Welcome to The Linc, the daily Philadelphia Eagles links roundup at Bleeding Green Nation!
Do you have hope the Eagles can turn things around on offense? Or do you think they might just be bad? Getting healthy down the line will help. But it seems like more struggles could be on the way before things get better. And by that point, the damage might be done.
Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles news and links …
Seven things Solak thinks entering NFL Week 5: Jaguars are the AFC’s best, more – ESPN
I think
… the Eagles’ offense is unrecoverable […] I wrote two weeks ago that it looked as if Hurts was settling into the Mannion offense — he’d had a tremendous day in the dropback passing game against the Titans, converting on nine third downs. I still think he occasionally has that level of scheme-lifting capacity. Even if he isn’t an elite quarterback, he has enough arm talent and great downfield accuracy to run hot with big plays on any given Sunday. But as I wrote then: “The Eagles have yet to log a convincing win against two inferior opponents, and their overall team health has me pretty dubious … my overall expectations for the Eagles’ offense will remain tempered until I see the line and the running game return to form.” Since Week 2, their rushing attack has been less effective and they’ve sustained more injuries. Hurts has gone from late, but still workable in the new passing offense … to unwilling to rip even the most basic of open throws. The Hurts experience without the soft padding of a dominant ground game is just so inconsistent. Throw in the lack of an A.J. Brown easy button against man coverage and it isn’t apparent where relief comes from in this offense. I can’t find star players and I can’t find star coaches. I have no idea what, if anything, to hang my hope on moving forward.
The Winners and Losers of the NFL Week 4 – The Ringer
They have played 89 regular-season games since Sirianni became the head coach. This game ranked 86th in offensive success rate. You could hand-wave this away as a one-off because of the aforementioned circumstances, but four of the Eagles’ six worst offensive success rate games of the Sirianni-Hurts era have come since Week 10 of last year. The Rams gave the Eagles every chance to win this game. Matthew Stafford threw two interceptions. Their special teams missed a field goal and allowed a huge punt return. Penalties left L.A.’s offense behind the chains for the majority of the game. The postgame narrative was going to be about how the Rams threw away a second consecutive game by making mistakes despite dominating the box score. The Eagles basically needed to make one real offensive play at any point in the second half to win the game, and they were unable to do it. Philly started the second half with two consecutive three-and-outs, which have become customary this year. They tried a tush push on fourth-and-a-long-yard on their third drive and failed to convert. The Eagles sustained one drive and marched down the field but stalled out on the goal line on fourth down. Because the offense failed to get a first down on four of its five second-half drives, the Eagles defense ran out of gas. Stafford led two touchdown drives in the waning minutes of the game, and this time, there was no heroic Hurts comeback.
Eagles-Rams Takeaway: Injuries complicate search for identity – BGN
Even without Smith in the lineup, there should still be at least 2-4 plays the offense can choose from in order to pick up five yards, or give themselves a real shot at the goal line. But there is nothing in the bag they feel good about yet. It all comes down to forming an identity. The Eagles searched for one all last year under Kevin Patullo and never found one. That search continues through four games under Mannion. And while some patience should be reserved for the new OC, it is reasonable to expect some improvement as the weeks move along. Nick Sirianni is correct that progress is not always linear, but it also should look better than it has over the last two weeks. Their struggles in the second half of football games is truly concerning. One week after being outscored 17-0 after halftime, the Eagles were shut out 14-0 in the second half against the Rams. That’s 31-0 over the last two weeks.
NFC East Mixtape Vol. 195: The Giants are in first place! – NFC East Mixtape
For the first time in over a decade… the New York Giants stand alone atop the NFC East! It is only October, but this is still pretty big news. The G-Men took care of the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday and elsewhere the Dallas Cowboys won the Texas State Championship against the Houston Texans. Earlier in the day though, the Washington Commanders fell. And now they have even more quarterback issues going on. Also… the Philadelphia Eagles dropped their second game in a row and have all sorts of injury questions surrounding them. RJ Ochoa and Brandon Lee Gowton discuss it all on the latest episode of the NFC East Mixtape. You can see that we have a BRAND NEW NFC East Mixtape YouTube Channel so make sure to subscribe as the show will live here exclusively in video format. AND you can also listen to the show! On Blogging The Boys and/or Bleeding Green Nation podcast feeds as well as the SB Nation NFL Show feed!
