Could changing offensive line coaches help? How dumb are the Bengals? Did the Eagles do Joe Milton a disservice starting him so soon?<\/p>\n
All good questions and we have some answers to those and several other questions in this weekend\u2019s 10 Random Observations as the Eagles give all of us a break from their ineptitude at least for one Sunday.<\/p>\n
COULD GREG AUSTIN HELP?\u00a0I don\u2019t believe that all the offensive line\u2019s problems are the fault of new o-line coach Chris Kuper. Lane Johnson\u2019s retirement and chronic injuries to Landon Dickerson and pre-trade Cam Jurgens sure didn\u2019t help. But things like the communication issues, Tyler Steen\u2019s regression and the inability of this group to play the brand of smart, physical play we\u2019re used to around here are squarely on Kuper, and it\u2019s been bad. The offensive line should be playing a lot better than it is, even without Lane, and they\u2019ve been so bad they really haven\u2019t given whoever\u2019s playing quarterback a chance. It was pretty damning to hear Drew Kendall say, \u201cWe all got to get on the same page from a communication standpoint,\u201d when we\u2019re halfway through the season. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s any chance the Eagles make a change. That\u2019s not how they do things. Nonetheless, I am curious whether moving his responsibilities over to assistant offensive line coach Greg Austin might help. Here\u2019s what I like about Austin: He worked alongside Jeff Stoutland from 2013 through 2015 after following Chip Kelly here from Oregon, where he was a quality control guy under Chip. Austin had a number of other jobs \u2013 including under Doug Pederson in Jacksonville \u2013 before rejoining the Eagles in 2025 and getting one last year in with Stout. I like the Stout connection and if you can\u2019t bring Stout back \u2013 which obviously the Eagles will never do as long as Nick Sirianni is head coach \u2013 how about bringing back a discipline of Stout, a guy who understands how he coached and taught? Now, the big issue here is that everything Kuper does with offensive linemen \u2013 the way they line up, the way they block, the way they communicate (or otherwise) \u2013 is different than how Stout did things. It\u2019s probably too late to go back to Stout\u2019s scheme sitting here in Week 10, but if Austin can channel some of that Stout wisdom and experience and apply it to what this line is already trying to do, maybe that would help? Sure as heck can\u2019t hurt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
HOW DUMB ARE THE BENGALS?\u00a0The Arnold Ebiketie situation is literally unbelievable. How did the Bengals not understand the ramifications that trading for Ebiketie would have on the comp pick formula? How is that even possible? The Bengals were all set to send the Eagles a 6th-round pick Tuesday for Ebiketie \u2013 why they even wanted him in the first place is another mystery \u2013 but pulled the plug on the trade after seeing a tweet from Over the Cap with comp pick expert Nick Korte explaining that the trade would nullify the 3rd-round comp pick they were due for losing Trey Hendrickson in free agency. How does Bengals de facto GM Duke Tobin not know the rules? How can a dude working for a website \u2013 a very sharp dude \u2013 know more about the comp pick formula than a guy running an NFL team? And why would the Bengals want to trade a pick in the first place for an edge rusher who has no sacks, no tackles for loss and one hurry in 300 snaps this year with the Eagles? The Bengals are 6-2 and they\u2019ve won four straight so they\u2019re doing something right. But it\u2019s wild to think that a guy from Over the Cap saved them from losing a 3rd-round pick by acquiring Arnold Ebiketie of all people. Then they make head coach Zac Taylor hold the press conference to discuss the situation while Tobin hides out in his office. The Bengals should probably fire Tobin and hire Korte.<\/p>\n
