The Philadelphia Eagles are 2-0 after beating the Tennessee Titans.
The Birds losing this game would’ve been pretty unserious behavior. Even their own supporters didn’t think they stood a chance ahead of this matchup. The Eagles entered this tilt as seven-point road favorites against a team that looked listless in Week 1 …. while playing in a stadium mostly filled by Philly fans.
And this team sure did flirt with disaster! After mostly controlling the game, the Eagles’ win probability dipped as low
as 21.6% with the Titans kicking a field goal to take a late lead. Visual form via ESPN:
But then the Eagles went on a game-winning touchdown drive to prevent a frustrating loss. That was fun to watch!
Time to hand out winners, losers, and I don’t knows.
For even more analysis, check out my appearance on the PHLY Eagles postgame show along with Vinny Curry, Bo Wulf, Miles Johnson, Fran Duffy, and EJ Smith!
WINNERS
JALEN HURTS
If you didn’t watch the game and only looked at the box score, you might think Hurts had a relatively pedestrian day at the office:
26/37 (70.3 completion), 264 yards (7.1 average), 2 TD, 2 INT, 85.9 passer rating … 5 carries, 16 rushing yards.
But such a sentiment couldn’t be further from the case.
Hurts was a huge reason why the Eagles won this game.
Let’s start at the end. The Eagles were down three points at their own 35-yard line with 1:56 on the clock and zero timeouts to work with. Hurts led a nine-play, 65-yard drive where he accounted for all of those yards (61 passing, four rushing) and the game-winning touchdown pass. His only two incompletions were a short drop by Dontayvion Wicks and a throwaway to avoid a sack with pressure quickly reaching him.
Hurts delivered in the clutch.
It was a well-deserved ending for him, too, since he was tasked with carrying the offense for most of the game. The Eagles did Hurts no favors by insisting on sticking with an ineffective running game on early downs … which forced the offense into way too many third-and-longs. Hurts made some really good throws in those situations to sustain drives.
Hurts obviously wasn’t perfect on Sunday. He did throw two picks, the first of which ended up being at least a 1o-point swing in this game. It wasn’t easy to see what he was looking at on that play since, even if a defender didn’t jump the route to make the interception, he was throwing to a tightly covered DeVonta Smith in the end zone. The second one wasn’t just about Hurts getting hit by Jeffery Simmons as he threw. It was also about a perplexing sequence where the Eagles went from 2nd-and-7 at the plus 39-yard line to 3rd-and-12 after the call was for Hurts to throw backwards to Makai Lemon, who got blown up for a five-yard loss.
The good way outweighed the bad on Sunday. And Hurts had success despite missing Saquon Barkley and Dallas Goedert for most of the game in addition to dealing with substandard offensive line play.
It’s hard not to be encouraged about Hurts’ outlook after the first two games of the season.
DEVONTA SMITH
Smitty was targeted 13 times on Sunday. He logged 10 receptions for 117 yards and one touchdown. While Hurts deserves a ton of credit for leading the Eagles on a game-winning touchdown drive, he couldn’t have done it without his No. 1 receiver. Smith produced 38 yards on the Eagles’ final drive, including a 19-yard grab along the left sideline to get out of bounds while converting a 3rd-and-6 to set up goal-to-go from the 3-yard line. Really good football player.
Also, one of DeVonta’s best plays in this game didn’t even count. He Mossed a Titans defender just out of the end zone on a Hurts throw that didn’t allow the receiver enough room to get two feet in bounds.
DONTAYVION WICKS
I repeat: the Eagles only had to give up a 2026 fifth-round pick and a 2027 sixth-round pick in the deal with the Green Bay Packers to acquire Wicks. Early on, it’s looking like a bargain.
Wicks was extremely efficient in this game, seeing six targets for five catches and 74 yards. And all of those grabs came on either third or fourth downs!
- First catch: 27-yard gain on 3rd-and-12
- Second catch: 7-yard gain on 3rd-and-4
- Third catch: 5-yard gain on 4th-and-2
- Fourth catch: 15-yard gain on 3rd-and-12
- Fifth catch: 20-yard gain on 3rd-and-6
Wicks is looking like a real nice WR2 to DeVonta’s WR1. And Howie Roseman is looking smart to have signed him to a one-year contract extension through 2027 as opposed to just letting him play out his rookie contract this year.
