unCovering the Birds with Jeff McLane

The blame game on offense this season has been a constant back and forth. One week it’s the coordinator. The next, it’s the head coach and his scheme. But after Monday’s game in LA, the pendulum took a major swing, and it was impossible to ignore the direction: right at the quarterback. Jalen Hurts isn’t the only problem, but five turnovers is unacceptable. The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane...

Turn on sports talk radio or read coverage of the Philadelphia Eagles, and it's probably be impossible to find any analysis of the team’s recent woes that doesn’t reference the offense. The unit has been painfully disjointed and inconsistent to watch, unable to deploy a nucleus filled with all-pro talent. But to pin the Eagles’ issues on this factor alone would be misguided. Should head coach Nick...

Things aren’t getting better; they’re getting worse. The theme doesn’t just apply to the Eagles’ Black Friday loss to the Chicago Bears. It fits the narrative of the entire 2025 season. With five games to go, there’s little reason to hope or expect significant change to take place, particularly on the offensive side of the ball - unless... The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane and Olivia Reiner...

Just weeks after a triumphant moment, Byron Young found himself dealing with the greatest tragedy of his life. Back in March, the defensive tackle returned home to Mississippi for a festive weekend with family. Not only did they celebrate him being part of the Eagles’ 2024 Super Bowl championship team, but his aunt’s birthday as well. A day later, Young’s father, Kenny, died suddenly. The Philadel...

It looked like Sunday’s game in Dallas was going to be everything the Eagles needed. In the end, they wound up getting exactly what they deserved. Lack of focus, poor execution, conservative play calling. The Eagles picked each of these poisons, and died a miserable 24-21, walk-off death. In the aftermath of a defeat that knocked the defending Super Bowl champs out of the top spot in the NFC, The...

Between the scheme, the quarterback, the coaches calling plays, and the rest of the players responsible for executing them, the Eagles’ offense has been a well-documented, inconsistent mess this season. But what if there were a smaller area, one that isn’t getting much attention, that could hold the key to getting the much-maligned unit on track. The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane zooms in on...

A.J. Brown might have been wrong. The Eagles' offense isn't just a "s--- show;" it's looking way worse. But enough about that side of the field, at least for now . The reason why the Eagles' path to the playoffs remains promising is because their defense has been lights out, increasingly so since the team returned from the bye two games ago. The Philadelphia Inquirer's Jeff McLane and Jeff Neiburg...

Anytime a player goes public and describes an aspect of his team as a “s--- show,” you’ve got a story. When the person saying it is a star whose happiness has been in question all season long, you’ve got a major headline. Such is where the Eagles and A.J. Brown landed this week. As much as Brown, his teammates, and coaches downplayed the shock value of his remarks, to think that everything is “bus...

It wasn’t flashy, but the Eagles certainly made a statement coming back from the bye with a gritty 10-7 win in Green Bay. They beat a good team, in a hostile environment, and played with valuable intangibles that could serve them well down the stretch of the season. Yes, the offense remains a mystery. But the defense, with new and familiar faces in the fold, showed why it could very well be capabl...

The turnaround the Eagles orchestrated in less than three weeks was no small feat. The defending Super Bowl champs went from looking listless to inspired, showcasing a dominant, balanced performance against an opponent that had blown them out just two games earlier. From Jalen Hurts' poise and precision to Saquon Barkley's first breakout day of the season, the Eagles, which also boasted a punishin...

Can the Eagles finally get Saquon Barkley going? The question feels like it’s the last big one left for the Eagles’ offense to answer this season, which has seen the group go through ups and downs during the first half of the year. But on the heels of the Eagles deploying a more under-center, play-action flavored attack in Minnesota to tap into an explosive passing performance, there’s growing opt...

Not only was Jalen Hurts called upon to step up, he got a phone call in the middle of his post-game press conference in Minnesota. “When you win, everyone wants to call you,” he joked. In the Eagles’ 28-22 victory over the Vikings, the star quarterback was certainly a winner, delivering one of the most statistically-impressive performances of his career. The 326 passing yards and three touchdowns...

“Solutions.” This has been the buzzword of choice for Nick Sirianni this week, as he and the Eagles try to turn things around after back-to-back losses. The Eagles’ head coach says he’s not in the business of assigning blame; instead, he wants answers. So, in the spirit of Sirianni’s spin, The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane examines one of the biggest issues holding the Eagles back - Jalen Hu...

