As the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles renew their rivalry on Monday night, I renew our series of 5 Questions articles with Brandon Lee Gowton from Bleeding Green Nation.
Here’s our Q&A.
Blogging The Boys: What’s your take on the whole Jalen Hurts medical situation and how it was handled? Also, does Hurts still have a future in Philly?
Bleeding Green Nation: There’s so much we don’t know. I wish there was more transparency with exactly what happened. I’m glad to see the NFLPA is calling for an investigation
into the matter. If there’s nothing nefarious to hide, everyone should be interested in sharing as much information as possible (with respect to Hurts’ privacy preferences). I hope the situation was truly handled properly and the result that came to pass was an unavoidably unfortunate outcome. It’s a real shame his season is suddenly over.
Does he still have a future in Philly? That much isn’t clear even as it relates to his medical situation. There seems to be confidence that he’ll make a full recovery, which is what everyone is rooting for. But there’s a non-zero chance he can never play football again. That much seems unlikely at the moment but it’s not impossible.
Assuming he is able to play football again, it’s hard to say for sure. Hurts has a no-trade clause, so it’s not like the organization has the ability to ship him out against his will. Nor do I get the sense they’re rushing to do that. But he’s reaching a point in his contract where it makes sense for the Eagles to either 1) extend him or 2) decide to move on.
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie loves Hurts. And he should. Hurts won Super Bowl MVP and wasn’t far off from another. Does Howie Roseman feel similarly? There are some doubts about that much. And it’s his job to think about Hurts differently than Lurie does.
One must also consider what Hurts desires moving forward. How does he feel about how his situation was handled? Does he trust the Eagles?
There’s a lot to unpack here moving forward. It’s hard to say with certainty that he’ll be the Eagles’ starting quarterback in 2027. At this point in time, I tend to think it’s more likely than not. But I can’t say with 100% certainty that it’s a lock.
BTB: What’s the story on Nick Sirianni? Is he the coach next year? What’s your personal take on him as coach right now?
BGN: The way things are currently trending, I don’t think Nick Sirianni will be the Eagles’ head coach next year.
When you consider that he’s never previously missed the playoffs and ranks among the top head coaches in NFL history in terms of winning percentage, dismissing him might seem crazy.
But Lurie already went against precedent by bringing Sirianni back for 2026. The Eagles’ 2025 offense was one of the team’s worst since 2000. In all other years where their offense was similarly ineffective, the head coach got fired (2012, 2015, 2020). It’s not hard to see why Sirianni wouldn’t be fired less than one year after he won a Super Bowl.
But I tend to think that Lurie will not be so patient to tolerate another terrible offense, which has been the case in 2026. Sirianni is not the play-caller, no, but that’s because he really struggled in that capacity back in 2021. His hand-picked OC struggled in 2025 and he clearly hasn’t been capable of helping Sean Mannion find answers in 2026.
BTB: It feels like a lot has gone wrong for Philly this year. What are the biggest things going wrong besides the Jalen Hurts situation?
BGN: If you want the full scope, BGN alumnus Jimmy Kempski came up with an “Eagles season from hell tracker” that lays out all the crazy stuff going on with the team this season:
To put it more succinctly: the offense totally stinks and is super injured while the defense is underperforming lofty expectations.
Sometimes it’s just not your year. And that much is easier to swallow given the Eagles’ sustained success in recent years.
But this season sure seems doomed. Maybe the Eagles do enough to win a very weak NFC East but 1) I doubt it and 2) who cares.
BTB: Who is Tanner McKee and what kind of QB is he?
BGN: You don’t recall McKee from him going 3/4 for 54 yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions, and a 156.2 passer rating in a 41 to 7 win over the Cowboys in Week 17 of the 2024 season? The same year the Eagles went on to destroy the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX?
The Eagles originally selected McKee with a Day 3 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. He’s shown some promise in limited opportunities over the years, which led to him being Hurts’ primary backup in 2025. McKee did not play well in the Eagles’ Week 18 game last year when the team rested their starters. But no one really expected the team to then trade for Andy Dalton and have him compete with McKee for the QB2 job. That competition went as far as the lead up to Week 1 and Dalton began the season as Hurts’ backup with McKee settling for the emergency third quarterback role. Dalton then briefly had to play in Week 3 while Hurts was being checked for a concussion … and he threw an interception on his one and only career pass attempt for the Eagles. Dalton was then demoted to QB3 with McKee overtaking him.
McKee is now the starter after an offseason where the Eagles did him wrong by limiting his reps and destroying his confidence. He’s looked worse this year than he ever did before. He’s a pocket passer who is capable of getting the ball out quick and making some nice throws. But he has athletic limitations and the consistency hasn’t really been there. He also probably needs an especially strong support system to have success and that’s not just really there for him right now given how injured the Eagles are on offense.
BTB: Who do you think wins the game and why? Give us your score prediction.
BGN: Earlier this week, I predicted an Eagles win. The injury report isn’t making me feel good about that much since the Birds could be without their top two receivers (DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks) and their top tight end (Dallas Goedert) among other key players.
But, whatever, it’s not like the Cowboys are great. Maybe the Eagles’ defense, which has been able to keep the team in games prior to falling apart late after getting gassed because the offense can’t stay on the field, actually gets some good turnover luck and produces some takeaways. Maybe the Eagles’ terrible offense finally comes alive against this dreadful Dallas defense.
A win here hardly makes me feel like the Eagles’ season is back on. But it might make for one fun night, at least.
Eagles 23, Cowboys 21.
