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If the Eagles Throw Another Stupid Sideways Pass I’m Tossing My Television Off the Comcast Building
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Monday night was one of those games that we don’t talk about after this week. Kind of like “Bruno” from that Disney movie. We don’t talk about Bruno and we don’t talk about this game.
The offense was bad, the defense was bad, the players were bad, and the coaching was bad.
But one thing is more irksome than the rest, and it’s the Eagles shooting themselves in the foot with blown up sideways passes that ruined the first two drives of the third quarter. They went three and out twice to start the second half while it was still a 10-7 ballgame.
The first drive started with a seven-yard run for Saquon Barkley, who was averaging 6.7 yards per carry at that point. Then they decided to throw him a 2nd and 3 swing pass that was blown up in the backfield, resulting in a two-yard loss:
Jalen Hurts threw incomplete for T.J. Edwards on 3rd and 5, and the Birds punted.
The second drive began with an under center Barkley run, gaining one yard. Then they threw the ridiculous Makai Lemon orbit motion screen, which has not gone for positive yardage this season. They lost three yards after Zach Ertz whiffed on a block:
😡😡😡😡😡 pic.twitter.com/a06bFXSMrG
— Kevin Kinkead (@Kevin_Kinkead) September 29, 2026
There’s no reason for Sean Mannion to call any of this stuff right now, because the Eagles can’t block it. They don’t have receivers and tight ends who can execute these plays. And everything they’ve had success with this season is north/south running and throwing the ball down the field.
Coming into Week 3, the Eagles had run seven screen passes for -15 yards, according to our Sportradar data. That was good for a -2.1 yard average. Lemon, in particular, was being used in such a pitiful and disgusting fashion. It was like they were manufacturing these fugazi targets for him instead of just letting the guy play real football.
Now, through three weeks, the Birds have completed 9 of 13 pass attempts thrown behind the line of scrimmage for a total of -8 yards and 0 first downs. Hurts was 5 for 8 against Washington and Tennessee for -15 yards and 4 for 5 against Chicago for seven yards, the only positive gain coming on the play call that took place right before the emergency tush push:
They almost got into the end zone, but Jordan Mailata had to pancake Dontayvion Wicks’ guy, which allowed the safety to get up there and make the stop. Luckily they were able to sneak it on the next play or else that would have been a disaster.
From our database:
“Through Week 3 of the 2026 season, the Eagles rank T-23rd in pass attempts behind the line of scrimmage (13), T-21st in completions (9), 24th in completion percentage (69.2%), and last (32nd) in both passing yards (-8) and yards per attempt (-0.6).”
If Sean Mannion calls more sideways bullshit in Week 4, I’m going to throw my TV off the Comcast building. Which one, you ask? Both! I’ll throw it off the old one, first, then go down to the street and pick it up, carry it to the top of the second building, and throw it off that one, too.
NO MORE SIDEWAYS SHIT. THROW THE BALL DOWN THE FIELD. RUN IT NORTH AND SOUTH.
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