The only way for Eagles offense to get out of self-sabotage mode

The Eagles were in "self-sabotage" mode on Monday night and Saquon Barkley says there's only one way to get out of it.

By Dave Zangaro • Published September 29, 2026

CHICAGO — Lane Johnson is a realist. He’s honest too.

So in the wake of the Eagles’ ugly 27-7 loss to the Chicago Bears, the 14-year veteran was able to take a step back and evaluate what just happened to his team on the football field.

"You go look at the tape, there’s some things we did well,” Johnson said. "But when it comes to self-sabotage, we did that a lot today. That’s on us. But if we can move forward and capitalize on the stuff that we did improve on tonight and avoid the costly mistakes, then hopefully we’ll get a different outcome.”

That was the theme of Johnson’s comments. The 36-year-old future Hall of Fame tackle said multiple times that the Eagles shot themselves in the foot — and he’s not wrong.

The Eagles were able to move the ball pretty well in the first half at Soldier Field but their offense completely evaporated in the second half with three straight 3-and-outs and an interception.

According to Saquon Barkley, there’s only one way to stop the self-sabotage.

"Be honest with each other,” Barkley said. "Accountability. When we’re watching film, when we’re talking about it, be truthful with each other. We have an old enough team and guys who are able to accept accountability. It’s all of us. We all have to own it and got to do a better job. 

"And gotta stop saying it. It’s easy to sit here and say, ‘We gotta do this, we gotta do this’ but now it’s about time we gotta go do it. Got a short week. Gotta flush it and get ready for the Rams.”

After a rough first quarter where the Eagles’ second drive ended with a Tank Bigsby fumble, they really started to turn things around in the second quarter. Their defense forced a turnover on downs and after taking over at their own 3-yard line, the Eagles began to move the football.

They got into the red zone but then Jalen Hurts was pulled off the field to get checked for a concussion. Still, the Eagles had a 1st-and-goal from the 1-yard line before a negative play set up an Andy Dalton interception on third down. But the Eagles moved the ball well on that drive. And then they followed it up with a masterful 2-minute drill and punched in a touchdown as time expired in the first half.

The Eagles went into halftime trailing by just 3 points and were actually out-gaining the Bears.

But if you believe in momentum, the Eagles weren’t able to keep it. They came out in the second half flatter than two-week old bottle of soda.

"For us, in the first three games, we haven’t been good enough coming out of half,” Hurts said. "We have not scored on the first drive of half. We’ve gotten the ball every time. You love to score. When you get the ball on the 40, you get one of these kicks, you get 60 yards to work with. So just got to be better. 

"That’s a complete team effort, that starts with me making sure we’re in the right play, making sure we’re managing it in a way where we’re ahead of the sticks. And situationally, I’ve got to play better ball. Third down is a very big down for us. That’s been a very big down for us in these first two games and today we were not good enough and I wasn’t good enough. On fourth down, I wasn’t good enough as well.”

Hurts was able to will the Eagles to a win last week with some third-down heroics but that’s not the best formula for success. In this game, the Eagles committed too many penalty, had too many missed assignment and were thoroughly out-coached. They were 2-for-9 on third downs.

Of course, there are things to build on and they need to get back to work. Because there’s a lot of building to do.

"Monday Night Football, you try to come out and play your best,” Johnson said. "But it’s a part of the game we preach: When you face adversity, keep pushing through. As bad as it was tonight, we’ve got a lot to learn from and turn around next week.”

https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/eagles-self-sabotage-bears-lane-johnson-saquon-barkley-jalen-hurts/754614/

Be honest with each other? Well at least they don’t have AJ anymore so they can be honest with each other and not make comments to the media. But I mean if that’s the best they have then pack it up now. The only honesty is that the OL stinks and Howie needs to go and rebuild it.

I feel like I’ve been reading this same nonsense from them for 2 years.

they need to replace 3/5 of their offensive line next season…probably should’ve had a couple of those replacements in place this season.

23 minutes ago, mr_hunt said:

they need to replace 3/5 of their offensive line next season…probably should’ve had a couple of those replacements in place this season.

Unfortunately, it looks like we'll have mid-round draft picks to load up.

50 minutes ago, mr_hunt said:

they need to replace 3/5 of their offensive line next season…probably should’ve had a couple of those replacements in place this season.

Hopefully Bell works out as the successor to Lane. That's one.

Kendall seems like he as potential to possibly be an iOL replacement ... time will tell if he's two.

Still need another iOL (and possibly a 3rd depending on what happens with Steen).

After "watching the tape”, pretty much every NFL team sputters the same verbal vomit. Mailata said the same ish every week last season…”we’re close…just one or two blocks away”. 🤔

Hell my HS team said the same crap after watching film, from our games. Back in the late 80’s. In High School Football!!

I don’t think the Eagles know who they are as a team, just yet. Let’s hope they are able to figure it out and proceed with a successful, fun, season. 🦅🦮