An Eagles castoff who enjoyed an auspicious debut with another team, an NFL record the Eagles are closing in on and the looming tight end concerns.
An Eagles castoff who enjoyed an auspicious debut with another team, an NFL record the Eagles are closing in on and what are the Eagles going to do about tight end? It’s a Week 2 edition of Roob’s 10 Random Eagles Observations.
And Eagles-Chiefs? This is the kind of week that makes me think we’d all be better off with 25 Random Observations . Or maybe 50.If you took a look at the Eagles’ roster on Aug. 1, these are some of the names you wouldn’t have seen: Jakorian Bennett, John Metchie, Sam Howell, Fred Johnson, Willie Lampkin, Britain Covey, Marcus Epps, Za’Darius Smith and Tank Bigsby. That’s a pretty big chunk of the roster right there. Seven guys are on the 53-man roster today who weren’t in the building two weeks ago. That’s 13 percent of the roster. When Howie Roseman says roster construction is a year-round process, he’s not kidding. He’s always looking to upgrade and just over the last two weeks he’s upgraded with Johnson, a better option at swing tackle than Kendall Lamm; with Smith, who immediately becomes the No. 3 edge rusher; with Bigsby, who can give the Eagles more than A.J. Dillon; with Bennett, who could very well be playing outside corner soon; with Howell, who hopefully won’t have to play but is a far superior backup QB option than Kyle McCord or Dorian Thompson-Robinson with Tanner McKee sidelined; and Epps and Metchie, who have already made an impact on special teams. One thing Roseman has gotten better at is taking emotion out of personnel decisions, and that’s not easy. You get attached to guys who’ve been here for a while. You’ve gotten to know them and their families, you’ve spent time and resources developing them and watching them improve, and you’ve seen how hard they’ve worked to earn a roster spot. And then you have to jettison them when a better option comes along. Earlier in his G.M. career, Roseman hung onto guys too long because he just couldn’t bring himself to cut them. But he’s learned that you can’t let emotion rule your decision making. That’s a guaranteed recipe for disaster. Take a look at the 53-man roster today. Guaranteed it won’t be the same this time next week.As poorly as Adoree’ Jackson played against the Cowboys, it probably makes sense to give him another start Sunday in Kansas City. As much as I’d like to see Jakorian Bennett get a chance, the Chiefs aren’t exactly loaded with outside weapons. You figure Quinyon Mitchell can handle Hollywood Brown, which leaves Jackson on JuJu Smith-Schuster, who’s a few years removed from his last productive season. So give Jackson a chance to bounce back against a guy he has a chance to handle. Because we don’t know if Bennett will be an upgrade, and the last thing you want to do is keep going back and forth from one corner to another. If Jackson continues to struggle Sunday, make a change. But ideally he’ll play well. There’s something to be said for continuity and if there’s any way for Vic Fangio to avoid benching Jackson, he’d like to do it.Saquon Barkley’s 3.3 average against Dallas wasn’t his first game with a pedestrian rushing average as an Eagle. He had a 2.6 average on 18 carries in Week 6 last year against the Browns, and a 3.4 on 19-for-65 in Week 15 against the Steelers. What happened next? A week after the Browns game, he was 17-for-176 with a TD against the Giants and a week after the Steelers game he was 29-for-150 with two TDs in Washington. I would expect a similar dynamic Sunday in Kansas City. A couple things about Barkley vs. the Cowboys. He was 10-for-49 in the first half with that impressive 10-yard touchdown and then he opened the third quarter with a 12-yard run. That made him 11-for-61 when the weather delay hit late in the third quarter, a 5.6 average. Nobody on either offense looked right after the 64-minute delay, and that sure includes the Eagles’ offensive line. Saquon’s seven runs after the delay looked like this: -1, +1, +4, +0, -4, +0, -1. He didn’t get any blocking during that stretch and had no holes to run through. He didn't all of a sudden become a different player. He just didn't have a chance. Saquon’s the last guy I worry about. He’ll be fine. I expect a big bounce-back Sunday at Arrowhead. As long as there isn’t a weather delay.The Eagles go into Kansas City having won nine straight games against AFC opponents, a streak that goes back to the 20-14 loss to Zach Wilson and the Jets at MetLife during the 2023 collapse. That’s the 3-longest winning streak ever by an NFC team over an AFC team. It’s also the Eagles’ longest streak vs. the AFC since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. Nick Sirianni is 17-5 vs. the AFC but 17-2 in the last 19 meetings, with the only losses coming to the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Ariz., and to the Jets. The Eagles’ nine-game winning streak is the longest by an NFC team vs. the AFC since the Saints won 11 in a row from 2017 through 2019 and it’s tied for the 4-longest ever. The Saints won 13 in a row from 1987 through 1990, and the 49ers won 12 in a row from 1988 through 1991. The Lions also had a nine-game streak from 1970 through 1972. The longest streaks by an AFC team over the NFC? The Ravens won 13 in a row from 2018 through 2021, and the Dolphins won 13 in a row from 1978 through 1981. Now you know.Curious to see how much Za’Darius Smith is able to play Sunday. He’s 32 and wasn’t in a training camp and just got here over the weekend, but he seems like a guy who keeps himself in shape. He had 9.0 sacks last year at 32 years old, and he should be an instant upgrade over all the other backup edge rushers on the roster – Josh Uche , Azeez Ojulari, Ogbonnia Okoronkwo and Patrick Johnson. I think somewhere around 15 to 18 snaps makes sense