Sean Mannion, or Nick Sirianni, or Jalen Hurts has to decide on offensive identity after ugly Rams loss
We knew the new Eagles offense would be a work in progress. No one expected a complete lack of identity.
After nearly reaching the quarter pole of the season, it’s become evident that Sean Mannion’s Eagles offense is disjointed, unimaginative, and ultimately, ineffective.
Or is it Nick Sirianni’s offense? Or Jalen Hurts’? Or does it even matter who is given ownership of a unit that failed to capitalize on an impressive defensive performance against the Los Angeles Rams?
Of course, everyone played a part in a 24-20 loss on Sunday. Vic Fangio’s defense could have gotten a stop on the Rams’ two late fourth-quarter touchdown drives. The Lane Johnson-less offensive line could have opened more holes and given Hurts more time. The wide receivers, running backs, and tight ends could have done something to convert just one third down.
But the offense has reached an inflection point after its regression in each of the first four games, and it’s on the figureheads at the top to decide where to go from here. Should Sirianni allow Mannion to fully implement the Kyle Shanahan scheme that was at the core of his hiring? Or should they just abandon the under-center heavy system that has been woefully unproductive thus far?
“I’ve got a ton of confidence in Sean and he’s going to wear a lot of this. There’s no doubt,” Sirianni said. “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. I have no complaints on what happened there today.”
Sirianni was referencing Mannion’s play-calling. But the game planning is at the heart of the matter. The Eagles want a sophisticated offense that can marry the run with the pass off play-action, but they also want Hurts in the shotgun playing to his strengths.
» READ MORE: Nick Sirianni went for it. Failed. Now the Eagles are a team in crisis after 24-20 collapse against the Rams.
The problem is they can’t function properly on run downs because defenses are stacking the box when Hurts is under center, and when they’re forced into obvious pass downs, the quarterback is getting blitzed to death. In essence, they haven’t been either thing.
There was always going to be some blending of the old with the new. But asking a 34-year-old first time offensive coordinator to take on that responsibility when he had little experience in more than one scheme is starting to look like a tall task.
Hurts did not play well vs. the Rams. He fell short of standards last week in Chicago. But he carried the Eagles to victories in the first two weeks, and did so by executing some of the new intricacies that Mannion brought to Philly.
The Eagles can win with Hurts. It’s been shown over and over. But he can’t be at the center of it all, even if he plays the most important position. Two years ago after a 2-2 start, Sirianni pivoted to a run-based offense after it was clear that the quarterback couldn’t thrive in Kellen Moore’s scheme.
The Eagles may need another shift, although it’s not like they haven’t tried to run the ball so far.
“We’re going to forge together,” Hurts said when reminded about the 2024 change that spearheaded a run to a championship. “We’re going to figure out a way.”
That team had Saquon Barkley and a dominant offensive line. But Barkley left in the first quarter after straining his hamstring Sunday, and the O-line was without right tackle Lane Johnson, who was a late scratch due to personal reasons.
Who knows how long either player will be out? The Eagles were also without receiver DeVonta Smith, tight end Dallas Goedert and left guard Landon Dickerson. Backup tailback Tank Bigsby was knocked out late in the game.
» READ MORE: Eagles grades vs. Rams: Jalen Hurts and the offense struggle as Eagles collapse late
The injuries and Johnson being MIA were unfortunate. The defense entered without linebacker Zack Baun and safety Marcus Epps (probably an upgrade), but it also lost cornerback Quinyon Mitchell (knee) and outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard (ankle).
After several seasons of being one of the healthiest teams in the NFL, the law of averages has seemingly caught up to the Eagles. The rest of the league isn’t crying for them. The Rams were down three starters on defense, including two future Hall of Famers in defensive linemen Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald.
The Eagles’ issues go deep, or they’ve been further exposed by the injuries, particularly on offense where they lack depth at receiver and tight end. The game got off to a fitting start when Hurts barked at reserve Elijah Moore — “Get off the [bleeping] ball! Come on!” — when the receiver didn’t start his pre-snap motion.
