The hope was that getting Landon Dickerson out of there and replacing the hobbled veteran with a healthy body would solidify the offensive line.
No such luck.
With the new-look offensive line – this time with Cam Jurgens at left guard and Drew Kendall at center – Jalen Hurts spent most of Sunday running for his life.
Hurts was sacked three times, hit six times and forced out of the pocket much of the afternoon at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. That he overcame it and rallied the Eagles to a dramatic 24-20 last-minute win over the Titans is a credit to Hurts and his resilience and toughness.
But despite the win and the Eagles’ 2-0 record, the offensive line remains a concern. A big one.
Dickerson is out at least another three games with that bone bruise in his right knee and there’s no guarantee he’ll be back to his Pro Bowl form of 2022 through 2024 whenever he does return.
On the one hand, it’s impressive that the Eagles got a win with two offensive linemen making their first NFL start at their current position. But Jurgens hasn’t played well in either game and remains a concern wherever he’s lining up and although the tackles have been OK the entire interior of the o-line has been problematic in both games.
Options? Not really. Willie Lampkin would be the next interior lineman in line, but presumably the Eagles will give the Jurgens-Kendall experiment more time and give both the opportunity to grow at their new position.
“Really tough situations for both of them,” Lane Johnson said. “I thought they played well. We’ll go back and look at the film. We have a lot to clean up. A lot to improve on. But a win’s a win and they’re hard to get. We’ve just got to learn from it.”
In Kendall’s defense, he drew a brutal assignment in his first meaningful NFL game, sharing the responsibility for blocking five-time Pro Bowl interior lineman Jeffrey Simmons, maybe the best in the biz. And Kendall, a 5th-round pick last year, hung in there and played tough considering his lack of experience and lack of snaps during camp at center. It wasn’t perfect, but you would expect him to get better as he gets more playing time.
“It just comes down to kind of executing better and just being on the same page,” Kendall said.
And pass protection isn’t the only problem with the o-line. Their run blocking has been subpar as well, and there just haven’t been holes for any of the backs in either game. The running backs were 24-for-65 Sunday, just 2.7 yards per carry, and through two games the backs have just one run of 10 yards – Saquon Barkley’s 42-yarder against Washington.
Barkley got hurt on the first play of the game Sunday, missed the rest of the first half and only got three carries in the second half, finishing 4-for-9.
“I don’t know if it’s landmarks,” Johnson said. “I’ve got to go back and watch it. It’s really tough to say right after a game.
“I don’t know if we created any big creases like last week. There’s a lot to clean up. We didn’t have any big explosive gains in the run game. It was mostly through the air. We’ll go back and watch the tape.”
Honestly, Jurgens is probably more of a concern at this point than Kendall because he’s a former Pro Bowler who just hasn’t looked like himself these first two weeks. And he also was playing a new position, but he did start 11 games at right guard in 2023 before moving to center after Jason Kelce retired.
“I feel like I’m going to learn a lot from this game,” Jurgens said. “I’m going to get a lot better. I’m excited to get better from this. Jeffrey Simmons is a damn good player. That’s a good defensive front. But yeah, it was a challenge.
“I was excited for it. Nervous, anxious, everything that goes along with playing a football game and playing a really good player. And, you know, we’re just going to watch the film, get better from it. I’m so excited to just watch the film and get better from this. I’m going to get a lot better, guys. I’ve got to play better and I’m excited to do that.”
Also, despite the offensive line’s issues, it was encouraging that when they had to get their act together in the final two minutes, they did give Hurts the time he needed to go 6-for-8 for 61 yards on that dramatic game-winning 65-yard drive, which culminated in Darius Cooper’s first NFL touchdown.
“The protection was really good,” Sirianni said. “I’ll take a tired o-line over a tired d-line all day because I felt like the protection on that last drive was outstanding.”
This was the first time in 14 years the Eagles trailed with 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter before scoring a game-winning touchdown. In December 2012, they beat the Bucs 23-21 in Tampa on a Nick Foles touchdown pass to Jeremy Maclin with two seconds left. That was Andy Reid’s final win as Eagles head coach and Foles’ first-career victory.
“That was so damn exciting to go down there and two-minute drill and win the game,” Jurgens said. “We shouldn’t have been at that point. We shouldn’t have, but a win’s a win.”
