If there is any position on the Philadelphia Eagles that needs a bounce-back week against the New England Patriots, it's the quarterbacks.
Starting quarterback Jalen Hurts stood on the sidelines of the 24-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1 of the preseason, but his backups did not play as well. Between Andy Dalton, Tanner McKee, and Cole Payton, they combined to complete 13-of-25 passes for 83 yards and one touchdown. Payton threw that one touchdown with less than three minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
Eagles need much more out of this group going into the Patriots. What exactly is needed to feel more confident about the position?
Eagles' quarterbacks better be ready to step up against the Patriots
Hurts most likely won't play, as the Eagles typically handle him. Since Dalton started last week, McKee could start against the Patriots and go from there.
This Eagles offense has to get off to a fast start, and it all begins with the quarterbacks. They need to know who to target right away. Darius Cooper, Hollywood Brown, and Elijah Moore are the top receivers on the team who are most likely to play, so feed them the ball.
Getting the passing game going early will help the running game, which suffered last week because of the quarterback's poor play. If Payton's 45 yards rushing didn't get added in from that final offensive line, the Eagles had 11 carries for 31 yards, averaging 2.8 yards per carry against the Ravens. The passing game has to get going if the rushing attack has any shot at doing well.
When Payton is out there, Eagles offensive coordinator Sean Mannion should get more creative and let him run the ball more. Even more play-action fakes with Payton could get him rolling out and opening up receivers because they need to respect his legs. Payton is athletic, and the quarterback knows it, so he needs to continue to trust himself there.
The biggest issues at quarterback are McKee and Dalton, who are not mobile and ran an incredibly vanilla offense last week. It would be great to see them get more aggressive and throw more deep balls. Even if it results in an interception, at least it would show they are trying to get this offense moving.
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Philly doesn't have a clear answer on who should be the backup quarterback right now. This game has to make it easier for the coaches to decide, but Dalton and McKee must step up and play better.
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