It was one of many examples of the offense just not being in sync. Left guard Cam Jurgens had another rough outing. He’s playing a new position, but he caused a bungled exchange at the 2-yard line when he hit the ball as it was snapped to Hurts late in the game.
Tight end Johnny Mundt brought back a long Bigsby run with a holding penalty. Johnson’s replacement, Markel Bell, lined up in an illegal formation on third down. The Eagles were 0 for 12 on third down and haven’t converted 17 in a row stretching back to the first half of the Bears loss.
“I know when you’re 0 for whatever we were today, everybody has a hand in that,” Sirianni said. “Our job is to figure out what happened and get better from it and not assign blame. That’s what we’ll be doing.”
» READ MORE: Lane Johnson’s late-breaking absence forced the Eagles to scramble. It’s unclear if he’ll be back for Week 5
The offense was able to turn two first-half interceptions of Matthew Stafford into 10 points. Receiver Darius Cooper had a couple touchdown catches. And there was some ground success on a decent fourth-quarter drive. But the Eagles failed to punch it into the end zone and expand a 20-10 lead.
The Rams went 98 yards the other way and then scored again after yet another Eagles three-and-out. The second- half offense has been horrid. The Eagles have gone three- and-out on 12 of 15 possessions in the third quarter.
They’ve had some early success on outside zone runs the last two weeks — the play being the “DNA” of the Shanahan scheme, per left tackle Jordan Mailata — but Mannion got away from the perimeter runs after Barkley left.
“I just know that this offense is built off outside zone,” Mailata said, “and in order to effectively execute this system and all these under-center play actions, we got to get that run game going.”
But a lot of the runs are still coming out of the shotgun and on inside-zone blocking. When there is a play-action dialed up, the results have often been disastrous. On one naked bootleg, receiver Makai Lemon ran into a defender and Hurts was forced to throw the ball into the dirt.
“I can’t say it’s our flow. We’re finding our flow,” Hurts said. “We’re finding our flow of things, and ultimately, it comes down to execution.”
The passing offense has been just as inadequate. When Hurts does connect with his receivers, there’s often little opportunity to pick up yards after the catch.
Handling the blitz has been the biggest problem. Defenses are often sending more than the Eagles can account for and the pre-snap calls aren’t helping to set protections. That’s on the scheme, but it’s also on the blockers and, ultimately, Hurts.
“I felt like we were five down almost every snap, run or pass,” Mailata said, “and so, we’re trying to pick up the five D-linemen and whatever extra is on whatever the protection call is.”
It’s been an issue that predates Mannion’s arrival. The Eagles previously found ways to offset some of Hurts’ deficiencies pre-snap. They took portions off his plate during the 2024 turnaround.
But they had a bye week to tinker with the offense two years ago. They had a veteran offensive coordinator and O-line coach in Jeff Stoutland to assist Sirianni in the alterations. They had a better, healthier roster.
“It’s a team game, and it takes all of us to go out there and do what we do and grow from it, ”Hurts said. “I’ve said it all year to this point. It’s not about making any promises or anything.
“It’s just looking at this thing practically and saying, ‘Who are we?’”
The Eagles are a team in search of an offensive identity.
“We’ve still got a ways to go there,” Sirianni said, “and it’s obvious that we’re still trying to figure that out.”
The clock is ticking.
Just a few months ago, when Eagles training camp got underway, the defense drew rave reviews. The prevailing sentiment was that the unit was poised to dominate this year. So far through three games, Vic Fangio’s group has done anything but. From the lack of forced turnovers to missed coverage assignments, the Eagles have plenty of room for improvement. Can Fangio work his magic to get the defense on track in time for this week’s showdown with the high-powered LA Rams? The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane puts the defense under the microscope, and also answers listener questions in this week’s mailbag. Listen here.
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