Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Tanking

Posted September 8th, 2025 | 3 Comments »

Howie Roseman stays busy. He is constantly making moves to improve the roster and the practice squad as well. You could wonder if he is tinkering too much, but there is usually good logic behind his moves.

Will Shipley injured his ribs in the opener and only ended up with five snaps. The Eagles wanted him on the field more than that so the injury was a legit issue. The team is leaking to the media that this trade isn’t about Shipley’s health. They like Bigsby as a RB and KOR. With the new rules, KOR becomes a more important position than in recent years. Bigsby averages 28.5 yards per KOR for his career.

Bigsby ran for 766 yards and 7 TDs in 2023. He averaged 4.6 yards per carry. He is a N-S runner with good burst and power. He runs behind his pads and will break arm tackles. There are times when he will make impressive cuts and catch the defense off guard.

These clips are from previous years, but Bigby just turned 24 so he’s still that player. The Eagles now have a really good RB room. Saquon Barkley is arguably the best RB in the league. Shipley looked good on Thursday before getting hurt, going 3-26 and setting up the first TD. AJ Dillon had a good run in the game and finished 3-10. Bigsby gives them a young RB with experience and good natural talent to add to the mix. It is possible the team could cut Dillon and add him to the PS. Or maybe Shipley has to go to IR for a few weeks. We’ll see wwhat they do in terms of moves.

The one thing I take away from this move is that the Eagles are committed to being a running team. If there was any question of whether they might shift to more of a passing attack, this trade would tell you no. That formula led them to a Super Bowl last year so I have no problem with them sticking with it. The offense bogged down in the second half, but the team still finished with 158 rushing yards and 3 TDs. You’re going to win a lot of games with numbers like that.

*****

Did I mention that Howie stayed busy?

With BVS gone for the season, Johnson to the roster makes sense. He is a good STer and adds depth on defense.

You might wonder why so many guys are coming and going from the PS. Can’t the Eagles make up their minds? This is likely a way to keep getting guys paid and keep them around the team. Don’t just choose 16 guys and leave them there the whole season. Move guys in and out so that you have 20+ players involved. You can work on developing them for later this year or the future, which is more likely.

*****

Did I mention that Howie stayed busy?

Don’t read anything into this. The pro personnel department is simply checking on available free agents in the case that someone gets injured and the Eagles need to add a veteran with some experience.

You constantly want to update your scouting reports with the latest info. We don’t want anyone to get hurt, but if they do you want the Eagles to have a good plan in place. You make those plans before something bad happens.

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Running Is Good

Posted September 7th, 2025 | 3 Comments »

One of the things that makes Jalen Hurts such a challenging discussion is that he’s an unusual quarterback. He’s not a pocket passer who is going to put up gaudy numbers week in and week out. Hurts isn’t special physically like Josh Allen or Justin Herbert. He hasn’t developed into an elite QB like Lamar Jackson or Patrick Mahomes.

But…Hurts is a good passer. He is a good runner. He is a good leader. Most importantly, he’s a winner, with two trips to the Super Bowl and SB win.

The thing that makes Hurts special is that he does whatever it takes to win. He doesn’t care about stats. He doesn’t care about style points. Hurts just wants to win. Plenty of QBs will say that, but you really see it with Hurts. Let’s take a look at his performance from Thursday night.

Passing  19-23-152…no TDs or turnovers…one sack
Rushing  14-62-2

Those are not great numbers. Nothing special there. But let’s look inside of them.

Hurts threw a ton of short passes. Dallas played zone for the vast majority of the night. They were mainly a man coverage team last year so this was a big change. Hurts didn’t force the ball down the field. He fed the ball to his TEs and RBs (12 catches). That kept the chains moving. There was one chunk play to Jahan Dotson. The rest of the night was short stuff.

Hurts killed Dallas with his legs. He didn’t post big numbers, but they were key plays. He ran for 2 TDs and converted multiple third downs.

Some people still like to act like a QB running is a gimmick. I do agree that QB runs are a bit random so that makes them tough to factor in when evaluating a QB, but Hurts has put up pretty consistent numbers. Over the previous four seasons he has posted these numbers.

2021 – 784 yards, 10 TDs
2022 – 760 yards, 13 TDs
2023 – 605 yards, 15 TDs
2024 – 630 yards, 14 TDs

His rushing yards have gone down as he’s become a more skilled passer. Still, the numbers are fairly consistent. This is a regular part of his game. It isn’t a crutch because he can’t pass. Hurts uses his legs as a way to move the chains and make plays. Think about his performance in the Super Bowl. Hurts threw for 221 yards and 2 TDs. He also ran for 72 yards, many of them in the third quarter. It was killing the Chiefs defense to see him go flying up the field. That can be very demoralizing to defenders.

Hurts critics and doubters can pick apart his numbers and denegrate his style of play. But they can’t argue with the results. He’s led the Eagles to 2 SBs in 3 years. He out-played Patrick Mahomes both times. He would have won both if the Eagles defense could have made just one stop back in SB LVII. Hurts had to settle for winning last year, and being the MVP.

*****

A few thoughts from around the league.

WAS beat the Giants 21-6. The Giants stunk. The OL struggled in a big way. Russell Wilson was bad. The back seven on defense didn’t do much. As bad as they were, the game was 14-6 in the fourth quarter. The Commanders were a bit rusty themselves.

So true. The Colts won 33-8. They are the first team since at least 1977 to score on every possession. Miami was equally awful on offense and defense. Unless Mike McDaniel gets some stuff figured out in a hurry, he’s gone at the end of the year.

Green Bay was terrific in their win over the Lions. The Packers fans loved seeing Micah Parsons key a disruptive pass rush. The Lions struggled on offense in a way we’re not used to seeing. They finished with 246 yards and 13 points. The rookies on their OL were a problem. They need those guys to grow up in a hurry.

The Niners won in Seattle, but they had a bunch of guys get banged up. SF fans have to be nervous to see this stuff in the season opener. Will those guys hold up over the course of a full season?

Darius Slay beaten for a 34-yard TD on that play. I don’t say this to rip Slay. He was a terrific Eagle and fun guy to cheer for. He is 34 and could take a step back this year. Is he better than Adoree Jackson? Of course. He’s also more expensive. We’ll see if Vic Fangio can figure out the corner spot. I’m still re-watching the game.

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