Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Music City Magic

Posted September 20th, 2026 | No Comments »

The Eagles almost choked.

Almost is the key word there. The defense let the Titans drive down and kick a FG late in the game to go up 20-17. I think most of Eagles Nation was pretty miserable at that point. Then Jalen Hurts got the ball at the PHI 35 with 1:56 left. He drove the Eagles down the field for the winning TD, hitting Darius Cooper in the back of the end zone with nine seconds left. The Titans ran a couple of plays before time expired.

PHI 24
TEN 20

Boom. It wasn’t smooth or what we expected, but it was important for the Eagles to find a way to win. This season is off to a crazy start. No one is guaranteed anything. The Bears scored 59 points in their win last week. They scored 3 points today and lost. 2026 could be a wild season.

The Eagles should have won this game in easier fashion, but were too sloppy and let the Titans hang around. Then Tennessee drove down for the go-ahead FG and an ugly win looked like it might become a bad loss. Thankfully Hurts came to the rescue.

I have two big takeaways from this game. First, and most important, Jalen Hurts has taken his game to the next level. We’ve always heard that Hurts needs a good OL, star receivers, a strong run game and a good defense so that he can win. He’s got the Eagles off to a 2-0 start despite the OL and defense being wildly erratic. AJ Brown is up in Boston. And Saquon Barkley and Dallas Goedert missed most of today’s game. Hurts has been the Eagles best player so far this season. He’s the primary reason they are 2-0.

My other big takeaway is that DeVonta Smith is ready to be WR1. He went 10-117-1 vs the Titans and made several outstanding catches. This is absolutely a guy you can build a passing game around.

Hurts and Smith getting off to a strong start is a great sign. I tend to think the defense and run game will get to their expected levels as the season goes along. The passing attack was a question. I now feel comfortable with that. There will be some ups and downs as there are with all players, but you see Hurts and Smith playing like the stars they are.

I wish I could keep rattling off positives. The Eagles had a lot of issues in this game. The defense didn’t tackle well (mostly in the second half) and that let the Titans move the ball. When they had Tennessee in 3rd & 22 and gave up a first down on a draw play my head almost exploded. That was awful. The pass rush disappeared more than it should have. The defense gave up 122 yards on the ground (and 4.2 ypc). Way too leaky.

The OL had a new look, with Drew Kendall at C and Cam Jurgens at LG. The line once again had some struggles. Blitzes and stunts gave them fits. This is something the Eagles must clean up for the offense to succeed. There were also too many penalties.

As good as Hurts was, he did throw 2 INTs, with both costing the Eagles points. Give the DBs credit on both for making good plays. The first INT was frustrating because it didn’t seem like DeVonta was open and Hurts forced the ball his way. The DB jumped it and returned the pick 92 yards to set up a short TD drive. The other pick was an underthrow to a wide open DeVonta. Jurgens didn’t block Simmons and the DT hit Hurts as he released the pass. A potential TD became a turnover. Ugh.

I thought Sean Mannion took a big step forward this week. The Eagles gained 341 yards and had 23 first downs (only had 10 last week). There are still things to work on, like getting rid of the passes to Makai Lemon behind the line of scrimmage. But overall Mannion did a good job. The run game was more creative. We saw Hollywood Brown on a couple of end around plays. And Mannion made a nice adjustment on the winning TD.

It was great to see Cooper make a couple of plays. He finished 2-26-1. Dontayvion Wicks was 5-74 and came up big on 3rd and 4th downs. Tank Bigsby and Will Shipley combined for 24 touches with Barkley missing time due to a stinger. Jake Elliott nailed a 58-yard FG. It was good to see him convert from that distance. Nolan Smith played well. Jalen Carter had a key sack late in the game to help cause the Titans to settle for a FG.

There is still a lot of work to be done. The coaches have issues to identify and fix. The players need to make key improvements. Thankfully they can do this while sitting at 2-0. The Texans and Chargers have lots of problems to fix and they are both 0-2. Hopefully the injuries to Barkley and Goedert aren’t anything too serious.

*****

The Titans talked a lot of trash before and during the game. DT Jeffery Simmons was taunting Eagles fans are Tennessee went up 20-17.

Don’t poke the bear Jeffery. Not smart.

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