Eagles
The season has officially started and we got to watch our Philadelphia Eagles play football. The game was far from perfect but the birds did win. Listen let’s said you’re some random guy, Carl for example. Well the football season is a bit of a dungeon crawl. So first off, congrats dungeon crawler Carl, you beat level one. We’re going to break down the game and look forward to level two.
I think the most important aspect to remember when looking at the week one game is that it’s the first game of the season. Who would’ve guessed that’s what week one means. The Eagles also follow the trend of not playing their main starters in preseason. Personally I hate this approach. It leads to games like we saw against the Commanders. The team looked disjointed due to a lack of actual gameplay together. You can highlight this by looking at their drives. The Eagles had as many scoring drives as three and outs. Not great.
Okay let’s start looking at the actual game and some highlights. Where else to start first than with number 1 himself, Jalen Hurts. While the numbers don’t jump off the page, you saw it while watching. He came up big all day and specifically when things mattered most. Not only did Hurts lead two scoring drives to end the game, but he showed that vaunted running ability on a crucial 3rd and 18. The truth is that when the Eagles needed a player to step up on offense, Jalen Hurts did what he always does, take control.
Next up let’s look at Dontayvion Wicks’ game. Now I don’t want to tell you I told you so but I did indeed tell you. The Eagles have their wide receiver 2 for the season. Not only did he have a beautiful 64 yard reception but also got his first TD of the season. Teams might look to cover Devonta Smith and force the Eagles to beat them elsewhere. The Commanders tried this last week. This is where Wicks should thrive.
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Also a quick shoutout to Dallas Goedert. Came back on a team-friendly deal to the tune of two touchdowns including the game-winner. Not to mention his second score was a route previously utilized by AJ Brown (who by the way had a real tragic, hate to hear, don’t tell me that, injury). Crazy to watch the clip and see it’s the same play with very different results.
Let’s take a look at the defense. While they didn’t have any gaudy stats, no turnovers and just one sack, they did their job. Much like Hurts, they stepped up when things mattered most. Jalen Carter had a huge blocked PAT that would force the Commanders to go for 2 point later. This is something that Carter and Davis have worked on in practice and it’s clearly paying off. It also shows the type of effort you want from your defensive player, where every play matters.
They also had a big stop on the aforementioned 2-point play. This was done by Moro Ojomo making a spectacular tackle. I want to make sure to give him his flowers because I want to see a big year out of him. You could also argue that this play won the game for them. Sure the Eagles would’ve had plenty of time left to go down for a field goal and likely couldn’t lose in regulation. That didn’t matter as this stop sealed it.
I’m not going to act like it was all sunshine and rainbows though. The offensive line did struggle most of the day. Saquon Barkley had five yards before contact on Sunday. That’s total by the way, which is bad. It’s great to see a return to form for Saquon and still get 83 yards on the day but his line didn’t do him many favors. They also didn’t give much help to Jalen Hurts. Not only did he have to run around and scramble all day but the line let the QB get sacked three times. For a team that prides itself on the trenches, you hope this is just the week one warm up jitters.
Saquon Barkley gained 78 of his 83 rushing yards after contact against the Commanders.
Impressive effort by him, much less so by the Eagles’ run blocking.
— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) September 14, 2026
Speaking of offensive woes, a lot of this came from Landon Dickerson’s performance. He was getting a lot of flak following the game as people reviewed the tape and I can’t blame those people. Luckily you’re reading this after the announcement that Dickerson is heading to the Injured-Reserved list for at least four games. I’m not going to knock a player for fighting through injury to play. That said, he did struggle. Even he admitted it before announcing the injury. I’m hoping this time off lets him come back to his former Pro-Bowl caliber self. In the meantime, it’s next man up. I’m personally hoping Willie Lampkin either fills in or the Eagles slide Jurgens down and Lampkin plays center. Still those are next week problems and we should look at the next game.
“Honestly, I played like s*** yesterday. I was a complete liability. It was my fault. I should not be out there until I feel healthy. A few weeks ago, someone rolled up on me in practice. We got some imaging on it today. Really the best plan going forward is to put me on IR so I… pic.twitter.com/AtVN6g4VLL
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) September 14, 2026
Next week the Eagles have the Titans to play and that should get you excited. If you didn’t know the Titans lost pretty badly to the New York Jets. I think the Eagles are better than the Jets (bold take, I know). This should put the Eagles in a great spot for a figure-it-out game. In fact I’m going to guarantee a win next week for the Eagles and I’m willing to bet on it. Should the Eagles somehow lose, I will stick my finger in a mousetrap. Let’s hope for my typing fingers that doesn’t come true but it’s now etched in stone. Look forward to breaking it all down after, ideally, an easy win.
Sources: Eagles on Instagram, Pro Football Reference https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/202609130phi.htm , Eagles Nation on X, Fox Sports: NFL on X, NFL on X, Eagles Fan Central on X, Brandon Lee Gowton on X, John Clark on X
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Hello, I’m a greater Philadelphia native writing mostly about the Eagles and the rest of the NFL. Articles aren’t … More about Kyle Lavin
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