Jaguars vs. Eagles odds: Opening lines for Week 5 matchup – Big Cat Country
Big line movement ahead of this game: the Eagles are now 6.5-point underdogs after opening as 3.5-point underdogs.
With an early divisional lead in their back pocket, the Jacksonville Jaguars are packing their passports for a two-week trip abroad. Their first of two London games is against the Philadelphia Eagles at Tottenham Stadium. The Jaguars (3-1) are coming off a gritty road win in Cincinnati, where Trevor Lawrence beat the Bengals for the first time in his career — and Travis Hunter had perhaps his best performance yet. Jacksonville’s 22-point offensive output was enough to get the dub, as its defense finished with 11 QB hits and 2 INTs while allowing just 23 rushing yards.
Analyzing the Eagles’ 0 for 12 on third down against the Rams – PhillyVoice
So, yes, it was all of the above. Execution, play calling, scheme, players, coaches, you name it, it was all bad Sunday on third down.
A Challenging Time – Iggles Blitz
Sirianni is burning through the goodwill the SBs bought him. That’s why it is important for him to have good answers for Lurie. That 2024 title doesn’t give him a lifetime exemption. We saw that with Doug Pederson. You better keep winning games and putting out a product the fans want to see. That isn’t happening now and must be fixed. Lurie will hopefully ask tough questions and push Sirianni for real answers.
NFL Week 4 Sunday aftermath: Bears’ defense continues to shine; Jaguars are for real – NFL.com
The Eagles were 0 for 12 on third down, their most third down attempts without a conversion since at least 1991, per NFL Research. Their 172 total yards are their fewest in a game since Week 14 of 2014 (139 yards versus Seahawks). The Eagles have 15 three-and-out drives this season, the most in the NFL, and 11 of those have come in the second half of games (three more than any other team). Sean Mannion was hired to bring in elements of the McVay/Shanahan offenses to Philly. Thus far, the evolution has been snuffed out. Hurts and the Eagles are morbid from under center and grotesque when trying to execute play-action — two staples of the offenses Philly is attempting to mimic. The offensive line had struggled even before missing Lane Johnson (personal reasons) on Sunday, and Hurts is as jittery in the pocket as he’s ever been. The Rams blitzed Hurts relentlessly (60.6% of dropbacks), daring the QB to beat them. He couldn’t, completing just 5 of 16 attempts against the blitz. “I’ve got a ton of confidence in Sean, and he’s going to wear a lot of this,” coach Nick Sirianni said, via The Athletic. “There’s no doubt. I’m going to wear a lot of this. Our offense is going to wear a lot of this. You win together, you lose together.” Perhaps when the weapons return and Hurts gets more comfortable in the scheme, things can perk up. But a month in, I’m not optimistic. We’ve seen this rodeo before. The Eagles defense is going to have to spoon-feed the offense for it to get back on track; even then, against good teams, it might not be enough (like Sunday’s result at home).
Roob’s Eagles Stats: How bad was that loss? All the shocking numbers are here – NBCSP
OK, THIS IS BAD: The Eagles averaged 2.97 yards per offensive play with 172 yards on 58 plays. That’s their lowest yards-per-play in 19 years, since they averaged 2.88 in a 16-3 loss to the Giants at old Giants Stadium in 2007 with Mike McMahon at quarterback. It’s their lowest in a home game since they averaged 2.79 yards per play in a 42-0 Monday night loss to the Seahawks in 2005 with Koy Detmer and McMahon at quarterback on the day the Eagles retired Reggie White’s number 92. That 2.97 figure is lowest by any NFL team at home this year.
