Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Eagles Notebook – Nick the Bum

Posted July 27th, 2026 | 1 Comment »

Nick Sirianni feels unique. You have great offensive-minded coaches like Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan. There are defensive gurus like Mike Macdonald and DeMeco Ryans. There aren’t many coaches who are the CEO and focus on other stuff.

I stumbled across this video on Bum Phillips the other day. It goes back to 1975, but a lot of what Bum said reminded me of Sirianni.

Bum turned the Oilers into consistent winners, but they never were able to win it all. They couldn’t get by the Steelers and Raiders between 1978-1980 (those teams won the Super Bowl). They got good at the wrong time and couldn’t get by great teams. Bum was a defensive guru. He was one of the guys who brought the 3-4 to the NFL so he was an important part of NFL history. You usually expect defensive guys to be tough, driven coaches. Bum took a different approach and it worked well for him. It is interesting that 50 years later Sirianni has some of the same ideas and they work well with this generation of players.

The difference with Sirianni is that he had enough talent to work with to get to the big game twice and win it once. You don’t win on just talent or just scheme or just philosophy. You need the right combination of ingredients. And good timing doesn’t hurt.

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DeVonta Smith is poised to have a big year for the Eagles. He’s been really good over the first five years of his career, averaging 82-1067-7. And that was sharing the ball with a workhorse like AJ Brown. Smitty should be a star this season. We know he can get the job done on deep balls.

It should be fun to see Smith handle the role of featured receiver. He did that in college and won the Heisman Trophy. He can be a star.

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Yahoo has the Eagles ranked as the #9 team heading into the season.

At this time last year, the Eagles looked like a potential dynasty. The roster was as deep and talented as any in recent memory. While last season wasn’t what Philadelphia wanted, 11 wins and a division title isn’t a bad floor. Drama is just part of the Eagles’ everyday existence, even when they’re the best team in the NFL. Last season’s noise doesn’t mean the Eagles can’t bounce right back with a better offensive scheme. Any team with Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, DeVonta Smith, Jordan Mailata, Lane Johnson, Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Jonathan Greenard, Zack Baun, Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean and some others can be the best team in the NFL.

The Eagles had the second-youngest roster in the NFL last season so it’s not like they should be declining. It’s possible that Hurts finds that being under center, using the cheat code of motion and play action more often, leads to a career year. Smith might explode now that he doesn’t have to share targets with A.J. Brown. The defense can be among the NFL’s best, as it was two seasons ago. Carter might be a dark horse NFL Defensive Player of the Year candidate. Let’s not forget how good the Eagles were two seasons ago. They can reach that height again.

The write-up had some odd comments, but was solid overall. And having the Eagles ninth is reasonable.

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This is a great pic.

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Jimmy Bama posted a piece on the 30 things he’ll be watching at Eagles Training Camp. I thought this was interesting.

9) Are we sleeping on Hollywood Brown as a significant contributor?

Like Wicks above, we published a film review of Brown’s game.

Brown ran a 4.27 40 time at his pro day in 2019, and is a player known for his speed, however, he has averaged just 11.6 yards per catch over his career. Still, the Eagles view him as a down-the-field threat.

After watching all of his targets in 2025, I concluded that Brown’s average yards per catch were affected by a Chiefs offense that has become increasingly dink and dunk over the last few years, as opposing defenses have sought to keep everything underneath and make them drive the field. Brown made a lot of catches immediately after the snap near the line of scrimmage, which obviously hurt those numbers. It certainly didn’t help when the Chiefs lost Patrick Mahomes with a torn ACL at the end of their miserable season, and Brown was trying to catch passes from Gardner Minshew, Chris Oladokun, and Shane Buechele.

But Brown did also have seven receptions of 20+ yards and three receptions of 40+ yards. So I don’t necessarily believe the Eagles are wrong to view him as a deep threat, despite his unimpressive yards per catch average.

