PHILADELPHIA \u2014 The Eagles are running out of healthy players. They\u2019re also running out of excuses.<\/p>\n
Sunday\u2019s 25-14 loss to the Carolina Panthers at Lincoln Financial Field was their fourth straight, dropping them to 2-4. Tanner McKee started for Jalen Hurts, the running backs were a collection of replacements, and an offense already short on answers produced just 222 yards.<\/p>\n
The defense fought. The offense sputtered. And the Panthers, fresh off their bye week, eventually took control.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the report card:<\/p>\n
Quarterback: D<\/p>\n
McKee completed 26 of 45 passes for 215 yards and a touchdown in his first start of the season. He was sacked three times, struggled with accuracy and rarely looked comfortable. His perfect 19-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith offered a brief reprieve from an otherwise miserable afternoon.<\/p>\n
Running back: D<\/p>\n
With Saquon Barkley, Will Shipley and Tank Bigsby sidelined, Dameon Pierce scored on a 2-yard run. But Philadelphia managed just 35 rushing yards, leaving McKee without a ground game to ease the pressure.<\/p>\n
Wide receiver: C<\/p>\n
Smith returned from his hamstring injury and caught the Eagles\u2019 only touchdown pass. But the passing game lacked explosive plays, and the receivers struggled to create consistent opportunities.<\/p>\n
Tight end: C<\/p>\n
Dallas Goedert offered McKee a dependable target early, but the position produced little to change Carolina\u2019s defensive approach. The Eagles needed more from their passing game than short gains and stalled drives.<\/p>\n
Offensive line: D-<\/p>\n
McKee was sacked for an 11-yard loss on Philadelphia\u2019s first offensive play. The patchwork line struggled with protection and generated virtually no running room. Injuries explain some of the misery, but they don\u2019t erase it.<\/p>\n
Defensive line: C-<\/p>\n
Nolan Smith recorded a sack before leaving with a concussion. Jalen Carter made some plays, but Carolina rushed for 120 yards behind Chuba Hubbard, and the pass rush struggled to finish.<\/p>\n
Linebacker: C<\/p>\n
Zack Baun generated pressure on blitzes, but Jihaad Campbell and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. had uneven afternoons. Hubbard repeatedly found room, particularly as the game wore on.<\/p>\n
Cornerback\/safety: D+<\/p>\n
Cooper DeJean missed tackles, Andrew Mukuba struggled in coverage while Tommy Tremble caught two touchdowns. Bryce Young threw for 281 yards despite completing only 20 of 39 passes.<\/p>\n
Special teams: D-<\/p>\n
A blocked punt set up Carolina\u2019s final touchdown, and the return game offered little help. Braden Mann delivered a 65-yard punt, but splintered another and the breakdowns proved costly.<\/p>\n
Coaching: D-<\/p>\n
Sean Mannion\u2019s offense punted eight times and failed to score in the third quarter. Vic Fangio\u2019s battered defense eventually buckled, and Nick Sirianni\u2019s team again lacked answers when the game was there to be won.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n
Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X and Threads at @the_defranc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHILADELPHIA \u2014 The Eagles are running out of healthy players. They\u2019re also running out of excuses. Sunday\u2019s 25-14…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309511,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1418,69,4538,71,70,726,432],"class_list":["post-309510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-nfl","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-eagles","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-sports","tag-top-stories-tmc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}