- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,269,407
- Reaction score
- 59
BALTIMORE − There's not much positive to come out of a game in which the Eagles were thoroughly dominated on both offense and defense in their 24-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in their preseason opener on Aug. 15.
\n
You can start on offense, where the Eagles could only muster two first downs through the first 56 minutes of game time. Both quarterbacks vying for the backup job to Jalen Hurts didn't play well.
\n
Andy Dalton started and led three straight three-and-outs. Tanner McKee played the second and third quarters and didn't fare much better.
\n
Buy Philadelphia Eagles tickets
\n
They were hardly the only ones to blame. Wide receivers dropped passes. Penalties, which plagued the Eagles last season, were a problem again. So was time of possession as the Eagles had the ball for 19 minutes compared to the Ravens' 41 minutes.
\n
And the yardage piled up − for the Ravens. Baltimore had 440 yards of offense. The Eagles finished with 159 yards. But that was misleading as half of those yards (79) came on the Eagles' final possession with rookie Cole Payton at quarterback.
\n
"Obviously, we wanted to put a better performance out there on all parts," Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. "We had 40 plays of offense and kept the defense on the field too many times; not converting on third down. That’s everybody, not just the quarterbacks."
\n
Sirianni is right about that. That's why our list of biggest winners and losers begins with offensive coordinator Sean Mannion:
\n
Let's start by saying the Eagles' starters did not play on offense, and that the play calls were "vanilla," in that the Eagles didn't want to show too much of Mannion's new offensive schemes and so on. But this smelled too much like "meet the new boss, same as the old boss." We already saw this movie last season with Kevin Patullo as OC. Again, it's preseason. But too many third-and-longs, too many penalties, dropped passes, poor throws, no running lanes. Not a good first impression for Mannion.
\n
The Eagles' fourth-round pick in 2025 got off to a slow start in training camp. But he has come on strong of late, and Robinson continued that against the Ravens with a sack in the first half.
\n
"When you get a full offseason, and I got to really learn a lot about my body and what needed to be worked on," Robinson said. "A big part of that was mobility, flexibility, so I’ve really been working on that."
\n
\n
In a competition to be Jalen Hurts' backup, neither Dalton nor McKee did anything to seize control of the job. Dalton started and completed 3 of 6 passes for 20 yards. The Eagles went 3-and-out on each of his three series. McKee played the second and third quarters, went 6-for-10 for 35 yards. Yawn.
\n
"I feel like there is so much more of an offense that we have, and so much more in the plan that we have not shown yet," Dalton said. Perhaps they'll show more Aug. 22 against the Patriots.
\n
Payton gave the Eagles something Dalton and McKee couldn't: a spark. Payton, of course, does this with his running ability. He led the Eagles' only scoring drive. Facing a 4th-and-3, Payton spun away from a sack, turned upfield and gained 17 yards. Payton completed the drive with a 6-yard TD pass to Erik Ezukanma. Payton said he was going to try to run it in, but decided to throw the ball instead.
\n
"I was gassed," he said with a laugh.
\n
Cooper appeared to be moving up the depth chart heading into the game, at least compared to rookie first-round pick Makai Lemon, who's out with a hamstring injury. And then Cooper dropped a pass on 3rd-and-5 in the first quarter. He caught 2 passes on 5 targets for 21 yards. Let's just say DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks are the clear No. 1 and No. 2 WRs. After that, who knows?
\n
EAGLES LOSE: Eagles QBs brutal in preseason loss to Ravens. Who's winning backup job?
\n
Like Cooper, McWilliams was becoming a feel-good story in training camp. But he couldn't carry that over into the game. Sure, McWilliams led the Eagles with 10 tackles. But that was mostly from chasing down receivers who beat him in coverage. He also had a defensive pass interference penalty and a defensive holding penalty.
\n
This is how bad it was going for the Eagles' offense: When Shipley gained 8 yards on a run with 9 minutes left in the second quarter, it was the Eagles' longest play of the game. Shipley then had another 8-yard run a few plays later. Shipley had another 8-yard run down to the Ravens' 34 yard line. Alas, it was called back as Jake Majors was flagged for holding. The Eagles ended up punting. It was that kind of night.
