Eagles Thoughts: Course Corrections

The Eagles are an uninspiring 2-1. The Rams are a disappointing 1-2. Someone is going to walk away on Sunday feeling somewhat less bad about themselves.

Football is not a meritocracy 

Before the season began I asked if the new Sean Mannion led offense would get complimentary players more involved. We got our first look at an answer on Monday with a stark result: no, not even a little.

Against the Titans, Darius Cooper had a nice catch and run for 23 yards on 1st and 17, and later scored the game winning TD. He’s been outstanding on special teams. The head coach likes him. His reward? 4 snaps on offense against the Bears, fewer than Elijah Moore. Meanwhile Makai Lemon played 35, a season high 70%. Tank Bigsby was the only skill position player to play fewer snaps than Cooper. Will Shipley, EJ Jenkins, and Johnny Mundt all played double digit snaps on both special teams and offense. Cooper did so against the Titans.

Now with DeVonta Smith set to miss a few games, Cooper should get the chance on offense he deserves. There is no excuse not to.

The red flag of yellow flags

In my preview of the Rams, I noted that they had the best penalty differential in 2025, which was unlikely to repeat itself in 2026. The Eagles, coincidentally, had the worst. Through three games the Rams have most definitely not repeated their success: they have the worst penalty differential, with -13 total penalties and -105 penalty yards. The Eagles are 18th.

Half of the Rams penalties were last week against the Broncos, but in each of their first two games they had double the amount of their opponent, so this wasn’t just a one week thing. There’s no guarantee that this trend will continue, if anything they’re due for a game where they have a positive differential, but it is one reason among several why they’re 1-2 to start their supposed dream season.

Lies, damn lies, and statistics

Nick Sirianni has never lost to Sean McVay, going 4-0 against him. Since Sirianni became a head coach, he’s been more successful than McVay:

Wins: Eagles 2nd, Rams 10th

Points: Eagles 6th, Rams 9th

Yards: Eagles 7th, Rams 9th

Super Bowl appearances: Eagles 2, Rams 1

Super Bowl wins: Eagles 1, Rams 1

College Football Watch List

12:00 – Alabama at Mississippi State

The 2027 QB draft class is so predictably disappointing that people are already on to the 2028 class, which is was also extremely predictable. Mississippi State QB Kamario Taylor is already high on next year’s radar. Bulldogs RB Fluff Bothwell (not his real name) is a dual threat RB making a name for himself. Alabama QB Keelon Russell is also on next year’s radar (neither he nor Taylor are draft eligible this year). For this year safety Bray Hubbard is fun, a big hitter who can make plays, 8 INTs and 4 FFs.

3:30 – Ohio State at Iowa and Florida at Missouri

You are not going to believe this but Iowa has some OL, TE, and safety prospects. Shocker, I know. All three are Eagles needs! RG Kade Pieper is one of the top interior lineman prospects, and LT Trevor Lauck one of the top OT prospects. At 6’5” Lauck is smaller than teams, especially the Eagles. traditionally like in OTs. Pieper has experience at center.