Looking Ahead

Posted November 6th, 2025

The Eagles are coming off their bye week and heading into the second half of the season. The team is off to a 6-2 start. Evaluating the Eagles is tough. They haven’t played good football on a consistent basis, but they played a tough schedule and had to deal with their share of injuries. Let’s take a look ahead.

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While nothing is a lock, the Eagles have a great chance to repeat as NFC East champs. Dallas is in second place and already has three more losses than the Eagles. Winning the division wuldn’t be a huge deal except that there hasn’t been a repeat champ in the division since the Eagles in 2004. I think we’re all tired of hearing that stat and are ready for the Eagles to repeat.

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Last year the Eagles went 16-1 after the bye and dominated a lot of those games. The team doesn’t have as many games to play this time around. Beyond that, I don’t see the same kind of dominant run. The team has had to deal with more injuries and more drama this season. It was encouraging to see them dominate the Giants in the last game, but this is a different team and has a challenging schedule.

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One of the things that propelled last season’s team to greatness was Cooper DeJean entering the lineup. He made a huge difference for the defense. There is no DB that will come in and give the team the same kind of boost. I do think that Drew Mukuba could be an impact player if he can build off his performance against the Giants. He covered well in that game. The overall defense covered well, forcing Jaxson Dart to hold the ball. That led to the 5-sack showing by the pass rush.

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The new player who could make a difference is edge rusher Jaelan Phillips. Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni said great things about him. They have high expectations for Phillips. And it sure sounds like he’s excited to be an Eagle.

"I thought I was excited on Day One, but talk to me now. This is literally the greatest thing that’s happened to me in my whole life, probably,” Phillips said. "It’s just awesome. The guys are awesome. Everybody’s been super welcoming. I love the environment, I love the vibe here. The city of Philly has given me a very warm welcome. I got about 20 times the amount of Instagram likes that I ever got on a post before, from Philly fans, so shout out to them. It’s been great so far, getting out there practicing. I love the weather here, I love the locker room. Everything’s awesome.”

Things will stay great as long as he has a bunch of sacks and leads the team to another Super Bowl. Easy stuff.

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Most people still have doubts about Jaire Alexander. It has been a while since he was a good CB. That said, I would love for him to prove me wrong.

It would be a really cool story if Alexander could have a bounce-back season playing for his hometown team. He is saying all the right things about being healthy, but we need to see that before truly buying in.

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The real key to the recent moves was adding depth. Think about the DB injuries from the first half of the season. Jakorian Bennett, Adoree Jackson and Quinyon Mitchell all missed time. You didn’t want Mac McWilliams, DeJean and Parry Nickerson as your starting DBs. Michael Carter is a dual fit at nickel and safety. Alexander is a veteran. This isn’t a great group, but Vic Fangio at least has options.

Adding Phillips up front makes the pass rush deeper, especially with BG and Nolan Smith on the way back. Again, Fangio will have options on who he wants to play and how he wants to use them.

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Speaking of depth…

Interesting. Cam Jurgens didn’t practice on Thursday. Brett Toth could be in for another start in the middle. Rookie Drew Kendall is the other backup center. Lampkin played G and C for the Rams this summer. If the Eagles are having him practice, they obviously have serious interest in having him on the active roster. I don’t know how everything would shake out, but this move fascinates me.

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Some tragic news from the football world.

Kneeland apparently had some mental health issues and took his own life. Just heartbreaking news. This was a 24-year old kid who should have been on top of the world after scoring a TD on Monday night. Instead he’s gone just a few days later.

Life can be tough even when things seem good to those on the outside. Talk to someone. There is help out there. People will listen. Things can change. Things can get better. Just don’t do what Kneeland did. That can’t be fixed. That can’t be undone.

Don’t ever be afraid to ask for help.

https://igglesblitz.com/2025/11/looking-ahead-3/