I\u2019m completely done with this offense. I\u2019ve been mad in the past, but never completely out on the whole offense so early into a season. I always try to seek positives. Those of you who have read my work for a while will know that I rarely call for a player to be benched or a coach to be fired. I would much rather explain what is going wrong and look for ways to fix it. But after watching the Eagles\u2019 offense against the Panthers, I think Sean Mannion (you can add more if you want) should probably go. This under-center, outside zone offense he brought in has been dreadful, and I don\u2019t see a coach who looks ready to solve the problems his own system is creating. With so little coaching experience, he looks completely out of his depth.<\/p>\n
I know fans will rightly call for Nick Sirianni, too. I am not defending him at all. He is the head coach, and he is responsible for allowing this to continue. But replacing the offensive coordinator and handing the offense to Josh Grizzard, or even Sirianni himself, is a more straightforward immediate change than firing the head coach. If Sirianni has to take over, let him deal with it. He\u2019s the head coach. What I absolutely cannot get behind is giving Mannion even more responsibility. Or fire them both, whatever. I just can\u2019t keep watching the same thing every week! It\u2019s driving me crazy.<\/p>\n
The injuries are real, but this was a Panthers defense with both of its top two cornerbacks on injured reserve and Jaelan Phillips playing only 28 snaps. There were matchups to exploit. There were opportunities to move the ball. Instead, the Eagles repeatedly put their players in positions where they had almost no chance. I didn\u2019t think Tanner McKee played well, but I am tired of trying to evaluate quarterbacks, running backs, and offensive linemen within an operation this dysfunctional. It isn\u2019t fair on the players.<\/p>\n
The very first play tells you almost everything you need to know. The Eagles line up under center, run play action, and leave a defender unblocked. The Panthers have four potential blitzers to their left, and the protection ends up asking Dameon Pierce to account for two defenders. I assume Willie Lampkin is supposed to pull across and pick up the linebacker, but he looks confused and helps where he isn\u2019t needed. Without knowing the protection call, I can\u2019t tell you exactly where the communication breaks down. I can tell you that the result is hopeless.<\/p>\n
This is the opening play. The staff has had all week to prepare it, and the protection still looks like this. We aren\u2019t talking about a defense unveiling something in the fourth quarter that the offense has never seen before. The Eagles start the game unable to sort out who is blocking whom. After weeks of the same issues, that is unacceptable. The opening possessions felt insulting to the fans who turned up to watch this team.<\/p>\n
On the next drive, Elijah Moore runs straight past Akayleb Evans (29) at the top of the screen. I highlighted Evans as someone to attack in the preview, and the opportunity is right there. McKee doesn\u2019t have a chance to take advantage because the protection collapses again. The Panthers show a five-man front, but the Eagles appear to want their offensive linemen to block across a gap while leaving the edge defender to two tight ends. That requires Jake Majors to get across to No. 95, which leaves No. 92 for Tyler Steen. Steen can\u2019t get over in time.<\/p>\n
Why are we making this so difficult? I understand that protections involve more than simply pointing five linemen at five defenders, but the Eagles keep creating problems for themselves with these assignments. They have seven players in protection against five rushers and still can\u2019t give the quarterback a chance to throw to an open receiver. Majors is struggling at center, but he is hanging in there, and I thought the individual offensive line play was better than the overall protection would suggest. The staff deserves serious scrutiny for the plan it is asking these players to execute.<\/p>\n
The problems extend beyond blocking. The Eagles keep running this under-center play-action concept, often called \u201cthrottle,\u201d a staple of the Shanahan offense in which the receiver can settle rather than continue across the field. It can work as a changeup to crossing routes. But the Eagles barely have a functioning crossing-route game, so what exactly are they changing up? The Panthers\u2019 linebackers don\u2019t bite on the fake and get good depth. There is no short route in the middle to draw them forward, leaving very little space behind them for the throw.<\/p>\n