DARIUS COOPER
Couldn’t be happier for my guy.
Pretty cool that his first career touchdown was a game-winner. And while he was left open, it wasn’t like it was a gimme catch. DC had to go up and get the ball while also making sure to stay in bounds:
It wasn’t just the touchdown. Cooper also had the second-longest reception of the game with a 23-yard catch-and-run. He could’ve had another grab had Hurts not put the ball just a little too far out in front of him at one point.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: good things happen when Hurts throws the ball to Cooper. The Eagles did themselves a disservice to not even get him a single target in Week 1, though it obviously worked out in terms of winning that game. But Cooper deserves a role in this offense.
JAKE ELLIOTT
Jake Elliott’s 58-yard field goal make was a big kick. Good to see him hit from distance like that after his struggles from 50+ in recent seasons. Including training camp practices (28/31), preseason games (7/7), and the 2026 regular season thus far (8/8), Elliott is 43/46. It continues to look like he’s bouncing back from two down seasons.
NOLAN SMITH
Thought Smith quietly had a good game against the Titans. He logged a team-high two TFLs to go with one of the Eagles’ two total sacks. It was Smith’s first sack since the Eagles played the Raiders last season.
EAGLES FANS
Kudos to the Eagles fans who traveled down to Nashville to take over Nissan Stadium. It’s not like an Eagles fan takeover is a new development … but all accounts indicate that this was an especially strong showing. You had to deal with hot weather and a stressful game … but, hey, it was worth it! And you got to witness history in the form of the Eagles notching their first-ever road win in Tennessee.
LOSERS
JEFFERY SIMMONS
Simmons had an awesome game for the Titans. He generated seven total pressures, including one that led to a Hurts interception.
But Hurts got the last laugh.
ROBERT SALEH
Saleh’s blunders were to the Eagles’ benefit. But, woof, a coward’s draw on 3rd-and-14 to settle for a 37-yard field goal attempt towards the end of the first half … just three plays after the Titans converted 3rd-and-13? And then the Titans seeming content to play for a field goal late in the game instead of making a better effort at the end zone? The Eagles will certainly take Saleh’s charity. A more aggressive head coach could’ve put the Birds in greater danger of losing this game, though.
THE EAGLES’ OFFENSIVE LINE
Instead of just replacing Landon Dickerson with Drew Kendall in a clean one-for-one swap, the Eagles decided to change two positions on the offensive line by moving Cam Jurgens to left guard and putting Drew Kendall in at the pivot.
It’s hard to say it was a great choice for this game. Jurgens predictably struggled in his first-ever action at left guard:
In fairness, Jurgens was tasked with blocking a four-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle while playing a position where he lacks experience. The Eagles did Jurgens no favors by getting him zero left guard reps in media-attended practices this offseason. Feels like they should’ve done that if Jurgens to left guard was a potential contingency plan for Landon Dickerson, who clearly looked less than 100% during training camp.
Perhaps Jurgens will get better with more reps. But maybe he’s just not the same caliber player he used to be? Not sure about the upside here.
Beyond Jurgens, Drew Kendall didn’t have the strongest first start. That’s probably to be expected. He could conceivably get better with more playing time.
Lane Johnson, Jordan Mailata, and Tyler Steen can’t be considered liabilities as individuals. But the offensive line as a collective just hasn’t played up to the level we’re used to seeing from him. It feels like Hurts is regularly facing pressure. And, much like last year, the run game can’t get off the ground.
Saquon Barkley getting injured on the first play didn’t help but the Eagles previously failed to block well for him in Week 1. With Barkley mostly unavailable in this game, the Eagles ran 32 times for a mere 89 yards (2.8 average).
The Eagles won two Super Bowls in no small part due to dominating in the trenches. This year’s team hasn’t been nearly as strong along the lines thus far.
THE EAGLES’ SAFETIES
Entering this season, safety was largely viewed as a top weakness on the roster. The feeling here is those concerns have been overstated but Sunday’s showing was not a banner performance for the back end of the Eagles’ defense. Andrew Mukuba (who entered this game questionable to play with a knee injury) and Marcus Epps combined for six (three each) of the Eagles’ 12 total missed tackles charted by Pro Football Focus. There were also struggles in coverage.
