On Second Watch: The Positives In Eagles’ Disappointing Preseason Debut

BALTIMORE — The scoreboard was lopsided, and the stat sheet was even worse in the Eagles’ 24-7 preseason loss to the Ravens.

However, two time-tested NFL sentiments should be mulled over with your morning coffee.

The first is the idea that preseason lies. Good decision-makers lean on the process, not the results, in an environment skewed by the context of each rep, those reps are rarely created equal amid the constant moving parts and lack of key contributors on the field.

The second is the more general idea that the film is never quite as good as you might expect when things go well, and never as poor when they don’t.

“Obviously, we wanted to put a better performance out there on all parts,” head coach Nick Sirianni admitted. “We had 40 plays of offense and kept the defense on the field too many times — not converting on third down.”

You’re not imagining things if that sounds awfully familiar to last season.

Things were supposed to be different with offensive coordinator Sean Mannion scheming up things.

About the only positive on that front from the first dress rehearsal was that the “operation” was relatively clean, with the one pre-snap penalty chalked up to a mental error.

“I thought the communication — the plays were — I didn’t feel like we were rushed. I wasn’t staring at the play clock at any point, I didn’t think, and debating whether I needed to call a timeout or not,” Sirianni said. “So, the operation was good. … [We] had one pre-snap penalty on a third down, but I don’t think that had anything to do with the operation. So, as far as the operation goes, I thought that was fine.”

The game plan was intentionally vanilla, something tied to Sirianni’s belief in competitive advantage, especially early in the season. That doesn’t mean the performance at M&T Bank Stadium was acceptable either.

“There are things that you see on the field, and you say, ‘OK, this is the issue here,’ and then there are times you don’t know what happened in the heat of the battle. So, we’ll go back, look at the tape, but we want a better performance altogether by the offense,” the coach assessed.

The Third-Down Blues

Jul 30, 2026; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Sean Mannion during training camp at Jefferson Health Training Complex. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Especially problematic were the three-and-outs and the third-down issues as a whole, because they were the impetus behind the offensive shift in the first place.

Groundhog Day morphed from Feb. 2 in Punxsutawney to Aug. 15 in Charm City. Mannion’s debut included a hold-my-beer approach to the vilified Kevin Patullo, with an 0-for-9 mark on third downs and seven three-and-outs.

“You have got to try to get back in phase as much as you can,” Sirianni explained. “Like I said, we had too many penalties that put us behind [the sticks]. We had some defensive penalties as well. I think it was more holds on defense and more holds on offense — more so the heat-of-the-battle penalties where we just have to clean those things up.

“You clean those things up by being completely crisp with your assignments and being good fundamentally. So, we’ll see what that looks like on tape. But, those longer ones are obviously harder to convert. The ones that sting [are] when you have the third-and-six, and you miss an opportunity there to be able to convert those. We have got to convert those at a higher rate.”

You had to look but there was some good littered in the rubble.

Jeremiah Trotter Jr. looked like a starting-level player at linebacker, rookie Markel Bell was one of the better offensive linemen on the night, and two players highlighted the ability to leave the negative behind and keep fighting.

After allowing a reception and missing a tackle, cornerback Shaun Wade rallied to strip the football from Ravens rookie Elijah Sarratt, and CB Kelee Ringo rebounded from a defensive pass interference call to corral a brilliant interception in the back of the end zone.

“You always want to think about being able to move on and play the next play,” Sirianni noted. “That’s mental toughness — having the same attitude, effort, energy and enthusiasm regardless of the circumstances. “... That was positive to see Kelee come back after that play and make a really nice interception. Then, Shaun had [the] ability to do that within a play — he gives up the pass, [I] want him to make that tackle, but [he] gets up quick and gets a great strip attempt and takes it away.”

A silver lining that can become a teachable moment.

“Those will be things that we point out on the film,” said Sirianni. “Would I have liked to point those out tonight when we talk to the team? Sometimes it was more about the things that we need to correct. “So, we’ll point that out on tape, but I was pleased with those two things, because that’s a good lesson for everybody that things are not going to go perfect, and that’s football. There are going to be ups, [and] there are going to be downs. Can you be in the situation where you are completely focused on your next opportunity?”

The next opportunity awaits in Foxborough this week.

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