The Philadelphia Eagles' season was already seemingly falling apart before the team boarded a plane to London. With two more losses since then, along with Monday's news that Jalen Hurts is expected to miss the rest of the 2026 season, the narrative that the Eagles are in freefall is in full effect. In any other situation, the Eagles would embark on an organic tank, a byproduct of the team's mounting injuries and losses.
Losing is never acceptable (especially in a city like Philadelphia, which prides itself on overcoming the odds), but it would be understood, given the amount of body blows the Eagles have already endured. The Eagles won't intentionally tank, however. There's too much football left to play, the Eagles have too many good players on their roster, and they play in the NFL's easiest division to win.
Philadelphia's objective, at least to me, is clear: win as many games as you can with the players you have. Best case, the Eagles find a way to win a division that could be had with seven wins. Worst case, the Eagles stumble into a top-five pick in next year's draft.
Before we look ahead, let's look back at the Eagles' first six games. Four of their first five games were one-score outcomes (the only outlier was the embarrassing loss in Chicago in Week 3). On Sunday, the Eagles weren't put away until Bryce Young's second touchdown pass made it an 11-point game with 6:33 left.
Philadelphia gave the defending NFC South champs a fight despite the absence of Hurts and Saquon Barkley (hamstring) and losing Nolan Smith during the game (concussion). In a losing effort, the Eagles received encouraging performances from DeVonta Smith (75 yards and a touchdown), Dallas Goedert (six catches for 61 yards in his second game back from injury), linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. (six tackles and a half-sack) and defensive end Arnold Ebiketie (nine tackles). Sunday was essentially Tanner McKee's first legitimate start (his first two starts the previous two seasons were in meaningless games where the vast majority of the starters rested).
Given the circumstances, McKee's performance wasn't bad by any stretch. He attempted 45 passes (way too many for a player in his position), completed 26, and threw for 215 yards and a touchdown. His stat line did not include an interception, which is impressive given his lack of experience and the number of times he threw the ball up.
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