There’s clearly something wrong with the Eagles. All that “wait-and-see” couching about it being early in the season and the need to be patient, that stuff is out the window after the team’s ugly 34-17 loss to the New York Giants. The defeat was the second in five days for the defending Super Bowl champs, which now have a mini-bye to not only lick their wounds, but figure out how to get back on tr...

The Eagles aren’t on the brink - not even close. But with a quick, four-day turnaround looming before their next game, another bad performance could change the tone around the team, and fast. In the aftermath of the Eagles giving up 18 unanswered points en route to a 21-17 loss to Denver, The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane and Jeff Neiburg pick apart what went wrong, and what can be fixed bef...

When the Eagles opened their locker room to the media this week for the first time since leaving Tampa with a victory, A.J. Brown’s latest social media-instigated saga was the focal point of the media. Reporters swarmed his locker stall, waiting for the star wideout to explain himself. One locker over, however, the team’s other stud receiver stood and smiled. Over the years, DeVonta Smith has seen...

How can a team so successful continue to be the source of so many questions? This remains the state of the Eagles. They’re 4-0, and have gone 20-1 over the last 365 days. But in each game the Eagles have played this season, they've shown some concerning flaws. Following the team's 31-25 win in Tampa, The Philadelphia Inquirer's Jeff McLane and David Murphy try to make sense of what they've seen, a...

Nick Sirianni hasn’t lost much in his four-plus seasons as Eagles head coach, but there’s one team that has his number: Tampa Bay. He’s 1-4 all-time against the Buccaneers. The Eagles’ two most recent defeats to the Bucs, road games in the Wild Card round of the 2023-24 playoffs and Week 4 of the 2024 regular season, were so embarrassing they threatened Sirianni’s job security. But there’s far mor...

The Eagles’ 3-0 start to the 2025 regular season has been full of imperfections, but the NFL is a bottom line business, and the defending Super Bowl champs have shown a remarkable knack for adapting to whatever circumstances are needed to win. Their latest victory, an epic 33-26 comeback over the LA Rams, featured a second half for the ages, capped by defensive lineman Jordan Davis blocking a woul...

Jalen Hurts might not be the fastest. He might not be the most agile or smooth either. In spite of all that, Hurts has still established himself as one of the most dangerous running quarterbacks of all-time, and he’s done it by relying on a signature move. From his days playing football in the neighborhood just outside Houston to his ascent to Philadelphia Eagles’ star, Hurts has turned the “Dead...

The Eagles’ 20-17 win over the Kansas City Chiefs was a good win. Pretty? Not so much, at least on the offensive side of the ball. The passing attack didn’t really establish a deep threat (again). There wasn’t much rhythm to the play calling. But when you go on the road and defeat an opponent hungry and motivated to avenge an embarrassing loss in the Super Bowl just seven months earlier, should st...

What should we make of offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo’s debut? It’s an obvious question, one that calls back directly to one of the most significant subplots of a season in which the Philadelphia Eagles are bidding for a second straight title. The answer, however, is less clear. Were there positives to pull from the offense’s performance in the Eagles’ opening night, 24-20 win over the Dallas...

The Eagles’ opener was a lot of things - ugly, bad, and, ultimately in terms of the outcome, good. Jalen Hurts? Nice! Jalen Carter? Yikes. Adoree’ Jackson? Is it already time to move on? It’s early, just one game. The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane isn’t ready to make any blanket statements or knee jerk reactions, but he does have some first impressions from the Eagles’ 2025 debut. Inquirer E...

It was a long preseason and, quite frankly, a pretty dull one, too. In other words, for a team like the Philadelphia Eagles, which kept its core intact and is looking to accomplish the exact same thing this year as last year, it was perfect. But don’t let the lack of drama or juicy position battles fool you. The reigning Super Bowl champions still have some big questions to answer once they start...

The offense hasn't looked great, and the defense is still searching for answers at certain positions. But Jalen Hurts' vibes? They're all good, and noticeably different from last season. What's the reason for the change? The Philadelphia Inquirer's Jeff McLane explores this questions, while addressing other key issues that emerged during the Eagles' joint practice sessions this past week with the...