November 02, 2026
Geoff Burke/Imagn Images via Reuters Connect
Commanders QB Jayden Daniels didn't feel the wrath of a generally healthy Eagles defensive front.
All season, the Eagles have had their issues.
When they were 2-0, barely laboring past two bad teams, their problem was consistency within the new offensive scheme and some occasional breakdowns on defense.
When they were 2-4, injuries all over the roster, including to Jalen Hurts, DeVonta Smith, Saquon Barkley, Jonathan Greenard and many others, were largely responsible for the downward spiral.
Many of Howie Roseman's offseason moves had also backfired, adding insult to injury.
But the Eagles have bigger concerns now, way more alarming than Tanner McKee trying to prove he's more than just a backup quarterback, more impactful than their laundry list of walking wounded, and worse than getting no production from Hollywood Brown or little impact from the past two draft classes.
The Eagles' biggest problem over the past two weeks, in consecutive NFC East losses to Dallas and Washington, is that even their good, healthy players have apparently checked out.
This isn't about lack of talent, a first-year offensive coordinator, or even Hurts and Lane Johnson not coming out of that tunnel anytime soon to rescue them.
This is about good players suddenly not playing like it anymore, about some Pro Bowlers and All-Pros sinking deeper into the quicksand that's sucking in this Eagles season.
And it's also about the inability of their Super Bowl champion coaches to pull them out.
"I got to try a different approach," an exasperated Nick Sirianni said after the Eagles fell 27-10 to the one-win Commanders on Sunday night, the clearest indication that his voice in the locker room has started to erode.
The Eagles have injuries, sure, but the NFL's highest-paid defensive tackle was there on the field in Landover, Md., on Sunday night. Jalen Carter had a sack, but don't bend over backward to sing his praises. He and Jordan Davis, another giant taking home gargantuan paychecks, were part of a run defense that let a bunch of Commanders backups pile up 135 rushing yards and average more than 5.0 yards per carry.
Greenard – the crown jewel of Roseman's offseason additions – generated scant pressure, if any, and committed a game-changing offside penalty. Quinyon Mitchell got beat badly on a 53-yard catch. Jalyx Hunt didn't register a single tackle. Tyler Steen repeatedly struggled to block the guy in front of him. Jordan Mailata's alignment penalty created a longer field goal for Jake Elliott, who should have still made it but doinked the ball off the very top of the left goalpost.
These aren't backups, and most of these players are healthier than others on the roster. But they are melting down right in front of our eyes, getting worse by the week, and just had their asses handed to them on prime time twice in a six-day span by two teams that will be joining them on the golf courses in early January.
"We gotta have a good look in the mirror, man," Mailata said after the game.
Moro Ojomo didn't accuse his teammates of quitting, but the fact that he felt the need to implore his teammates not to quit – just eight games into a 17-game season – speaks to where this Eagles team is right now.
"I don't feel like that's happening," he said of teammates quitting. "I'm just encouraging everyone to keep going."
Implosions like these only happen when players allow themselves to stop fighting on every snap as if their job depended on it, and when the coaches can no longer get their messages to stick.
What we've seen the past two weeks is an unmotivated Eagles team with no urgency to save its season from spiraling downward. That's on Sirianni, Vic Fangio and everyone playing below their standard.
Saquon Barkley said the quiet part out loud after Sunday night's latest letdown.
"We're not the big, bad Eagles anymore, right?" he said when asked about opponents taking their best shots against the two-time defending NFC East champs.
The Cowboys stole the Eagles' soul in South Philly last Monday night, churning out 204 rushing yards like a hot knife through butter, only to revert right back into the normal version of themselves in Sunday's loss to the Cardinals.
Then came the Commanders, who used every ounce of energy over the first 15 minutes Sunday night to hand the game over to the Eagles but still managed to win convincingly.
This was the same Washington team infamous for botching its final overtime possession in a tie against the Giants and that suffered a 17-point blowout loss just four weeks ago to the Colts, another one of the NFL's worst teams.
Against the rest of the NFL, the Commanders look dysfunctional and embarrassing. Against the Eagles, they're energized and resilient.
How is it the Eagles actually played better defense against the Rams and Jaguars – two playoff teams from 2025 that are combined 9-6 – than they did against two division doormats who can't get out of their own way on most weekends when they aren't playing the Birds?
There are still more games left to play this season than games that have been played, which means Sirianni's new approach better yield some positive results immediately or the fan base will have two months of turning against this team that just two seasons ago packed Broad Street for a title parade.
It's not so much that the Eagles will be expected to reverse course and resemble playoff contenders. That ship has long ago sailed.
But not getting off the bus for consecutive games is inexcusable, and right now Sirianni's biggest challenge is making sure this team understands that.
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