MILTON JUST WASN\u2019T READY:\u00a0I said it before the game so this isn\u2019t second guessing, but there was no way Joe Milton could have been ready to face the Commanders just 23 days after the first time he walked into the Eagles\u2019 facility and with just 10 practices under his belt. You can\u2019t even begin to get comfortable in an NFL offense that quickly. Considering everything, I thought Milton played as well as you could possibly hope for. This is not just a guy new in this offense, he was also making his first NFL start. Too much to overcome. Andy Reid used to say it takes a quarterback five years in the same offense to truly master it. Joe Milton didn\u2019t even have five weeks. There\u2019s a reason there are OTAs in the spring, throwing sessions with the receivers during down time in the summer and then five weeks of training camp. All that stuff matters. If you\u2019re going to play the most challenging position on the field you need that time to truly get comfortable in the offense, to understand how your receivers run routes, to get a feel for how your offensive linemen block (or don\u2019t) and to get a sense for how the play caller \u2013 good or bad \u2013 calls plays. Milton had none of that. The Eagles sent him out there unprepared and that didn\u2019t make sense for anybody.<\/p>\n
PUTTING ALL THESE DRAFT PICKS IN PERSPECTIVE:\u00a0Howie Roseman\u2019s current draft stockpile is two 1st-round picks and a 2nd-round pick in 2027, two 1st-round picks and two 2nd-round picks in 2028 and a 1st-round pick and two 2nd-round picks in 2029. Keeping in mind that Roseman will use some of these picks to draft players and others as trade capital, let\u2019s put that into perspective:<\/p>\n
The Eagles have never had 10 picks in the first two rounds over a three-year period. The most they\u2019ve had is nine from 1993 through 1995 \u2013 four 1sts and five 2nds. Those drafts produced Lester Holmes, Leonard Renfro, Bernard Williams and Mike Mamula in the first round and Victor Bailey, Bruce Walker, Charlie Garner, Bobby Taylor and Barrett Brooks;<\/p>\n
The Eagles have never had five 1st-round picks in a three-year period. The most they\u2019ve had is four from 1948 through 1950, producing Clyde Scott, Chuck Bednarik, Frank Tripucka and Bud Grant, and 1971 through 1973, producing Richard Harris, John Reaves, Jerry Sisemore and Charle Young.<\/p>\n
The Eagles have also never had back-to-back drafts with multiple 1st-round picks. They had two in 1949, 1973, 1993 and 2023. The last time they had two 1sts\u00a0and a 2nd\u00a0was 1993.<\/p>\n
There have only been nine times the Eagles have had two 1sts\u00a0and a 2nd: 1983, 1986, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2005 and 2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA-TISKET, A WHAT?????”\u00a0It was 1938. Joe DiMaggio was A.L. MVP. FDR was President. The most popular song in the U.S. was \u201cA-Tisket, A-Tasket,\u201d by Chick Webb and his Orchestra. That\u2019s also the last time before this year that the Eagles were outgained by at least 300 yards through nine games both rushing and passing. The Eagles have been out-rushed by 338 yards and out-passed by 501 yards. In 1938, they were out-rushed by 640 yards and out-passed by 604 yards. It’s been a while.<\/p>\n
BARRY, JOSH ALLEN, JONATHAN TAYLOR AND JALEN:\u00a0This is kind of crazy, but Jalen Hurts has the 4th-most rushing touchdowns in NFL history among players who only played for one team. Hurts ranks 40th\u00a0with 64 career rushing touchdowns, but 36 of the 39 guys ahead of him played for multiple teams. Just goes to show you how rare in the free agency era for a guy to spend his entire career with one team. The top three on that list are Barry Sanders (99), who only played for the Lions, Josh Allen (88) with the Bills, and Salem\u2019s Jonathan Taylor (77), who looked like he might be moving at the trade deadline but has still only played for the Colts. What would the all-time top-10 most rushing TDs by guys who only played for one team look like? 1) Sanders, 2) Allen, 3) Taylor, 4) Hurts, 5) Alvin Kamara of the Saints (63), 6) Terrell Davis of the Broncos (60), 7) Tampa\u2019s Mike Alstott (58), 8) Tiki Barber with the Giants (55), 9), Neal Anderson with the Bears (51) and 10) Rodney Hampton of the Giants, Deuce McAllister of the Saints and Washington\u2019s John Riggins (all 49). Among Eagles running backs, only four had at least 10 rushing touchdowns without ever playing for another team: Steve Van Buren (69), Anthony Toney (14), Heath Sherman (10) and Frank Ziegler (10). I may be the only one who finds that fascinating.<\/p>\n