I should note here that I did not watch his targets in prior seasons, so I can’t speak on his relatively low yards per target averages with other teams.

It does make sense that offenses tried to get the ball in Brown’s hands quickly after the snap. He isn’t going to break many tackles, but one thing that showed up consistently on his tape is the ability to make the first guy miss immediately after he makes a catch, even when he doesn’t get much separation. He is also a sideline toe-tap master with reliable hands.

In the past the Eagles have taken fliers on sub-4.3 speed guys like Parris Campbell and John Ross. However, unlike those guys, Brown is a legitimate NFL wide receiver, and his speed really showed up during spring practices. He might be getting slept on a bit, in my opinion.

We have really focused on Smith, Makai Lemon and Dontayvion Wicks at WR. It is possible we’re overlooking Brown and he could be more of a key contributor than expected. I know people have real concerns about the loss of AJ Brown, but I am impressed with the overall group of receivers and their fit in the new offense. I’m cautiously optimistic about this group.

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Did you know Terry Bradshaw did some punting when he first got to the NFL?

The Eagles tackling in that video is awful.

The uniforms are interesting.

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This is…unusual.

Will be interesting when we find out the details. Not ideal to lose a position coach on the eve of TC.

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Let’s Talk About Donovan

Posted July 26th, 2026 | Comments Off on Let’s Talk About Donovan

Jalen Hurts has a good chance to go down as the best QB in Eagles history. His career numbers are about halfway to Donovan McNabb’s numbers, but Hurts is only 27 (about to be 28 in August). He can either catch McNabb or come close if he stays in Philly long enough. Hurts does have the advantage of two Super Bowl appearances and one ring. Plus he played at a high level in those games.

As of now McNabb is the best QB in team history. Ron Jaworski had a good run and got the team to its first SB. Randall Cunningham is the most dynamic QB in team history. He finished second in MVP voting in 1988 and 1990. He gave us a lifetime of memories, but struggled in the postseason. Norm Van Brocklin was only in Philly for three seasons, but his teammates swear he is the main reason they won the NFL Championship in 1960. They speak about him with reverence. McNabb had individual and team success. He also did it over the course of a decade.

I made a joke about McNabb on Twitter that got some mixed reactions.

Some people took this as a major insult to McNabb. It was just a joke. I saw McNabb’s first career start in college, when he led Syracuse to an upset win over North Carolina in September of 1995. I followed his college career after that and was happy when the Eagles picked him. I’ve been a fan of his for a long time. A realistic fan, but still a fan. I don’t see any harm in cracking a joke about an Eagles player or players.

Some people made the case that McNabb should be in the Hall of Fame. I disagree. He is close, but I’m a believer that only the very best players belong in Canton. McNabb had a couple of great seasons, but didn’t sustain that level of play. He needed another few years of greatness or better overall numbers. I do agree he’s worth a HOF discussion and he certainly had an impressive career. I just don’t think it was special.

Some people asked how I know McNabb would play well in the third place games. Seriously? Again, it was just a joke. I had just read the section in Les Bowen’s book on the Eagles going to four straight NFC title games. Their postseason success and failures were fresh in my mind.

McNabb’s best season was 2000, when he was All-Pro and finished second in MVP voting. He threw for 3365 yards and 21 TDs. He ran for a career high 629 yards and 6 TDs. He averaged 5.4 yards per carry. That team had limited weapons, especially since Duce Staley only played in five games. McNabb had to carry the offense by himself. And he helped that team finish 12th in scoring. They won 11 games. McNabb was a true dual-threat QB who did whatever it took to move the chains and win the game. He might have put up better numbers at other times, but seeing him carry the team made you appreciate just how good he could be.

Donovan didn’t have to carry the load in 2001. He had Staley and Correll Buckhalter as his RBs and they combined for almost 1200 yards. His receivers, James Thrash and Todd Pinkston, were an upgrade and they combined for 12 TD catches. McNabb threw fewer passes than in 2000, but his TD total went up to 25 and his QB rating was higher for the third year in a row.