Why the Eagles’ third-down failures go beyond bad early downs – The Athletic
The Eagles have failed on 17 consecutive third downs, dating to the second half against the Chicago Bears. Coach Nick Sirianni, who again chose a first-time NFL play caller, said the offense’s performance “obviously hasn’t been good enough.” Too many in-game choices are resulting in negative plays. At 2-2, the Eagles are still figuring out what they do best on offense. “There are still some identity questions that we need to answer,” Sirianni said Monday. Sirianni, Mannion and players such as Jordan Mailata note that early-down issues lead to many third-and-long situations (7 yards or more). Their 23.1 percent conversion rate on third-and-long matches the league average, but 26 such situations are the 11th most in the NFL. The Eagles’ early-down struggles are also notable. The Eagles have never won a game under Sirianni without converting at least one third down. Sirianni, Mannion and pass game coordinator Josh Grizzard will be reviewing the film for corrections. A major outlier is their third-and-short struggles: just 4-for-10 through four games. Previous Sirianni offenses never dipped below 60 percent in the same span.
Spadaro: Nick Sirianni is no stranger to adversity – PhiladelphiaEagles.com
The response after two losses with a road trip to London on the agenda for the Philadelphia Eagles and for Head Coach Nick Sirianni is the same as the ones that have come in previous seasons when the team has faced adversity and many, many questions: Double down on what you know to be true. It is what Sirianni did way back in 2021 when the Eagles struggled in his first season. And what he’s done in subsequent seasons, including 2024 after the Eagles began the season 2-2 and then, well, you know how that season played out. So, it is no different now. The team is well aware of the challenges it faces. This is the way of life in the NFL, when there is nary a team that doesn’t face hurdles through the course of a season.
NY Giants-Arizona Cardinals winners and losers: Deonte Banks the hero, Arvell Reese the star – Big Blue View
Arvell Reese — The No. 5 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft is getting better each game, and quickly turning into a star. Reese filled up the stat sheet on Sunday with nine tackles [one for loss], an interception, three passes defensed and a pressure that helped Greg Newsome get one of the Giants’ three interceptions of Brissett. Reese wasn’t satisfied, saying he “left a lot of plays out there.” Reese said he wants to be a “game changer” and a “dominant player” but that he’s “nowhere near” being the player he wants to be. Maybe not, but after what we saw Sunday that is a scary thought. He’s pretty darn good right now.
Cowboys guard Tyler Smith has real chance to play Thursday night – Blogging The Boys
The Dallas Cowboys could be getting a very important player back this week. Dallas just won on the road against the Houston Texans and will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night. No rest for the weary. Someone who has had some rest seems to stand a chance to play, though. Stephen Jones hinted on Monday during his appearance on 105.3 The Fan that Tyler Smith may suit up and be in action.
Commanders vs. Colts (London) – Studs and Duds – Hogs Haven
Alan Eck and his crew: This was easily the worst officiated game I have seen in quite some time, and I have seen some bad ones throughout the years. This crew, led by the Pennsylvania guy who grew up an Eagles fan, called a completely one-sided game that saw Washington get hit with 10 penalties for 84 yards and had a touchdown by Antonio Williams erased, while the Colts had just one penalty for five yards. But it wasn’t just what was called. It’s also what wasn’t called, including two pretty blatant pass interference calls against the Colts defensive backs. The “crew” needs to be investigated by the NFL.
The NFC South is dumb, but now it’s actually getting good – SB Nation
Fast-forward to 2026 and everything feels so different. Bryce Young has turned the corner and is playing like a Top 5 quarterback in the NFL, Tyler Shough has emerged as a fascinating QB to watch as he continues to develop, and while the Falcons might be in quarterback hell, they do have the NFL’s best running back in Bijan Robinson and a receiver in Drake London who is staking claim on being part of the new generation of the league’s best. The Buccaneers are out of this conversation for now, only because the team is a bit of a mess. However, they are also the best situated to turn the corner at a moment’s notice, go on a run, and put themselves right back in the picture.
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