This is a quarterback competition that should be over. But it’s not.

After Andy Dalton struggled for a second straight preseason game and Tanner McKee lit it up, Nick Sirianni said the No. 2 QB job is still up for grabs.

There’s not much else McKee could have done Saturday night in the Eagles’ 24-21 preseason loss to the Patriots at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

McKee completed 16 of 22 passes – that’s 73 percent – for 173 yards with two touchdown passes, no interceptions and a 125.8 passer rating. He showed a mastery of Sean Mannion’s new offense, he was decisive and accurate and anybody who watched this game and still thinks Andy Dalton should be Jalen Hurts’ backup just isn’t paying attention.

Both QBs struggled in the preseason opener in Baltimore. This was the same Dalton and an entirely new McKee.

“We talked a lot (after the Ravens game) about execution and not shooting ourselves in the foot with penalties,” McKee said. “Felt like we did a lot better job not going backwards. Really hard to play offense obviously just playing 1st-and-20 or 2nd-and-15, whatever it is. 

“You can’t call the plays that you want to call when you’re in those situations, so just getting the rhythm, getting the drive started, I thought just execution was better as well.”

Nick Sirianni was curiously muted in his praise of McKee, who engineered two touchdown drives and another drive that ended with a failed fourth down at the Patriots’ 9-yard-line.

“I thought today he did some good things.” Sirianni said. “You know, there will be plays that we’re going to have to correct and there was a lot of positives. I know stat-wise he came out having a pretty good game, but obviously for all of us there will be corrections within it. But, yeah, thought he did some good things. Made some nice plays. Had a couple fourth downs that we would have liked to convert. Not saying those are his fault in that situation, but those fourth downs hurt us, not converting there.”

McKee said all he can do is play his best whenever he gets reps at practice or gets into a game, and he can’t worry about where he stands with Dalton.

“I play when the coaches put me in,” McKee said after the game. “Put my best foot forward, try to do all the extra things, whether that’s in the film room or on the practice field, staying late, talking with the guys, bonding, whatever that is. I let them decide all that.”

You might think the 16-year veteran and three-time Pro Bowler would pick up Mannion’s offense faster than a guy like McKee, who has two NFL starts under his belt.

But that’s not what we’re seeing. Dalton was 3-for-10 for 44 yards Saturday night and is 6-for-16 for 64 yards on nine drives in two games.

“Any time it’s a new offense there is going to be a learning curve,” McKee said. “We definitely had that. It’s very different than what we’ve run in the past, so just with the new terminology, different techniques, fundamentals, and so of course there will be some bumps in the road. As long as we don’t make the same mistake twice and we’re trending upwards I think those will be good bumps.” 

McKee didn’t play the final drive of the game after the Patriots took a 24-21 lead with a minute left. Sirianni let rookie Cole Payton finish up, but he fumbled on his third snap and the game was over with McKee watching from the sideline.

“We had a rep count we wanted to get to,” Sirianni said. “That’s where we went right there in that situation. Obviously, still wanted to win. We knew Cole made some nice plays the last game he was in this. Has to protect the ball better in that situation. But, yeah, that’s just what we decided to do.”

Of course it doesn’t matter who wins or loses these games, but it would have been fun to see McKee try to drive the Eagles to a game-tying or game-winning drive. The way he was playing, you liked his chances.

 “As a competitor you always want to go in to win the game,” he said. “I’m waiting for coaches to tell me when to go into the game when do I leave the game. And so as a competitor of course I want every drive. So, yeah.”

Sirianni was muted in his praise of Dalton, and he continues to call this an open competition.

“I think both the guys are battling, and I’m really confident in both of the guys,” he said. “We’ll see where that goes. It’s still a competition. The reason Andy is going in first — in practice they’re still rotating – is because he’s not going to play as much as Tanner because he has had more experience and he has more experience within this type of system, and Tanner needs to continue to play. 

“We’ve got to continue to give both of them opportunities within practice and potentially games. See how next week goes. Obviously I’m not there yet.”