MAKAI LEMON STAT OF THE WEEK:\u00a0With seven catches against the Cowboys and six each against the Commanders and Giants, Makai Lemon became the first Eagles rookie ever with six catches in three consecutive games. DeSean Jackson had five catches in four straight games as a rookie in 2008.\u00a0<\/p>\n
WHAT ON EARTH HAPPENED TO CARSON WENTZ?\u00a0I guess it\u2019s just the accumulation of injuries on a 33-year-old quarterback, but, man, it was sad watching Carson Wentz play Monday night against the Bills. He was so good back in the day. And not just in 2017 but for much of 2018 and 2019 and even most of 2021 with the Colts. From 2017 through 2021 he had 124 touchdown passes (8th-most in the league) and 43 interceptions. He was still functional at times after that and had some decent starts in his various stops \u2013 Washington, Rams, Chiefs and now Vikings \u2013 but what we saw Monday night was horrifying. Wentz looked hopeless. He couldn\u2019t throw, he couldn\u2019t move, his decision making was atrocious, his pocket awareness was absent. Wentz\u2019s 8.9 passer rating Monday night is lowest by an NFL starting quarterback in three years and lowest by a player drafted by the Eagles since Donovan McNabb had a 0.4 rating in a game against the Dolphins in 2007. Wentz turns 34 next month, and he\u2019s running out of teams. Monday night was his 101st\u00a0career start and I\u2019m guessing it will wind up as the last one. Crazy career, from MVP candidate and key piece of a Super Bowl champion to hapless journeyman. Sad to see. But no Eagles quarterback was ever better than Wentz the first 14 weeks of 2017. He was 11-2 with 33 touchdowns, seven INTs and a 101.9 passer rating. Without Wentz there is no No. 1 seed and without a No. 1 seed there probably is no parade up Broad Street and for that Wentz should always be remembered fondly by Eagles fans.<\/p>\n
CAN THE EAGLES LOSE OUT?\u00a0How rare would it be for the Eagles to lose out after opening the season 2-0? Incredibly rare. Only one team in the last 84 years has won its first two games and not won another. That was the 2013 Texans \u2013 a team covered by Dave Zangaro for CSN Houston \u2013 who beat the Chargers and Titans to open the season, then lost 14 straight by an average of 11 \u00bd points to finish 2-14. The only other teams to lose out after a 2-0 start were the 1924 Dayton Triangles, who beat the Frankford Yellow Jackets and Buffalo Bisons before losing their last eight games to finish 2-8, and the 1941 Cleveland Rams, who opened with wins over the Steelers and Cardinals before losing their last 10 and finishing 2-10. Since 1942, 471 teams have opened a season 2-0, and 470 of them have won at least one more game the rest of the season. Can the Eagles really lose their last 15 games? Have you watched them lately?<\/p>\n
THEY\u2019RE REALLY BAD ON 4TH\u00a0DOWN:\u00a0Another victim of the Eagles\u2019 offensive malaise has been fourth down. They\u2019re terrible at it. From 2021 through 2025, the Eagles were 3rd-best in the NFL on fourth down, converting 63 percent on 82-for-130. This year, they\u2019re tied for 27th\u00a0at 33.3 percent on 6-for-18. That\u2019s their 6th-worst percentage through nine games since the NFL began tracking fourth downs in 1991. Nobody likes going for it on fourth down more than Nick Sirianni, but this year has been a 4th-down nightmare. During the seven-game losing streak, the Eagles are 5-for-17 on fourth down for 29.4 percent, their worst seven-game span in seven years. Whose fault is this? Usual suspects. Sirianni, Sean Mannion, Chris Kuper, offensive line. Take your pick.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Could changing offensive line coaches help? How dumb are the Bengals? Did the Eagles do Joe Milton a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":328149,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[6107,69,71,70,6444],"class_list":["post-328148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-eagles-blog","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-roobs-observations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328148","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=328148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/328149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=328148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=328148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}