\n
Weru, who's from Kenya and was signed through the IPP program, played in his first football game, ever. He had a QB hit. Weru also batted down a 3rd-and-8 pass from the Eagles' 20 in the third quarter. The play was nullified by an Ambry Thomas defensive holding penalty that gave the Ravens an automatic first down. Again, it was that kind of night.
\n
Trotter showed that he could be a starter on some other NFL teams, contributing with a sack in the first half.
\n
Wade and Ringo both get the never-give-up award. Ravens WR Eli Sarratt beat Wade for a catch, then broke Wade's tackle attempt. But Wade got up, chased Sarratt down the field and stripped the ball, leading to a fumble that Thomas recovered. Ringo, meanwhile, was flagged for defensive pass interference in the final minute of the first half, giving the Ravens the ball at the Eagles' 6 yard line. On the next play, Ringo intercepted Ravens QB John Fagnano in the end zone.
\n
“You always want to think about being able to move on and play the next play," Sirianni said about Wade and Ringo. "That’s mental toughness."
\n
Technically, they could have been "losers" for giving up those plays in the first place.
\n
It's surprising that Mann's leg didn't fall off. He punted 8 times and averaged 47.6 yards per punt.
\n
Hinton was the Eagles' sixth-round pick out of Michigan in 2025. The tackle spent all of last season on injured reserve. The Eagles are also playing him at guard. It didn't go well. Hinton got in for the fourth quarter and committed two holding penalties.
\n
Contact Martin Frank at [email protected]. Follow on X @Mfranknfl. Sign up for the "Eye On The Eagles" newsletter, emailed to your inbox every Friday morning. Read his coverage of the Eagles’ championship season in “Flying High,” a hardcover coffee-table book from Delaware Online/The News Journal. Details at Fly.ChampsBook.com
\n
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: 14 winners, losers from Eagles preseason Week 1 as new offense bombed
Continue reading...
\n
You can start on offense, where the Eagles could only muster two first downs through the first 56 minutes of game time. Both quarterbacks vying for the backup job to Jalen Hurts didn't play well.
\n
Andy Dalton started and led three straight three-and-outs. Tanner McKee played the second and third quarters and didn't fare much better.
\n
Buy Philadelphia Eagles tickets
\n
They were hardly the only ones to blame. Wide receivers dropped passes. Penalties, which plagued the Eagles last season, were a problem again. So was time of possession as the Eagles had the ball for 19 minutes compared to the Ravens' 41 minutes.
\n
And the yardage piled up − for the Ravens. Baltimore had 440 yards of offense. The Eagles finished with 159 yards. But that was misleading as half of those yards (79) came on the Eagles' final possession with rookie Cole Payton at quarterback.
\n
"Obviously, we wanted to put a better performance out there on all parts," Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. "We had 40 plays of offense and kept the defense on the field too many times; not converting on third down. That’s everybody, not just the quarterbacks."
\n
Sirianni is right about that. That's why our list of biggest winners and losers begins with offensive coordinator Sean Mannion:
\n
LOSER: Eagles offensive coordinator Sean Mannion
\nLet's start by saying the Eagles' starters did not play on offense, and that the play calls were "vanilla," in that the Eagles didn't want to show too much of Mannion's new offensive schemes and so on. But this smelled too much like "meet the new boss, same as the old boss." We already saw this movie last season with Kevin Patullo as OC. Again, it's preseason. But too many third-and-longs, too many penalties, dropped passes, poor throws, no running lanes. Not a good first impression for Mannion.
\n
WINNER: Eagles DT Ty Robinson
\nThe Eagles' fourth-round pick in 2025 got off to a slow start in training camp. But he has come on strong of late, and Robinson continued that against the Ravens with a sack in the first half.
\n
"When you get a full offseason, and I got to really learn a lot about my body and what needed to be worked on," Robinson said. "A big part of that was mobility, flexibility, so I’ve really been working on that."
\n
You must be registered for see images
\n
LOSER: Eagles QBs Andy Dalton, Tanner McKee
\nIn a competition to be Jalen Hurts' backup, neither Dalton nor McKee did anything to seize control of the job. Dalton started and completed 3 of 6 passes for 20 yards. The Eagles went 3-and-out on each of his three series. McKee played the second and third quarters, went 6-for-10 for 35 yards. Yawn.
