.
The defense has slipped badly. The coaching has been rough enough that it has crossed into malpractice territory at times.
The vibes around the team have been bad, the kind of bad Philadelphia fans know too well. But even with all of that, the NFC East still leaves room for a team to drag itself back into the race.
Washington is a mess, the bottom is going to come out on Jameis Winston in New York, and the Dallas Cowboys have been the same 9-8 team since the Obama administration. Ten wins probably gets it done in the division, and the Eagles still have enough time to clean things up and make a push.
That said, the head coach is still the biggest problem.
Nick Sirianni’s case has been hanging in the balance for a while, and this season has only made it harder to defend him. He came in as the culture-and-preparation guy, but the Eagles have too often looked unready at the start of seasons, and the locker room feel has taken a real hit with the Lane Johnson exit.
Week after week, the offense seems to be fighting its own structure, with big plays showing up outside the design or after Jalen Hurts checks into something at the line. That’s not new, either.
It has been a theme for years. Unless Sirianni somehow gets this team to an NFC title appearance, it’s hard to see the case for keeping him.
Which creates a bigger organizational question around Howie Roseman.
There’s no real argument that Roseman is the best general manager in football. Even with the last two drafts still waiting to fully prove themselves, his track record since 2021 has been excellent overall.
But if the Eagles do move on from Sirianni, they’ll have to reckon with a reality that has followed Roseman for more than 15 years: he does not share power easily. Coaches who try to take control of the operation tend not to last around him, and that matters if Philadelphia wants to hire someone who can build a stable offensive environment.
The ideal offensive architect usually wants major input on the roster, and that’s where the tension lives. Roseman has had success with a coach he could manage.
The question is whether that setup will scare off the kind of candidate the Eagles may need next.
The roster itself is also entering a different phase.
A run of veteran pillars made the last few years work. Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, Lane Johnson, Jason Kelce, and Darius Slay are all gone now, and that means the next era has to take shape whether the team is ready or not.
The younger players are going to have to answer some real questions this season, and that group includes Jihaad Campbell, Makai Lemon, Andrew Mukuba, Markel Bell, Willie Lampkin, Eli Stowers, and Micah Morris. Some of them have shown flashes.
The issue now is consistency, and the only way to find that out is to keep putting them on the field. It may not always look smooth, but transition periods rarely do.
Roseman, though, appears to know exactly where this is headed.
Even if the Eagles are able to stay in the playoff picture this year, the roster reset is coming. The 2027 offseason looks like a major chance to reload, with seven picks in what should be a strong draft and another seven in 2028, including two first-rounders and two second-rounders.
Roseman is aware of what happened after the 2018 Super Bowl run, when weak drafting and aging roster pieces dragged the team down by 2020. This feels like him trying to avoid that mistake all over again.
We’ll see how far that planning takes them.
In Other News...
Jalen Hurts Health Just Became A Bigger Eagles Concern
Jalen Hurts has quietly become one of the biggest health questions hanging over the Eagles as they try to halt a three-game losing streak. The quarterback confirmed he is dealing with a calf injury, even as he has continued to show up as a full participant in recent practices and on the teams injury report, a reassuring sign on the surface for a team that badly needs stability under center.
Hurts has not offered much detail about how the issue started or what exactly led to it, leaving the timeline of the setback a little murky for now. For Philadelphia, the larger concern is simpler: with the season already under pressure, any uncertainty around Hurts adds another layer of urgency to the weeks ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Eagles Suddenly Have A Week 8 Spotlight Problem To Watch
The Eagles Week 8 trip to Washington has become more than just another NFC East game on the calendar. The matchup between Philadelphia and the Commanders is still set for Nov. 1 at 8:20 p.m. ET, but the NFL is weighing whether to keep it in the Sunday night window, a decision that will come by Oct. 20. For a league that usually reserves prime time for games with clear national appeal, two teams carrying losing records right now make this one worth watching for reasons beyond the standings.
Philadelphia also has a few moving parts of its own as the week unfolds, with four players opening practice windows as they work back from injury. Washington, meanwhile, is dealing with its own health concerns and a difficult stretch ahead, including a meeting with the San Francisco 49ers. So even before the league makes its call, this game already has the feel of a slot that could look very different by the time Halloween weekend arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Eagles Suddenly Have One Big Question Heading Into A Tense Week
The Eagles injury picture is starting to shift as the week unfolds, with several players opening practice windows and the team trying to sort through a crowded Week 6 report. Landon Dickerson and Eli Stowers are among the names back in the conversation, and Philadelphia is still carrying a long list of concerns after putting 24 players on the injury report, including notable absences like DeVonta Smith and Saquon Barkley.
Jalen Hurts also spoke publicly about his calf injury, adding another layer to a week that already has the Eagles juggling health and game management questions. Nick Sirianni, meanwhile, defended his clock decisions from the Week 5 loss to Jacksonville, keeping the focus on execution as Philadelphia tries to steady itself before the next kickoff. [Read more 🡒]