PHILADELPHIA − We all know the Eagles are on their third-string quarterback, fourth-string running back and third-string center and left guard.
They're down three edge rushers. They're barely getting anything from the edge rusher they traded two third-round picks for and signed to a $100 million contract. Their first-round pick in 2025 is losing playing time. Their first-round pick in 2026 hasn't been a factor through six games, and the second-round pick is on injured reserve and was buried on the depth chart before that.
So, it's not particularly surprising that the Eagles have lost four straight games after the latest offensive travesty in their 25-14 defeat to the Carolina Panthers on Oct. 18.
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After all, the Eagles (2-4) played this game without quarterback Jalen Hurts (on injured reserve with a blood clot in his calf), running back Saquon Barkley (hamstring) and his two backups (both on IR), right tackle Lane Johnson (retired), center/left guard Cam Jurgens (traded), left guard Landon Dickerson (on IR) and center Drew Kendall (knee).
That's just on offense.
Injuries happen. That's part of the game. But there have been so many mistakes all the way around, and that goes all the way to the top, to general manager Howie Roseman.
Sure, some of it falls on the coaches, whether it's head coach Nick Sirianni and his questionable decisions over the previous two games, or his so-far overwhelmed offensive coordinator in Sean Mannion.
Some of it, of course, falls on the players.
It was almost comical when the Eagles' very first play on offense resulted in McKee getting sacked and losing 11 yards.
"One side goes left, the other side goes right, 11-yard sack," left tackle Jordan Mailata said, succinctly summing up the miscommunication on the play.
Or with 9 minutes left in the fourth quarter, when the Eagles forced a Panthers punt and took over at midfield. On the first play, third-string center Jake Majors' snap was low and bounced past McKee, who scrambled to recover the fumble.
That play lost 12 yards. Needless to say, the Eagles couldn't convert on 3rd-and-18 and punted the ball back to the Panthers. The punt was blocked, the Panthers took over at midfield, then proceeded to put the game away.
"Accountability, it sucks and it hurts," Mailata said. "But when you mess up, you have to take accountability because how are you supposed to build trust in the guy next to you if you don't?"
Good question.
Mailata also questioned the Eagles' "focus" and "want-to," and that's even more worrisome.
Sure, you can blame Sirianni, and he's an easy fall guy. The Eagles punted on each of their first five possessions. Then again, the three running backs who played against the Panthers were all on the practice squad nine days ago. So was Majors. First-round pick Makai Lemon, a wide receiver, barely averages 7 yards per catch. Second-round pick Eli Stowers, a tight end, is on injured reserve.
Linebacker Jihaad Campbell, the Eagles' first-round pick last season, is losing playing time to Jeremiah Trotter Jr. Edge rusher Jonathan Greenard, whom Roseman traded for, doesn't have a sack in three games after missing training camp with a pectoral muscle strain, then the last game with an ankle injury.
That roster construction is on Roseman.
Greenard didn't play much after Nolan Smith left in the second quarter with a concussion, leaving the Eagles with three edge rushers (Jalyx Hunt and AJ Epenesa sat out with injuries), including rookie Keyshawn James-Newby, a seventh-round pick elevated from the practice squad.
Afterward, Sirianni got testy when asked if Greenard, who didn't even have a tackle, was on a "pitch count."
"I had some guys that were still coming back from some things, and so we try to do what's best for all our guys in situations," Sirianni said. "I know he's done a good job getting back, and I thought he had some good plays out there."
When asked if that was a "yes," Sirianni replied: "I'm not going to answer."
So, no, it hasn't been a banner season for Roseman, either.
The Eagles have lost four straight games for the first time since 2020, the season before Sirianni was hired. That season, the Eagles finished 4-11-1, and Doug Pederson, who had won the Eagles' first Super Bowl three seasons earlier, was fired.
"I think that's the whole consensus here, is that it's not just one thing," Sirianni said. "It's not just one player on an island. It's not just one coach on an island. This is a team game, an ultimate team game, and we all have things to get better."
That starts with an offense that had 222 yards, failing for the fourth straight game to gain 250 yards. They remained scoreless in the third quarter for the fourth straight game. All of which left the defense on the field for 20 minutes, 47 seconds in the second half while the Eagles had the ball for just 9:13.
That's no way to win.
"We always go into the game thinking that it's gonna be a defensive game, and that we're gonna have to put it on our backs," defensive tackle Jordan Davis said. "It's just a mindset that we have as defense. But at the end of the game, we have to make sure that we have more points than the other team.
"We didn't do that."
This season could go one of two ways. The Eagles' next three games are against NFC East opponents, and no one is running away with the division.
Maybe in the coming week or so, Barkley will return, as will Kendall and perhaps some of the injured players on defense. Hurts can't return until Nov. 22 at the earliest. And the offense wasn't exactly humming when he was playing anyway.
For now, the Eagles are faced with a new calculus on offense, where Sirianni and Mannion have to figure out a way to make it work for McKee as opposed to Hurts.
"Everything's on the table," Sirianni said. "To do the same thing over and over again and not get the results, that'd be foolish."
It's also the definition of insanity.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on X @Mfranknfl. Sign up for the "Eye On The Eagles" newsletter, emailed to your inbox every Friday morning. Read his coverage of the Eagles’ championship season in “Flying High,” a hardcover coffee-table book from Delaware Online/The News Journal. Details at Fly.ChampsBook.com
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Eagles coach, offense aren't only ones finding 'accountability hurts'
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