Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Bye Time

Posted November 13th, 2026 | No Comments »

In most years the Eagles bye week is kind of frustrating. You’re in the middle of the football season. You want to see the team play. This year they bye week is a welcome sight for anyone involved with the Eagles – player, coach media me-ember, fan. Think about it. The Sixers are the competent, professional looking sports organization in the city right now. How often do you say that? Instead of the legendary E-A-G-L-E-S chant it feels like we should go with P-T-S-D this year. This season has been less enjoyable than a Jimmy Bama swimsuit calendar.

The bye week is good for the mental health of the fans, at least those who don’t love 3 & outs and missed blocking assignments. The bye week can have a lot of value for the coaches and players because they can focus on identifying problems and possible solutions.

Nick Sirianni assigned projects to his coaches. They were to research specific situations and then do a presentation to the whole staff about what went right and wrong in their specific area. The goal is to build on the things the team is doing well and then fix the areas where they are struggling. Sirianni and his coaches have mentioned that self scouting is a continuous process, but there are time limits in most weeks. You can only spend so much time looking back if you have an opponent to prepare for. The bye week is a chance for all the attention to be focused on the Eagles.

And that can make a difference. Penn State started 3-0 and then lost their first four Big Ten games to fall to 3-4. They averaged 18.5 points in those losses. Then came the bye week. The coaches made some adjustments to the run game, both in terms of scheme and personnel. The coaches also made some adjustments to the passing game. The team went 2-0 coming off the bye, with the offense averaging 29.5 points and 221 rushing yards in those games. Penn State looks like a different team.

College and pro football are very different worlds, but we can look back at the 2024 Eagles to see the bye week making a huge difference in a season. That team went from 2-2 to Super Bowl champs. We aren’t going to see anything like that this time around, but finding some solutions can still have value this season.

The goal is to develop young talent and figure out what you have moving forward. Jonathan Greenard played well last week. You want to see more of that from him over the final eight games so you feel good about his role in 2027. Makai Lemon had 6 catches last week. He also had a pair of costly drops. You want Lemon to learn from the mistakes so that he makes the catches next year, when hopefully wins and losses are more important.

The biggest goal in the bye week should be fixing the OL and pass protection. It is impossible to fairly evaluate the QBs playing in a situation where they regularly have rushers coming free at them. Give the QBs better protection and you can get a better feel for what they can truly do. That will help you to get a better feel for the TEs and WRs as well. It would also help to figure out which of the OL should be looked at as future starters. There are times now when it is tough to discern mental mistakes vs physical ability.

You want to see the team play better down the stretch. You want to see growth. As disappointing as Sunday’s loss was, it was good to see the defense play their best game of the year.  The scheme still works. The players can still execute it. You saw Jeremiah Trotter Jr play the best game of his young career. The DL controlled the game for the first time all season, making plays up the middle and off the edge. You came away from that game feeling encouraged by the defense.

Can the players and coaches come up with some solutions that will allow the offense to play better? That’s really the key question. It will play a huge part in the future of the franchise. Does Sirianni return in 2027? Does Sean Mannion? Chris Kuper? If these guys can’t come up with some answers now that makes you seriously question if they would have them next year.

It is important to understand that no one expects the team to go on a 5-game winning streak or anything like that. Winning some games is important, but simply playing better football and looking like a well-coached team would be a huge step in the right direction. There are eight games left in the season. You have to make the most out of those games.

It will help the offense to get DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks back. It will help if Saquon Barkley is healthier since he had the week off. But personnel can only do so much. The coaches must come up with answers and find a way to get the most out of the players they do have to work with.

Those final eight games are eight opportunities for the players and coaches to show who deserves to be here in 2027.

*****

Some guys are already gone.

These guys were not going to be part of the future in Philly. Move on from them now and work in some other young players who could help in the future. Maybe John Ojukwu is the replacement OT. WRs Xavier Gipson and Erik Ezukanma are on the practice squad and could be promoted. Or the Eagles could poach players from other practice squads.

There are now four open roster spots. We’ll see what happens over the next few days.

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