The Philadelphia Eagles' offense was about as bland as it could have been in the 24-7 preseason loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
That was by design, though, as Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni admitted that they were running a vanilla offense and weren't worried about the performance. They finished with 159 total yards, six first downs, and didn't convert any of their nine third downs.
Philly's QB2 battle between Andy Dalton and Tanner McKee was anticlimactic, as the two combined for 55 passing yards in three quarters of work. The fourth-string quarterback, rookie Cole Payton, though, might have shown something that could change the conversation about the backup job.
Cole Payton showed the Eagles that he should be in QB2 competition
When an offense runs a playbook as vanilla as the Eagles', it needs an athletic quarterback to spark the unit. Dalton and McKee are both pocket passers, but Payton can do a lot more than throw the football.
Payton showed off his mobility for the Eagles, especially on the final offensive drive of the game for the Birds. After only gaining 100 total through three and a half quarters, he led a nine-play, 59-yard drive that ended in a touchdown pass from Payton to prevent the shutout.
First off, Payton used his legs a lot on that drive, and it was great to see. The pressure was in his face, and he was able to either run the ball, throw the pass to a receiver, or throw the pass away.
That touchdown pass he threw, though, was incredibly impressive. Payton rolled out of the pocket with pressure in his face and somehow threw it to Erik Ezukanma in the back corner of the end zone with pinpoint accuracy. It was one of the most impressive throws in recent Eagles preseason history.
Payton finished the game by completing four of nine passes for 37 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for 45 yards on three carries with a long of 17 yards.
Of course, everyone is going to say that he did it against the third- and fourth-string players on the Ravens, but that Baltimore defense had been great the whole game. Payton deserves credit for giving the Eagles exactly what they needed to get the ball moving after three and a half quarters of nothing.
The real question is, "Why wouldn't the Eagles consider Payton for the backup job?" They drafted him in the fifth round as a developmental player, but he looked more in control of the offense than Dalton and McKee did.
Read more: It's only preseason but Eagles' offense struggled under Sean Mannion
Philly doesn't necessarily need to hand the keys off to Payto, but he should get more second-team reps and a shot at winning that job. He did everything that the Eagles needed him to in an ugly preseason game, so he should start slowly getting QB2 snaps in training camp and allow him to earn the job over the next two weeks.
Add us as a preferred source on Google