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Got it Done – 26 Immediate Observations from Eagles 24, Commies 22
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The Eagles are 1-0 after defeating a divisional rival to kick off the 2026 NFL season. You’ll take that any day of the week.
It wasn’t perfect, but most wins aren’t, especially in Week 1. The Birds’ new offense looked incredibly janky at times, a very boom or bust experience to kick off the Sean Mannion era. The defense began to run out of steam after holding down the fort for the better part of three quarters, which was expected in a lopsided time of possession game.
But when it mattered most, up two with Washington trying to tie the game, Moro Ojomo made a big individual play, stuffing John Bates on a conversion attempt to preserve the game. DeVonta Smith recovered the onside kick and that was all she wrote.
Now we go, to the observations.
1) Thought it was pretty funny how Kevin Burkhardt, Tom Brady, and Erin Andrews said absolutely nothing about the Commies in the open. It was all about Jalen Hurts and the new offense, as it should be.
2) The Birds conceded a 55-yard field goal on the opening Communist drive. Not much to be angry about there. The defensive line had two early stuffs and blew up a flea flicker, and if you recall, the Eagles finished tied for third with 55 stuffs in 2025. They were one of the best in the league at stopping ball carriers behind the line.
3) Symbolic, perhaps, to see the Eagles open up with play action from under center. 12 personnel. The first drive didn’t go anywhere, but the new wrinkles were apparent right off the bat.
4) Sean Mannion appears to be a Pepsi guy. Drinking it straight out of the can, no glass, no ice, unless I’m looking at this wrong and it belongs to the guy to his right, Parks Frazier:
I think it’s Mannion’s drink. I’m pretty sure. He’s right handed. You’d typical put your drink on the right if you’re right handed.
5) Second offensive drive was UGLY. Holding on Cam Jurgens to start it off, then a receiver screen in which Dontayvion Wicks completely whiffed on a block. That set up 2nd and 24, then 3rd and 12, a sack, and a punt.
6) The NFL should bring back the Pro Bowl for Braden Mann, if no one else. He kept them in the game early. Then he bombed one to the Warshington 2 right before halftime, which pretty much prevented a drive attempt with 45 seconds left on the clock.
7) The FOX music person is always on his or her game. When we got Outkast and UGK at the first commercial break, you knew it was going to be a great football afternoon.
8) Wicks OVER 27.5 receiving yards was getting a lot of love at BetMGM. He cleared that on his first reception, which also happened to be the longest of his career.
9) It felt like there weren’t a lot of commercials in the 1st quarter. You feel that? It was beautiful. Nobody wants commercials. Put all commercials in the bagster!
10) Dallas Goedert had a career-high 11 touchdowns last season. His first of 2026 came right down the seam on a FOUR VERTICALS call:
We’ve always said that “four verticals” is a great play and should remain on the call sheet. (wink wink)
Getting 7 at that point was pretty big considering Jurgens pushed them back with another holding call. Landon Dickerson had given up a sack earlier. The Commies were definitely kicking themselves giving up that TD on third and goal. You could see Frankie Luvu annoyed with the secondary for blowing the coverage.
11) Zack Baun picked up right there he left off. Blew up a third down run in the 1st quarter, then blew up a screen pass in the second quarter to force 3rd and 27. He made an open field tackle to end the Commies’ opening drive of the second half and then broke up a touchdown pass right before the two-minute warning. Quite possibly the best move of Howie Roseman’s career, pulling Baun out of New Orleans and giving him a starting job.
12) How nice it was to see Saquon Barkley break off a big run again. Jurgens actually didn’t get anything on the linebacker at the second level, but Barkley made the guy miss and was off to the races.
It started with a good read of the defensive end and a nice bit of blocking from Dickerson and Jordan Mailata:
13) Annoying to give up points before halftime since hey had the Commies in 3rd and 15 and Daniels broke contain. They had a good opportunity to regain possession and blow it open there while getting the ball back to start the third quarter.
14) Jalen Carter BIG BLOCKED EXTRA POINT! He had two of those last year. The guy is worth every dollar, and more.
15) “Let’s go to Dean Blandino.” – No. Let’s not.
16) Unfortunately, it looks like Mannion is gonna be a bubble screen guy. A wide receiver screen guy. It’s part of this larger Shanahan/McVay scheme, but the Eagles always stink when they try to run these types of screens. They might be the worst team in all of the NFL and college football at running these screens.
17) 3rd and 6, second drive of the second half, Hurts scrambling left and throws it out of play. Smitty was in decent position to move the sticks with a better throw. Maybe DeVonta can come back to that ball. Felt like that was a play they could have made.
18) Two really cheap “illegal contact” calls on Cooper DeJean in this game. Ticky fuckin’ tack. Sure looked like DPI on Riq Woolen though, a few plays later. Felt like a make-up NO CALL there, followed by a Washington shankopotamus. The Birds got really lucky there.
19) First three drives of the second half: 9 plays, 5 for negative yards. Then they opened up the fourth drive with a Dickerson holding call and needed a miracle Hurts scramble and DeVonta Smith toe tap to move the sticks. They ended up settling for a field goal after Hurts missed Goedert on a miscommunication.
20) Daniels was really annoying in the second half. Annoyingly good. Not sure how many times the Birds were right there and just couldn’t get close enough to bring him down.
21)
Make up call, I guess.
22) DeJean was diced up pretty good by Stefon Diggs on the TD. He had a rough game. But the penalty, which was kind of fugazi if we’re being honest, took away Washington’s ability to go for 2 and tie the game. It was a HUGE sequence:
23) Hated the MOTHERFUCKING bubble screen that resulted in a yardage loss halfway through the fourth quarter. Saquon going sideways, for who, for what? He had just run the ball twice for 10 yards. Then Mailata false started, Hurts threw the ball away on 2nd and 18, and the only reason that drive continued is because Jalen pulled a rabbit out of his hat for a ridiculous 3rd down gain.
24) Goedert’s 2nd touchdown was on another Washington breakdown, but boy was that spin move pretty. He put two Commies on their rear ends for a 43-yard YAC attack. Can’t believe he came back on a discounted deal last season and continues to play at this level.
25) Man… that fumble in the fourth quarter. There were two Birds right on top of it and they just couldn’t react fast enough to scoop it up:
26) Washington called.. a shovel pass? With the game on the line? What kind of 2002 Andy Reid-ass call was that? I can’t believe they took it out of Daniels’ hands there. Let the guy do something with his feet, give him an option to throw or run. Woof. Can’t imagine the Communist fans were happy with that one.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com