Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Game Review – CAR 25, PHI 14

Posted October 22nd, 2026 | No Comments »

Great game. LeBron had a strong overall showing. Jaylen Brown had some key moments. The Sixers had 24 fast break points, showing they want to run whenever possible. I was most surprised by how well they played defense. That was the biggest question coming into the season. Could they defend? Would they defend? After Game 1…yes.

Oh wait, this is supposed to be the Eagles game review. I guess I wanted something fun to write about and got confused. Please forgive me.

The Eagles played hard. They competed. But they made key mistakes at critical moments and that really proved to be the difference in the game. The Eagles were backed up at their own 12. Braden Mann, who has had a terrific season, got off a 23-yard punt. Carolina then had a short 35-yard TD drive. In the second half the Eagles cut the score to 19-14. The defense then forced a 3 & out. The offense got the ball back at midfield. Jake Majors had his only bad snap of the game and that led to a 12-yard loss. That killed the drive. The ensuing punt was blocked and only went 9 yards. Carolina scored another TD on a short field to go up 25-14. Game over.

This team simply isn’t good enough to overcome big mistakes. They must play cleaner football if they hope to get this thing turned around.

COACHING

Nick Sirianni had the team ready to play from an energy and effort standpoint. He just forgot to have them wear their thinking caps and that led to way too much sloppy football. There weren’t many key strategic decisions to be made in the game.

Sean Mannion came out throwing. I thought that was an okay strategy to try to fool the Panthers. But he was too pass happy. The Panthers blitzed aggressively and made Tanner McKee uncomfortable. The passing offense struggled. The run game got off to a good start when they gave it a shot, but then it got shut down. Mannion has not had good answers when things go bad.

Vic Fangio mixed in blitzes effectively. While Carolina had 399 yards and 25 points, 2 of their 3 TDs came on short fields. They only had one drive go more than 48 yards. Bryce Young had his lowest yardage and completion percentage of the season. Carolina had most of their yards in the second half when the defense wore down. The Eagles had no answers for TE Tommy Tremble as a blocker or receiver. The run defense held Chuba Hubbard to 8-24 in the first half. He was 20-96-1 after halftime. He ran hard and broke multiple tackles as the game wore on.

Michael Clay’s unit had a bad game. Poor kicking, blocking, and coverage let the Panthers win the field position battle. Four drives started at the 13-yard line or worse. Two drives started at the 20 and two more at the 22. You don’t want your starting QB having to go a long way that much, let alone the backup QB.

OFFENSE

QB

With Jalen Hurts out, Tanner McKee made his first start. He was up and down. He went 26-45-215 with a TD. The highlight throw was his TD to DeVonta Smith.

McKee had some good moments, but must play better for the offense to improve. He needs better protection to help him out, but there were times when he wasted a clean pocket with a bad decision or a bad throw. He forced the ball at times. He threw to the right side too much. McKee said after the game that he needs to communicate better. He looked most comfortable out of the shotgun. I’ll be curious to see if they go to more of that the rest of the season. I do give him credit for not turning the ball over.  Read the rest of this entry »

Another Hurts Update

Posted October 21st, 2026 | No Comments »

Can we officially call this Clotgate? It feels like we have reached that kind of level with all the finger pointing and agendas at play right now. Some of this is warranted, some is way over the top.

Tom Pelissero got the ball rolling with his report that Jalen Hurts was up for 36 hours before starting in London. That made everyone, me included, go a bit nuts. Pelissero has since said that was due to miscommunication. Hurts did get some sleep at the hotel and at the stadium. He didn’t have a normal night by any stretch, but it was nothing over the top. It wasn’t wrong to play him from that standpoint.

What about the clot? At the time it was a superficial clot and medical people told Pelissero that playing with that isn’t a dangerous or overly risky move. I think that is why the NFL said they had no issues with how the situation was handled. The NFLPA has come out and said they think an investigation is warranted.

To a certain extent, it feels like people really want to play the blame game. They want someone to be mad at. I understand the thinking. I would just question who is the victim. You would say Hurts, but he and his agent have been working with the team on messaging. There doesn’t seem to be ill will between the parties.

Hurts reported the issue. They did a scan and identified the superficial clot. They determined it was safe to play.

He played.

Hurts then was at practice on Wednesday. He got a follow-up scan that day and that is when they saw clots in the lungs. That changed everything. He went on blood thinners and was put on IR. The messaging about IR was confusing. I’m guessing both parties were trying to see if there were any other options. Hurts does not like to miss games. Blood thinners require a 3-month regimen so he’s effectively out for the year.

Maybe I’m being naive and something nefarious went on, but I can’t figure out what it would be. Some might want to blame the Eagles medical staff for being negligent. The initial scan didn’t show anything beyond the superficial clot so there was no need for blood thinners or anything serious. Once the second scan showed the clots moving, the team changed the tone on handling the situation. It went from a gameday matter to a real medical issue.

The Nick Sirianni press conference wasn’t ideal. The Eagles certainly could have handled that better. The right messaging can make situations like this so much less messy. Let’s hope they learn from this.

I have no issue with the league doing an investigation. I have no problem with the media asking tough questions. This is a complex, bizarre story about the team’s star QB. I just hope people are better informed. The sleepless angle no longer exists. That is a real game-changer. We have a better idea of the timeline so everyone can understand how things went down. If new info emerges we’ll adjust the story and our conclusions.

Hopefully this situation will settle down so we can get back to talking about the Eagles as a football team. On second thought…

*****

Here are some videos. Understand that the team has connections with the reporters so we’re getting a slant on things. But we aren’t hearing a counter to the reports, just questions from fans and some media.

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