Trouble in Philadelphia: What Is Going On with the Eagles?

By: Malachi Morton

TE Zach Ertz
Drew Hallowell

I’m not going to lie, watching the Eagles right now is frustrating. This is a team that I believe is much better than what we have seen through the first four games of the season. After starting 2-0, Philadelphia has now lost two straight games, including a 24-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams after giving up a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter. Eagles fans throughout South Jersey have become used to watching competitive football over the last several seasons, which makes these last two weeks even more frustrating. Something just does not look right with this team. The energy has shifted in the wrong direction, the offense has struggled to find a rhythm, and the defense has had trouble getting off the field when the team needs a big stop.

The biggest problem right now is the offense. There are too many possessions where the Eagles look like they do not know what they want to do with the football. Drives stall, plays are not being made when they are needed, and the offense has struggled to keep the defense off the field. Philadelphia has talented players, so it is hard to watch an offense with Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, and several talented receivers struggle to consistently move the ball. At some point, the coaching has to be part of the conversation because talent can only take you so far.

The third-down problems might be the clearest example. Against the Rams, the Eagles went 0-for-12 on third down, while the offense failed to score on its final six possessions. That is almost impossible to overcome in an NFL game. Third down is when an offense needs to step up and find a way to extend drives, keep the defense on the sideline, and give itself more chances to score. Instead, Philadelphia kept putting itself in situations where the drive would end. When a team cannot convert even one third down, it becomes extremely difficult to control a game.

That offensive inconsistency also puts pressure on the defense, but the defense has to take responsibility for its own struggles too. Against Los Angeles, Philadelphia had a 20-10 lead before the Rams scored 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to win 24-20. The Eagles did record their first two interceptions of the season, but they still could not finish the game. When the offense is constantly going three-and-out or failing to extend drives, the defense is asked to spend more time on the field. Still, when you have a 10-point lead entering the fourth quarter, the defense has to find a way to get off the field and close the door.

The offensive line makes everything even more complicated. Following the loss to the Rams, Lane Johnson announced his retirement, creating another challenge for a team already struggling offensively. Johnson ended a career that included two Super Bowl championships, six Pro Bowl selections, and five Associated Press All-Pro honors. He was more than a starting right tackle. He was a leader, a veteran presence, and one of the most trusted players on the Eagles’ offense. Replacing someone like that was always going to be difficult, but the timing makes it even tougher with the offense already struggling.

Just one day after Johnson’s retirement came the Cam Jurgens trade. Philadelphia agreed to send Jurgens and a 2027 seventh-round pick to the Baltimore Ravens for a 2027 fifth-round pick and a 2028 second-round pick. Jurgens was a key part of the Eagles’ offensive line and started at center for the team’s Super Bowl LIX championship. With both developments coming after the Rams game, Philadelphia now faces the additional challenge of building a new-look offensive line while trying to fix an offense that has not found its rhythm. That is a major transition, and the Eagles need the new group to develop chemistry quickly.

That is where I start looking at the coaching. I understand why some Eagles fans have started calling for Nick Sirianni to be fired. When a team with this much talent looks inconsistent, the head coach is going to receive a lot of the blame. Fans are going to ask why the offense is struggling, why the team cannot convert third downs, and why the Eagles continue to have problems finishing games. Those are fair questions, especially when the same problems continue to show up.

At the same time, I am not ready to say that Sirianni is the entire problem. There is still a lot of football left to play, and this team has enough talent to turn things around. But the coaching staff must find answers quickly. The offense needs an identity, the play-calling needs to put players in better positions, the offensive line needs to settle down, and the defense needs to find a way to get off the field when the Eagles need it most. If those things do not improve, the pressure on Sirianni will only continue to grow.

The biggest thing missing right now is consistency. One week, the Eagles can look like a team that could compete with anybody. The next week, they look completely out of rhythm. That is what makes these losses so frustrating. It is not like Philadelphia has no talent. The talent is there. The problem is getting everyone to play together for four quarters.

Now the schedule makes that even more important. The Eagles’ next three games are against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys. Philadelphia travels to London to play Jacksonville on Oct. 11 before returning home to face Carolina on Oct. 18. Then comes Dallas on Oct. 26 for Monday Night Football. That is a stretch where the Eagles have a real opportunity to get their season moving in the right direction, but they cannot continue playing the way they have over the last two games.

The Jacksonville game feels especially important because the Eagles need to stop this losing streak before it gets worse. Starting 2-0 feels like a long time ago when a team has suddenly lost two straight. A win in London could give Philadelphia some confidence before returning home to face Carolina. Then comes Dallas, and there is no better way to bring the energy back to Philadelphia and South Jersey than by beating a division rival on Monday Night Football.

But before the Eagles can start thinking about Dallas, they have to fix what is happening right now. The offense needs to stay on the field. Third downs have to be converted. The offensive line has to find chemistry. Hurts needs time to make plays. Barkley needs running room. The receivers need to get involved. And the defense needs to get off the field instead of constantly being asked to save the game.

There also needs to be more urgency. This is not a team that can continue saying it will figure things out later. Every NFL team deals with injuries, changes and adversity, but the best teams find ways to adjust. Philadelphia has already lost important pieces, and now the rest of the roster has to show it is capable of stepping up. The Eagles do not need to become a perfect team overnight. They just need to start doing the little things consistently again.

That is why I am frustrated, but I am not giving up on this team.

I know what the Eagles are capable of. I have watched this team play at a high level, and I have seen what happens when the offense is clicking and the defense is making plays. This team has too much talent to look like this for the entire season. Hurts is still one of the most important players on this roster. Barkley is still one of the biggest weapons on the offense. The defense still has playmakers. Barkley’s hamstring injury adds another concern for the offense as the Eagles prepare for their upcoming games. The Eagles just have to figure out how to put everything together again.

There is a difference between saying the Eagles are a bad team and saying the Eagles are playing bad football. Right now, I believe they are playing bad football. That does not mean the season is over. It means the team has work to do. The next three games could tell us a lot about who this Eagles team really is, and they cannot afford to waste the opportunity.

Jacksonville, Carolina and Dallas are not games Philadelphia can simply look past. If the Eagles can fix the third-down problems, get the offense moving, improve defensively and find stability along the offensive line, this season can still look completely different. But if the same problems continue, the questions around Sirianni and the coaching staff are only going to get louder.

As an Eagles fan, I know this team is better than this. I still believe there is enough talent to turn this season around, but believing in the team is not enough anymore. The Eagles have to show it on the field. They need to find their identity, protect Hurts, get Barkley going, convert third downs, get off the field defensively and start finishing games.

The season is still young, and there is still time to fix this. But the Eagles need to find their footing again, and they need to find it now.

This article was produced as part of Follow South Jersey’s student journalism program, which provides aspiring journalists with practical experience in professional news reporting and writing.

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