Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

A Work in Progress

Posted September 6th, 2025 | No Comments »

The Eagles were a pretty good team at the beginning of 2024. They were great by the end of the season. It takes time for a new group of players to go out and gel and then perform at a high level. The coaches have to make adjustments. The players have to improve. Howie and the front office have to see if there are any ways to upgrade the roster.

Smart move. The Eagles like their starters and backup Josh Uche, but the other backups did not play as well as hoped this summer. Smith is a proven pass rusher who can win off the edge or on the inside. You can think of him as 2025 Brandon Graham. He had 9 sacks last year and has 69 for his career. The Eagles waited to sign him because they didn’t want his contract guaranteed. When you add players after the first game, they are week-to-week. If Smith disappoints, he can be cut and it won’t cost the team much.

Well done, Howie. Smith can earn up to $8.25M with incentives. I’m sure the Eagles would love to pay him that much if he has significant impact. They didn’t have to trade for someone, but still found a capable vet who should fit what they want to do.

Smith was in Philly to sign his deal on Friday so this has probably been in the works for a few days. Don’t think of this as a panic move. The Eagles pass rush was disappointing against Dallas. Losing Jalen Carter for the whole game certainly hurt, but your pass rush shouldn’t depend on one guy. Smith makes them deeper and more versatile. And better.

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To make room for Smith, the team put Ben VanSumeren on IR. Tough break for the young man. The team loves his athletic ability and saw him as a FB/RB/STer. You hate to lose him, but I feel even worse for him. Who knows what his future holds.

The Eagles used Kylen Granson in his role in some plays last night. It is possible they could look around for another FB. AJ Dillon is a big RB, but he’s a runner and not a blocker. I don’t think they’ll put him at FB on a regular basis.

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As bad as the Eagles defense looked early, they ended up allowing 307 yards and 20 points, both respectable numbers. Vic Fangio made good adjustments as the game went along and his players started to make some plays. The defense took about a month to really come together last year so be patient, even with the CB situation.

Fangio is a great coach. It takes a bit of time to figure things out and then to fix the issues that you find.

You know Fangio has to be thrilled with what his saw from his rookie LB last night. This gives Fangio another weapon to be creative with has he figures out the best coverages and looks for this defense.

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I haven’t had a chance to re-watch the game. A few people who did commented on AJ Brown, saying he didn’t look right physically. If his hamstring was still an issue last night, that would go a long way to explaining how he only had one target and one catch.

The Eagles are lucky they opened on Thursday and now have extra rest before returning to practice. It will be important to get people healed up and ready to go for a game at KC. The Chiefs got embarrassed in the Super Bowl and then lost the season opener on Friday night. That will be a fired up team. The Eagles will need to be ready.

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