Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Game Preview – CAR at PHI

Posted October 17th, 2026 | No Comments »

Are you ready for the Tanner McKee era? He’ll start in place of Jalen Hurts on Sunday and we found out today the job will be his for a while. After considering the options…

Ugh.

The key here is Hurts health. Blood clots can be serious medical issues. If he needs a month (or more) to get healthy, so be it. Football is just a game. Your health is your health, as I’ve learned the hard way this year.

Let’s focus on McKee and the Eagles for now. We’ll talk more about Hurts when we have more info. McKee is getting a huge opportunity. He will get to start at least four games. That is huge for him since he’s a free agent after the season. He can show teams that he deserves to be a starter, is a top backup, or is just a guy. It is up to McKee to show what he can do.

The Eagles get a chance to see what the offense looks like with a different QB running it. Maybe the change will make a difference. McKee doesn’t have Hurts raw talent, but he might do some things better within the framework of the offense. Might is the key word there. McKee sure didn’t impress anyone this summer. He got to practice with the starters this week and will have a gameplan built around his skill set.

McKee won’t have all of his weapons to work with. DeVonta Smith returns, but Saquon Barkley is out (as well as Bigsby and Shipley). The RBs will be Dameon Pierce, Carson Steele, and the newly added Jaydon Blue. We don’t know for sure about Drew Kendall, but it looks like it will be:

Mailata – Lampkin – Kendall – Steen – Bell

If Kendall can’t go, Jake Majors will take his place. Landon Dickerson remains on IR.

No matter who plays up front, the Eagles need a good performance by them. Carolina has struggled to stop the run this year. They’ve gotten better each week, but are 31st in rush yards allowed. The Eagles would love to have a functional ground game to take some pressure off McKee. It would be interesting if the coaches went with the Case Keenum playbook and let the backup throw a bunch of passes. There is something to be said for doing what isn’t expected.

The Panthers defense is confusing. They shut down an explosive Lions run game, but gave up 406 passing yards in that game. They gave up 291 rushing yards in the season opener. They have allowed 59, 3, 26, and 21 points. They struggle on third downs and in the red zone. It feels like the Eagles will have some opportunities in this game. McKee has to play smart and his guys need to make plays for him.

Rookie Cole Payton will be the backup QB. The team signed Joe Milton to be the #3 QB. I wonder if they talked to Andy Dalton about coming back or preferred to go with a younger player with upside. Milton might have the strongest arm in the league. He played well for Dallas in the preseason.

The Eagles won’t have any chance in this game unless the defense shows up. Carolina is 4th in the league in points scored. QB Bryce Young has finally started to play up to his draft status. He leads the league in passing yards per game and has a QB rating of 100.0 this season. Young has a pair of outstanding receivers in Tet McMillan and Jalen Coker. They’ve combined for 44 catches and 4 TDs. TE Darren Waller gives them an athletic pass catcher who can work the middle of the field.

Chuba Hubbard is a good RB (5.0 ypc) so you can’t just focus on the pass. RT Taylor Moton returns from injury. The line has struggled with pass pro so getting him back is a big help. Young likes to throw downfield so the pass rush should have some chances to make plays.

Jonathan Greenard practiced on Friday and will test his ankle on Sunday. I’m guessing he’ll be able to play. The team needs him to play and be disruptive. Jalyx Hunt is out with his ankle injury. That means more reps for Arnold Ebiketie, who flashed last week. Jalen Carter is coming off his best game. It would be great to see him play like that for an extended period. With all the injuries, the Eagles need some of their top guys to come up big.

Zack Baun had a terrific showing in London. He can impact the game with his ability to both cover and blitz. Jeremiah Trotter Jr and Jihaad Campbell will split snaps at the other LB spot, assuming one of them isn’t ejected on the opening kickoff.

We aren’t sure what to expect at safety. Drew Mukuba will be one of the starters. Michael Carter started last week, but he’s out due to an abdomen injury. Marcus Epps returned to practice this week from his own injury. He could get his starting job back or Vic Fangio could decide to go with Kenny Moore, who played last week. Moore is better in coverage, but Epps is a veteran safety. There is an argument to be made for both.