DREW BREES
I’m not one to call out the broadcasters much since I’m usually pretty locked in on the game and less so on them. But Brees did seem to have some weird criticisms of Hurts, including when he called out the Eagles’ quarterback for sliding instead of lowering his shoulder for a first down early in the game. It’s Week 2, dude. Also, as if Brees would’ve done that when he played?
I DON’T KNOWS
SEAN MANNION
Honestly still don’t have a strong feeling on Mannion.
There were some good results in this game. Hurts played well. The offense picked up 23 first downs (13 more than last week!) and 341 yards. The film guys liked some of what we saw:
But the early down offensive approach is pretty maddening. It’s almost as if the Eagles don’t realize they’re allowed to actually try to pick up a first down … on first down.
Wasting early down plays by ineffectively running the ball, only to then be bailed out by Hurts on 3rd-and-long … that doesn’t seem like a very sustainable approach.
I don’t know how much Mannion is responsible for the early down approach. The Eagles similarly lacked offensive ambition last year, which makes one wonder how much Nick Sirianni and/or Hurts is influencing an overly conservative mindset.
I’m not out on Mannion by any means; I’m keeping an open mind. I see some reasons to be encouraged while acknowledging that this offense could take some time to gel. But it’s not even just about expecting awesome results right away. It’s about wanting to see good offensive process. And there are some questions in that regard based on what we’ve seen so far.
THE EAGLES’ DEFENSE
Just how good is this unit? I’m legitimately asking. I don’t know.
Vic Fangio has earned the benefit of the doubt. I’m not ready to panic about this defense.
I think it’s fair to expect more than we’ve seen from them thus far, though. The defense had a better excuse for some struggles in Week 1 since the offense just couldn’t stay on the field. They were understandably fatigued after playing so many snaps. It was poor complementary football.
The intense heat was a factor in Week 2 but not to the point where the defense’s struggles should be totally excused.
Going up against the Eagles on Sunday, Cam Ward posted the fourth-best single-game passer rating of his career. He only has nine games with more passing yards.
Considering Ward has a tendency to hold onto the ball, the Eagles’ pass rush did not do a great job of getting to him. That unit as a whole has been a disappointment so far. Getting Jonathan Greenard back could be a much-needed boost, though it remains to be seen how close he is to 100%. The Eagles have produced only three sacks and five quarterback hits through two games.
The Eagles’ run defense hasn’t exactly been super stout, either. The Titans’ non-QB runs: 25 carries for 115 yards (4.6 average). Not great. Way too many missed tackles.
Again, not worried about the defense at this point in time. Would be nice to see more from them, and soon.
JALEN CARTER
You might think it unfair to compare Carter to Simmons. But the Eagles paid the former more than the latter and it’s not like Carter has been consistently dominant through two games. In fairness, Carter is playing with a cast on and he did make a huge impact with his first down sack on Ward late in this game. He helped to force the Titans into a go-ahead field goal instead of a go-ahead touchdown.
Still, would like to see some more flat out dominance from Carter. Need him to be an even bigger difference-maker for this defense to reach their ceiling.
MAKAI LEMON
Hey, credit to Lemon for his 14-yard catch! That was legitimately the most encouraging development of his Eagles career thus far. Maybe that’ll help get him going. Also good to see the hustle to make the tackle on Hurts’ first interception that was nearly returned for a pick-six.
Unfortunately for Lemon, the Eagles are still using him on designed touches that aren’t even coming close to fooling the defense. As previously noted, the Eagles threw another backwards pass to him that actually counted as a five-yard rushing loss in the box score.
Including the preseason, Lemon is now up to 10 targets for 12 receiving yards. Had the backwards pass to him in this game been counted as a passing target, which it effectively was, he’d be at 11 targets for seven receiving yards. Pretty ridiculous numbers.
This just in: the current approach with Lemon isn’t working! Try other ways to get him involved!
HOLLYWOOD BROWN
Brown actually took some snaps this week! He didn’t have any targets but his two carries produced 12 yards. Another one of his runs was called back on a holding penalty. I don’t know if the Eagles are going to continue to utilize him like this or what the plan is.