for Smith to show what he can do without overly stressing a guy who hasn’t hit anybody since Jan. 5.Jalen Hurts Stat of the Week: Jalen Hurts has a higher career completion percentage than 28 of 30 quarterbacks in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Hurts has raised his career completion percentage to 64.8 percent . The only Hall of Famers above 64 percent are Kurt Warner and Peyton Manning .Sam Bradford has the highest career completion percentage in Eagles history with his 65.0 percent accuracy in 2015, his only year with the Eagles , so Hurts, at 64.8 percent, is closing in on Bradford. Hurts raised his career mark from 64.6 to 64.8 just in the opener against the Cowboys with his 19-for-23, so another accurate game or two and he’ll move past Bradford.When it comes to getting the ball to A.J. Brown, I don’t want to hear, “We don’t want to force anything.” It’s A.J. Brown. Force it to him.Every summer, we say, “If only Dallas Goedert can stay healthy….” Because if he could stay healthy, we’re talking about a Pro Bowl caliber tight end. Among 28 active tight ends with 200 career targets, Goedert is sixth with 8.5 yards per target, third with a 73.7 catch percentage, eighth with 11.6 yards per catch and first with a 61.9 success rate. But he never does stay healthy and it’s got to be frustrating for him but also for everybody else in the organization because you set out assuming you’re going to have him and then you don’t and now you have to figure things out without one of your go-to receivers. It's an annual tradition. Goedert is out for the Chiefs today with a knee injury he suffered in the Cowboys game , and no word on when he’s expected back. Goedert missed five games in 2020, two in 2021, five in 2022, three in 2014 and seven last year. So today is his 23game since the start of 2020, so that means he’ll have missed 27 percent of the Eagles’ games over the last six seasons. Grant Calcaterra will start in his place and he's OK. Good receiver, poor blocker. You accept Goedert’s injuries to some degree because he’s always available in the postseason and he’s one of the best playoff tight ends in NFL history – his 52 catches are 8. But as talented as Goedert is, the Eagles have to figure something out. They don’t draft many tight ends, but most of the ones they draft are very good, namely Brent Celek, Zach Ertz and Goedert. The Eagles don't have a tight end on the 2026 roster, so it’s clearly something they’re going to address this offseason. I would guess very early in the draft. But for now, you just have to hope Calcaterra can fill in and Goedert can find his way back on the field as soon as possible. At least they're used to this.Ertz’s nine catches in the Commanders’ first two games give him 784 in his 13-year career, and he’s now just 31 catches shy of Shannon Sharpe for 5-most receptions ever by a tight end. The top four are Tony Gonzalez , Jason Witten and Travis Kelce .Remember Darian Kinnard? He was an offensive lineman who spent last year with the Eagles, didn’t play other than the meaningless year-end game against the Giants and had never played an NFL snap at tackle. During the Howie Roseman Aug. 24 trade frenzy – he made three trades that day – the Eagles traded Kinnard to the Packers for a 6-round pick in 2027. Because of injuries, Kinnard had to play some right tackle for Green Bay on Sunday in that win over the Commanders, and on his first two drives ever as an NFL offensive tackle, the Packers drove 96 yards for a touchdown and 92 yards for a touchdown. Kinnard’s main claim to fame before Thursday night was that he was one of only two players to win a Super Bowl ring in three straight seasons – with the Chiefs in 2022 and 2023 and the Eagles in 2024, although he didn’t actually play in any of those games. Now he’s got a claim to fame that includes playing football. The products of Jeff Stoutland’s magic are all over the NFL, and it looks like Kinnard – a 5A Jalen Hurts now has 141 combined touchdowns in 67 career starts – 84 passing, 57 rushing. Only six quarterbacks in NFL history have generated more touchdowns in their first 67 starts, and one of them will be on the opposing sideline Sunday. Patrick Mahomes had 170 , Dan Marino 164 , Aaron Rodgers 157 , Joe Burrow 147 and Daunte Culpepper 144 .Hurts’ 57 rushing touchdowns are 21 more than any other QB has had in his first 67 starts. Cam Newton had 36, Allen has 33 and Jack Kemp had 32 with the AFL Chargers and Bills in the early 1960s. Kemp went on to become George W. Bush’s secretary of housing and urban development and was Bob Dole’s running mate on the Republican Party’s 1996 presidential ticket.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Critical Observations From NC State's Week 3 WinThe Wolfpack moved to 3-0 with a win over Wake Forest on Thursday night.
Read more »
Eagles vs. Chiefs predictions, picks, and best bets: Eagles favored in Super Bowl rematchThe Kansas City Chiefs have never started 0-2 with Patrick Mahomes at QB, but they are home underdogs with the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles coming to town. Get our expert betting picks for the game.
Read more »
4 Observations from Indiana's 73-0 Win over Indiana StateFrom a dominant defensive performance to receiver Omar Cooper Jr.'s record-setting day, here are four takeaways from Indiana football's win over Indiana State.
Read more »
3 Bold Observations From UCLA's Rock Bottom Loss to New MexicoThe Bruins might have just hit rock bottom and no one quite knows what lies ahead.
Read more »
Three BOLD Observations From UA Win Over KSUArizona is rolling to open the 2025 season with an impressive 6-point win over KSU.
Read more »
Oklahoma-Temple: LIVE In-Game ObservationsJohn Hoover and Ryan Chapman offer their real-time observations from the Sooners’ first road trip of the year to take on Temple.
Read more »