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Dick Vermeil says that once the Philadelphia Eagles get healthy on the offensive line, “all hell could break loose” for opponents in the playoffs. (Photo by Andy Lewis\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Head coaching legend Dick Vermeil believes the Philadelphia Eagles\u2019 struggles on the offensive line can be traced to one main thing \u2013 the offensive line.<\/p>\n
The offensive line has been banged up throughout the 2025 season, with star tackle Lane Johnson recently suffering a Lisfranc injury that has landed him on injured reserve. In other words, he\u2019ll be out for a minimum of four games. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s not even mentioning how the other offensive linemen such as center Cam Jurgens and left guard Landon Dickerson have battled ailments that have prevented the offensive line from being fully healthy this season. Jurgens has suited up in eight of the teams\u2019 12 games, while Dickerson has suited up in nine of the 12 games.<\/p>\n
It has resulted in the Eagles\u2019 offensive unit ranking in the bottom half of the league in multiple categories. Philadelphia ranks 25th in total yards, 28th in passing and 29th in third-down conversion rate. They also rank 17th in rushing yards after Saquon Barkley posted a historic year with a 2,000-yard season.<\/p>\n
The Eagles\u2019 offensive unit ranks 16th overall in scoring.<\/p>\n
Vermeil coached the Eagles for seven seasons (1976-1982), leading them to the playoffs four times and an appearance in Super Bowl XV. He says the key for the Eagles to operate to their full potential is the health of the offensive line.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say number one is to get healthy,\u201d Vermeil says in a one-on-one interview of the key for the Eagles to reach their potential. \u201cThey have to get healthy. If they get the offensive line — everybody, everything — starts with the quality of your offensive line in regard to determining the quality of your offense. They haven\u2019t started their full offensive line hardly all year healthy. <\/p>\n
\u201cNow they lose the right tackle in Johnson until maybe playoff time,\u201d Vermeil continues. “So it\u2019s been the left guard, it\u2019s been the center, it\u2019s been the right tackle. They haven\u2019t been together. It’s very hard to be the unit you ought to be within those circumstances. That’s all there is to it. I think that’s the big thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The criticism towards the Eagles have been heavy, with Jalen Hurts facing adversity due to recents reports that indicate teammates are unhappy with his unwillingness to take shots down the field.<\/p>\n
It also doesn\u2019t help that A.J. Brown has been very public in his displeasure with his role in the offense, with the three-time Pro Bowl receiver going to social media to express his unhappiness. Through the first 10 games this season, Brown is averaging just 44.6 receiving yards per game on a 58.5% catch rate. Those are career lows.<\/p>\n
He has just 38 catches for 457 yards after posting 67 catches for 1,079 yards in 13 games last season.<\/p>\n
While the Eagles may not be perfect, the reality is they\u2019re still 8-2 and hold the best record in the NFC. The wins haven\u2019t been pretty, with Philadelphia scoring a combined total of just 26 points in wins over the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers.<\/p>\n
Vermeil says the bottom line is, every team is giving the Eagles their best shot considering they\u2019re the defending world champs. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing is, when people play the past world champions, they play them better,\u201d says Vermeil. \u201cThey play better, they prepare better, they\u2019re more ready to play emotionally game day because they\u2019re playing against the best, and they want to be able to say they beat the world champions. And it makes it tough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vermeil also mentions that it\u2019s because Philadelphia just isn\u2019t as good as they were last season when they suffered just one loss after Week 4 and stream-rolled through the competition in the playoffs. <\/p>\n
The Super Bowl champion-winning head coach does say that once the Eagles get healthy when the playoffs come around, they could start to become real dangerous again.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could call it a struggle, and they\u2019re just not as good as they were last year,\u201d says Vermeil of this year\u2019s Eagles. \u201cThey spoiled us, and I operate giving the defensive teams they\u2019ve had to face more credit for slowing them down, rather than saying the Eagles aren\u2019t as good. Those two defensive teams did a real good job on them, and I think we tend to overlook that, and we want to blame the offense for not playing well, but I think they\u2019re right in the hunt the way the defense is playing now. I\u2019m confident the offense will get healthier and better, and they will be and when they get to the playoffs, all hell could break loose.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dick Vermeil Receiving Community Partner Of The Year Award Through Salvation Army <\/p>\n
The 89-year-old coaching great is still keeping busy these days as he\u2019ll receive the Community Partner of the Year award on behalf of The Salvation Army Trenton Corps. Vermeil is receiving the award due to the work he does off the field with helping and empowering young people.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have a name that\u2019s recognizable, you get more honors and honors you really don\u2019t deserve,\u201d says Vermeil while poking fun at himself. \u201cThey have the banquet there in the Trenton Country Club, which is going to be very nice. My wife is going, and my neighbors are going to this, gotta get dressed up and go do it right. I know they\u2019re doing it right, for all the good reasons to raise money for Salvation Army and all the good things they do. I’m pleased that they’re using me to help raise money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vermeil details how much The Salvation Army helps those in need and how it\u2019s an honor for him to be partnered with them for the first time in his life.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all know that we\u2019re very fortunate to live as we live, and we all know there\u2019s a lot of people that struggle to live as they ought to live,\u201d says Vermeil. \u201cI think Salvation Army does a real good job of trying to look after those people in need that aren\u2019t as fortunate as I am, and maybe you and other people that are very stable financially. It\u2019s a good thing. They run a very efficient organization too. They don\u2019t take a lot of money for their own use in their own salaries. They work with their hearts more than their pocketbook.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dick Vermeil says that once the Philadelphia Eagles get healthy on the offensive line, “all hell could break…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41035,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4983,24751,6108,18023,1418,69,4538,71,70,7113],"class_list":["post-41034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-a-j-brown","tag-dick-vermeil","tag-jalen-hurts","tag-lane-johnson","tag-nfl","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-eagles","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-saquon-barkley"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41034","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=41034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41034\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}