The defense isn\u2019t being stretched horizontally or vertically. The Eagles are borrowing a concept without creating the conditions that make it effective. It looks like running the Shanahan offense on beginner mode without understanding why the actual offense works. Their under-center passing game was utterly hopeless here: three incompletions and two sacks on five under-center play-action snaps. That isn\u2019t helping a backup quarterback settle into a game.<\/p>\n
I mean, seriously, come on, guys. This is laughable. This chart looks made up!<\/p>\n
Believe it or not, the Eagles did have two successful under-center runs in a row. Both were outside zone to the right from 12 personnel, and Dallas Goedert did a good job blocking on that side. Derrick Brown wasn\u2019t on the field for the first one. On the second, the Eagles ran away from him, and the Panthers\u2019 slant took their defensive linemen away from the opening. There were huge gaps to exploit, which matched what I thought about the weaknesses in this run defense before the game.<\/p>\n
These were good outcomes, and they gave the offense something to build on. After showing the same run successfully twice, the staff had an opportunity to make the defense pay for anticipating it. Change the direction. Run play action. Give the defense something else to consider. What do you think happened next?<\/p>\n
They ran it again. Same personnel, same direction, essentially the same look. This time, the Panthers saw it coming and blew up the run in the backfield. The Eagles followed it with two incomplete passes from shotgun and punted.<\/p>\n
This is why I keep coming back to sequencing and coaching. The under-center run game and shotgun passing game still feel like separate offenses. A couple of successful outside zone carries don\u2019t automatically help the next pass if the offense doesn\u2019t create a meaningful connection between them. The defense gets to react to each formation without being forced to worry about what might come off the previous play. We have been talking about this for weeks, and I am fed up with watching the same thing happen.<\/p>\n
For a moment, we get a lovely route from Darius Cooper and an excellent throw from McKee. Under-center play action has finally produced something! Except Johnny Mundt holds the linebacker after getting beaten around the edge, and the play comes back. Mundt\u2019s hold buys McKee the extra moment he needs to make the throw, so you can\u2019t simply remove the penalty and pretend the protection worked.<\/p>\n
The route and throw deserve credit. They also show that there are plays to be made against this secondary. But the Eagles can\u2019t keep calling an offense that needs its blockers to hold just to give the quarterback enough time to execute it. If the protection can\u2019t support the concept, the staff has to change what it is asking the players to do.<\/p>\n
What are we doing here? How many times are we going to see the swing pass fail this year? The Eagles use three blockers to account for two defensive backs, leaving Devin Lloyd free to tackle Pierce. Pierce actually does well to make something of the situation, and he still loses a yard. This is the sort of play that makes me feel sorry for the running back. He can make a defender miss or fight through contact and still end up with a negative result because the blocking has given him so little chance.<\/p>\n
Evans gets beaten again, but the Eagles don\u2019t exploit it. McKee is focused on Dontayvion Wicks running a corner route against a cornerback with outside leverage, and I am not sure why he chooses that side. However, the pocket is already collapsing, so he has no realistic opportunity to work back across the field anyway.<\/p>\n
The Eagles kept asking Pierce to stay in and pass-protect, and he struggled badly. He was asked to pass-protect 19 times, the second-highest total for a running back in Week 6. And he\u2019s terrible in pass protection. He was essentially the only available option at running back, but that doesn\u2019t mean the offense had to keep giving him an assignment he couldn\u2019t execute. Split him wide and go empty, or use another receiver or tight end instead. Keeping a back in protection only helps if he can actually protect. The Eagles weren\u2019t getting that benefit, yet they kept building the passing game around it.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s enjoy a block for a moment. This isn\u2019t outside zone, and Lampkin does an excellent job here. You can see his wrestling background in the way he controls the defender. I thought he played well overall, and I am bored of discussing these games as if every offensive lineman has suddenly become incapable of blocking. Markel Bell looked decent, too, although he had some shakier moments.<\/p>\n