Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

A Work in Progress

Posted September 6th, 2025 | 2 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.

*****

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.

*****

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.

*****

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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Eagles Win A Bizarre Opener

Posted September 5th, 2025 | 2 Comments »

Spitting. Rain delays. Dropped passes. Dropped interceptions. AJ Brown doing his impression of the invisible man. This game had something for everyone. Rivalry games always make me nervous and this is exactly why. The Eagles were overly emotional in the first half and had some dumb moments. That gave Dallas an advantage and they made this a really tough game. The Eagles made just enough plays to win, 24-20.

It wasn’t smooth or pretty. Jalen Carter spit on Dak Prescott before the first play from scrimmage and was ejected. In case you were wondering, the Eagles defense isn’t nearly as good without its best player. They made Dallas look like the 1999 Rams. The Cowboys scored 20 points in the first half and didn’t punt until the fourth quarter.

Thankfully the Eagles offense showed up ready to roll. They scored 21 points in the first half, with Jalen Hurts showing his value as a dual-threat QB. Saquon Barkley made his share of plays. The Eagles added a FG in the third quarter and that was it for the scoring.

The Cowboys drove down inside the red zone, but Jihad Campbell knocked the ball away from Miles Sanders and Quinyon Mitchell scooped it up. That play really changed the game. The defense came alive after that. And the rain delay. There was an hour break as the NFL waited for severe thunderstorms to pass by. Neither offense showed up after the break.

Both defenses made good adjustments. And the offenses just seemed out of sync. They couldn’t get into a rhythm. CeeDee Lamb dropped multiple passes. The Eagles forgot how to block. Give the defenses credit, but the offenses didn’t help themselves.

Hurts ran for a first down late in the game and that sealed the win.

The season opener in Brazil last year was an odd game where the Eagles had to hold on for a close win. I wrote earlier tonight about how openers can be weird games, especially in an era when starters don’t play in the preseason. You just don’t know what you’re going to get.

The offense went from hot to not. Hurts played well. I thought he was calm and smart. He didn’t force the ball downfield. He was willing to throw underneath. AJ Brown had one catch and was only targeted that one time. There were multiple plays where Hurts took the snap and looked at AJ, but must not have liked the coverage so he moved on. This will get cleaned up. Hurts finished 19 for 23, the kind of efficiency he needed in this game. He ran for 62 yards and a pair of TDs.

The defense was bad in the first half. They were lucky to force a couple of FGs. Penalties were a big issue. The Eagles had 93 penalty yards at halftime, with most coming on defense. Not ideal. Adoree Jackson stunk. He played soft and Dak threw his way over and over. Vic Fangio mixed things up after halftime and had a bit more success, but they need to figure out a solution quickly.

Zack Baun had a terrific game. Jihad Campbell played really well. He might be a rookie, but he’s athletic and showed the ability to make plays vs the run or in coverage. Drew Mukuba did some good things. The pass rush was quiet for too much of the night, but did come alive in the fourth quarter. That was encouraging. Without Carter, Jordan Davis had to play more and he had a strong game. He just missed 2 sacks. Moro Ojomo had a great opportunity, but Dallas shut him down.

The Eagles were the better team on STs tonight. Jake Elliott nailed a 58-yard FG. Braden Mann averaged 49 yards per punt and put the ball out of bounds so Kevontae Turpin couldn’t have returns. Turpin was limited to 20.3 yards on KORs. Three Dallas drives started inside the 12-yard line. Field position helped the Eagles defense after the opening drive.

The coaches will study the tape and figure out what needs to be fixed. I think the first order of business is getting the players some rest. Several players got banged up. They will enjoy having a few extra days before the next game. Let’s hope Landon Dickerson’s back isn’t going to be an issue that lasts for a while.

I do think you can be encouraged that the Eagles showed mental and emotional toughness. They could have fallen apart after the ejection and some early struggles. The players kept battling and eventually took control of the game. They made the key plays that won the game. Nick Sirianni will be very happy about that. His guys found a way to win.

The Eagles have a lot to clean up. At the same time, remember that this is the second youngest team in the league. They showed a lot by fighting their way through strange circumstances and winning.

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