Obviously, a little bit of a quicker Philadelphia Eagles film review this week so that I can get to previewing the San Francisco 49ers 49ers. I will watch this one back in more detail in the off-season, focusing on a few other performances that I couldn’t get to this time. The Eagles rested most of their starters, played a full slate of backups, and paid for it with a 24–17 loss that cost them the No. 2 seed. Watching this back mostly reinforced how much Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown cover up on a weekly basis. That was my biggest takeaway!
Offense
If the goal was to showcase Tanner McKee and potentially raise his value, the plan backfired. Sticking him behind an entirely backup offensive line that couldn’t handle any second-level pressure exposed his biggest limitation immediately. McKee cannot create outside of structure. When the pocket collapsed or linebackers ran free, there was no escape. Jalen Hurts routinely bails this offense out of bad situations with mobility; McKee simply doesn’t have that in his bag. The Eagles didn’t put him in a good place to succeed.
Nick Sirianni’s postgame comments about keeping DeVonta Smith safe don’t really line up with this rep! Smith took a clean hit early, but still looked like a superstar among backups. The separation, ball tracking, and body control all jumped off the screen. It was actually jarring how much better Smith looked than everyone else on the field at receiver, which unintentionally highlighted how reliant this offense is on elite individual talent rather than structure.
The empty looks were interesting. Given McKee’s lack of mobility, leaning into empty was surprising, but when he got the ball out on time, it worked well. This route against split-safety coverage was beautiful, and it served as another reminder of how misused Grant Calcaterra has been all season. This is what he’s good at! Yet the staff rarely gives him opportunities like this in meaningful games.
The spacing issues on display here were brutal. As the game wore on, McKee’s inability to survive once the play broke down became more obvious. This wasn’t just a quarterback issue; the route distribution and timing didn’t give him margin for error. Hurts’ ability to turn broken plays into positive ones has masked how fragile the offensive design often is. This should not be a surprise to anyone. If anyone magically expected the design of the offense to change once Jalen Hurts was removed, they would have been disappointed.
The interception was ugly, but it also felt inevitable given McKee’s play style. He throws with anticipation, which is generally a good trait, but here the ball came out far too early. He was clearly hoping the safety would be pulled out of the window by the vertical route, but he’s too early. Over an extended stretch, you’d expect several interceptions like this. I don’t say that as a major criticism; I just think it’s part of the way he plays.
Tank Bigsby was one of the few positives. He ran hard, found yards where there weren’t many, and absolutely deserves a larger role going forward. The Eagles pulled both the center and left guard at times in this game, which is something we haven’t seen much of this year. I just think that’s an interesting note, condering the health of Landon Dickerson and Cam Jurgens this year. Brett Toth and Drew Kendall held up better in the run game than expected. If Cam Jurgens really isn’t healthy, I’m a little surprised that Toth hasn’t been given a chance to start this year.
The second half was rough. The offensive design did McKee no favors, and there was very little in the way of easy completions. That said, this was the best concept of the night. McKee absolutely has to take the deep post once the safety bites. This is the stuff we have seen more of over the 2nd half of the season. Ironically, this is usually the kind of throw associated with McKee, which probably makes the miss hurt even more. He will hate seeing this one back!
This rep explains why many of us like what we see from McKee. This is high-level. He eliminates the frontside concept cleanly and works back to the backside dig within the timing of the play. That’s advanced processing, and it’s something Hurts has struggled with throughout his entire career. The ball placement isn’t perfect, but Dotson has to help his quarterback here. Make a play, man.
This fourth-down miss likely erased any chance the Eagles had of getting a high pick for McKee, not that I really believed that was possible anyway. I think he’s a perfect backup QB for now. Britain Covey is wide open in the slot, but McKee forces it to Dotson and sails it out of bounds. Once again, when structure breaks down, things fall apart quickly. That’s not entirely on him. The coaches didn’t put him in a position to succeed, and it directly contributed to the loss.
Final Thoughts
This game highlighted the same flaws as we’ve seen with the Eagles’ offense, even if the starters weren’t out there. It showed just how much Jalen Hurts’ mobility and A.J. Brown’s dominance prop this offense up week after week. Tanner McKee was underwhelming, but the coaching staff did him very few favors, and the structure collapsed the moment elite talent was removed. Losing the No. 2 seed hurts, but the bigger takeaway is how thin the margin really is for this offense at times. When the stars aren’t there to bail them out, the flaws become impossible to ignore.
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