\n
"I feel like there is so much more of an offense that we have, and so much more in the plan that we have not shown yet," Dalton said. Perhaps they'll show more Aug. 22 against the Patriots.
\n
WINNER: Eagles QB Cole Payton
\nPayton gave the Eagles something Dalton and McKee couldn't: a spark. Payton, of course, does this with his running ability. He led the Eagles' only scoring drive. Facing a 4th-and-3, Payton spun away from a sack, turned upfield and gained 17 yards. Payton completed the drive with a 6-yard TD pass to Erik Ezukanma. Payton said he was going to try to run it in, but decided to throw the ball instead.
\n
"I was gassed," he said with a laugh.
\n
LOSER: Eagles WR Darius Cooper
\nCooper appeared to be moving up the depth chart heading into the game, at least compared to rookie first-round pick Makai Lemon, who's out with a hamstring injury. And then Cooper dropped a pass on 3rd-and-5 in the first quarter. He caught 2 passes on 5 targets for 21 yards. Let's just say DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks are the clear No. 1 and No. 2 WRs. After that, who knows?
\n
EAGLES LOSE: Eagles QBs brutal in preseason loss to Ravens. Who's winning backup job?
\n
LOSER: Eagles CB Mac McWilliams
\nLike Cooper, McWilliams was becoming a feel-good story in training camp. But he couldn't carry that over into the game. Sure, McWilliams led the Eagles with 10 tackles. But that was mostly from chasing down receivers who beat him in coverage. He also had a defensive pass interference penalty and a defensive holding penalty.
\n
WINNER: Eagles RB Will Shipley
\nThis is how bad it was going for the Eagles' offense: When Shipley gained 8 yards on a run with 9 minutes left in the second quarter, it was the Eagles' longest play of the game. Shipley then had another 8-yard run a few plays later. Shipley had another 8-yard run down to the Ravens' 34 yard line. Alas, it was called back as Jake Majors was flagged for holding. The Eagles ended up punting. It was that kind of night.
\n
WINNER: Eagles edge Joshua Weru
\nWeru, who's from Kenya and was signed through the IPP program, played in his first football game, ever. He had a QB hit. Weru also batted down a 3rd-and-8 pass from the Eagles' 20 in the third quarter. The play was nullified by an Ambry Thomas defensive holding penalty that gave the Ravens an automatic first down. Again, it was that kind of night.
\n
WINNER: Eagles LB Jeremiah Trotter
\nTrotter showed that he could be a starter on some other NFL teams, contributing with a sack in the first half.
\n
WINNER: Eagles DBs Shaun Wade, Kelee Ringo
\nWade and Ringo both get the never-give-up award. Ravens WR Eli Sarratt beat Wade for a catch, then broke Wade's tackle attempt. But Wade got up, chased Sarratt down the field and stripped the ball, leading to a fumble that Thomas recovered. Ringo, meanwhile, was flagged for defensive pass interference in the final minute of the first half, giving the Ravens the ball at the Eagles' 6 yard line. On the next play, Ringo intercepted Ravens QB John Fagnano in the end zone.
\n
“You always want to think about being able to move on and play the next play," Sirianni said about Wade and Ringo. "That’s mental toughness."
\n
Technically, they could have been "losers" for giving up those plays in the first place.
\n
WINNER: Eagles punter Braden Mann
\nIt's surprising that Mann's leg didn't fall off. He punted 8 times and averaged 47.6 yards per punt.
\n
LOSER: Eagles tackle Myles Hinton
\nHinton was the Eagles' sixth-round pick out of Michigan in 2025. The tackle spent all of last season on injured reserve. The Eagles are also playing him at guard. It didn't go well. Hinton got in for the fourth quarter and committed two holding penalties.
\n
Contact Martin Frank at [email protected]. Follow on X @Mfranknfl. Sign up for the "Eye On The Eagles" newsletter, emailed to your inbox every Friday morning. Read his coverage of the Eagles’ championship season in “Flying High,” a hardcover coffee-table book from Delaware Online/The News Journal. Details at Fly.ChampsBook.com
\n
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: 14 winners, losers from Eagles preseason Week 1 as new offense bombed
Continue reading...