2002 saw McNabb take another step forward, but he also got hurt for the first time, missing the final six games of the regular season. He did make it back for the playoffs. You may recall a disastrous pass that Ronde Barber turned into an all-time pick-six. That was the first real disappointing moment for McNabb. He got hurt early in 2003 and struggled in a big way. Fans started to question him. It probably didn’t help that Andy Reid didn’t adjust the offense quickly enough or talk much about the injury. The offense picked up at midseason and helped the team go 12-4. Brian Westbrook got hurt in the finale and missed the playoffs. The Eagles scored just three points in a disappointing NFC title game loss to the Panthers.

Things really changed in 2004. The addition of Terrell Owens brought out the best in McNabb. He started 15 games, going 13-2. He threw 31 TDs and had a QB rating of 104.7, both career highs. The Eagles proved to be a juggernaut and finally broke through and made it to the Super Bowl. Life was good. Kind of. McNabb threw 3 TDs, but also 3 INTs in the biggest game of his career. He got some flak after the game for being exhausted late in the game as the Eagles were trying to come back.

That storyline really blew up in 2005 when TO started making comments about McNabb to the media. TO wanted a new contract, but the Eagles didn’t want to pay him more. He chose McNabb as a target and criticized him publicly. Because TO was such a star and had such a powerful personality, he ended up splitting the locker room. The Eagles had been McNabb’s team since 1999. Now there was competition. Things were never the same for McNabb after this.

Injuries limited him to 9 games in 2005, 10 in 2006, and 14 in 2007. Fans got excited by seeing Jeff Garcia and AJ Feeley start in his place for a couple of those years. McNabb didn’t love that, or seeing the team have some success without him.

McNabb led the Eagles back to the NFC Championship in 2008 and almost got them back to the SB. The season had some ups and downs, but he threw for a career high 3916 yards and mostly played well. 2009 was McNabb’s final season in Philly. He played pretty well, but the Eagles were shut out by Dallas in the regular season finale and then got blown out the next week by the Cowboys in the wild card game. That proved to be an ugly ending to an outstanding decade for McNabb and the Eagles.

The highs were high, but the lows can’t be ignored. Some will point out that McNabb didn’t have ideal weapons on a consistent basis, and that is true. But Hall of Fame players should be able to elevate the guys around them. Tom Brady made Troy Brown, Julian Edelman, Wes Welker, Deion Branch, David Patten and David Givens highly productive receivers. Drew Brees got great production from Marques Colston, Lance Moore, Kenny Stills and Willie Snead. Not exactly household names coming out of college. Brett Favre lost an elite WR in Sterling Sharpe after the 1994 season. Favre’s numbers actually went up over the next three years. McNabb just isn’t on the same level as those guys. There is a difference between very good and great.

McNabb did have a terrific career and he accomplished a lot in his time with the Eagles. He should absolutely be celebrated as a franchise icon. He wasn’t able to win the SB, but won a lot of games and gave us some great memories. Maybe some people don’t remember the Bubby Brister, Rodney Peete, Ty Detmer, Bobby Hoying and Koy Detmer years. Going through that gauntlet of mediocrity sure made me appreciate McNabb and the value of good QB play.

He was special at times. It probably hurts him that he followed Randall Cunningham and had Michael Vick come after him. Cunningham had some signature moments. Vick had the insane showing against Washington. It feels like McNabb sometimes gets lost in the shuffle.

I think McNabb’s Philly legacy suffers from his personality not being a great fit for the gritty city. McNabb is a happy go lucky type of guy. Philly tends to love grinders or big personalities. McNabb wasn’t either of those. It also doesn’t feel like he’s had much of a presence. You see some former players all over the media. McNabb might enjoy being out of the spotlight.

I hope over time people will start to embrace McNabb more and celebrate his career. He is an Eagles legend.

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