The Eagles corners played well last week and will need another strong showing since they are going against good WRs. Riq Woolen vs McMillan could be fun since both are big, gifted athletes.

A good game from the STs unit would help the Eagles since they’ll be missing so many key guys on offense and defense. Nick Sirianni’s team needs to find every edge they can to help them win this game. The Eagles are at home. We’ll see if that helps. The Panthers are coming off a bye. Teams coming off a bye and playing an opponent who was in the UK the previous week are 4-0. Not an ideal stat for the guys in green.

I expect the Eagles to battle in this game. Can they avoid mistakes and make key plays? That will determine whether they can pull off the upset. It won’t surprise me to see them find a way to win, but I certainly wouldn’t bet much money on it.

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Here are the latest roster moves.

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The Hits Keep Coming

Posted October 16th, 2026 | No Comments »

The Eagles just played a trio of tough games and are in the midst of a 3-game losing streak. There are injuries all over the place. And a surprise retirement. And a surprise trade. What else could happen?

Other than that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?

Philly media reached out to a variety of doctors to get their take on the situation. As you might imagine, they got a variety of opinions. This could be a week, a month or more. We really won’t know until they do more testing next week to see how the situation is progressing. Blood clots can be a serious issue. Let’s hope for the best for Jalen’s sake.

And for the Eagles. They need their star QB to return soon if they have any chance of turning the season around. Tanner McKee will start this week. It will be interesting to see how the offense looks with him running it. McKee struggled this summer. He’s had more time to learn the offense by now and will have a gameplan to study to get ready for Sunday. Maybe that will help him to play better. It will help that he is going against one of the worst defenses in the league (26th in points, 29th in yards).

McKee won’t have a full set of weapons to work with.

It sounds like Saquon will miss the game. Still waiting to find out about DeVonta. And now Wicks is hurt. Ugh. Drew Kendall did return to practice. While Jake Majors was solid last week, getting Kendall back would be a good thing.

Even with McKee getting the start I feel like this is a winnable game. The Eagles made plays on defense and STs over the past two weeks and that gave them a chance to beat a pair of really good teams. The Panthers are 2-2. We’re still trying to figure out just how good (or mediocre) of a team they are. If the Eagles protect the ball and play good defense, they could win and get to 3-3.

Nick Sirianni did a good job last week of getting the players to lock arms and come together. He’ll really be tested this week, with the team coming off a torturous loss and playing the backup QB. A loss would drop the Eagles to 2-4 and make the season feel all but lost.

My good friend Jimmy Bama is among those who think the season is already lost.

He breaks it down this way.

However, Howie Roseman and the Eagles are in a position to choose their suckage path the rest of the season.

• One is to try to compete for a division title in the craptastic NFC East, and if successful pretend that anything can happen in the playoffs.

• The other is to maximize the value on likely soon-to-be outgoing players, and reset the roster for another long-term run.

The decision really shouldn’t be all that hard. They should choose the reset.

Not everyone is happy with Jimmy’s take. I can get you his cell number if you want to call him to chat about it. Just let me know. (I kid, I kid)

The next two weeks will likely dictate how the Eagles approach the rest of the season. If the Hurts injury doesn’t linger and some of the other players start coming back, the Eagles could start winning some games. I think there is value in still trying to win as much as possible. Player development is important. You want to see Kendall, Markel Bell, Darius Cooper, Jihaad Campbell, Jeremiah Trotter Jr, Drew Mukuba and other young players developing over the course of the rest of the season. Howie Roseman needs to know what he’s got moving forward. You ideally want them playing around good players and in meaningful games.

Jimmy is right that winning the NFC East isn’t a huge deal. The Eagles want to be title contenders, year in and year out. NFC East championship hats are nice, but pale in comparison to hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. You need to focus on the ultimate goal. But I do think there is still value in winning the division and getting to experience the postseason. I would bet that the 2022 playoff run helped the team win it all in 2024.

We’ll talk more about this after we see how the team plays against the Panthers. That will give us another data point to base decisions on. The season isn’t over right now, but the Eagles have put it in a position where that point is getting closer and closer.

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Here is a reason that there is still hope for the rest of the season.

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