October 21, 2026
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images via Reuters Connect
Tanner McKee got hit by too many unblocked defenders in Week 6, a troubling trend for Birds QBs.
You can't win football games if you can't block, and right now the failure to block is one of the single biggest reasons the Eagles have gone more than a month without a win.
Weeks ago, we outlined how injuries and questionable personnel fits were threatening the Eagles' ability to block properly within the team's new run scheme.
You can now add pass protection to their growing list of offensive concerns, as the Eagles have become the easiest NFL team to pass rush against, a trend that started earlier in the season but has picked up.
No NFL team has allowed more free rides – unblocked defenders – to the quarterback than the Eagles, and frankly it isn't even close.
Unblocked Pressures Allowed:
— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) October 20, 2026
1. PHI - 49
2. DAL - 35
------------------
31. JAX - 13
32. SF - 12
This tells such a huge story about scheme foundation and preparation, IMO. @FDuffyNFL
It's tough enough for an offensive line with three backups, including two very undersized interior linemen, to hold its own 1-on-1 against conventional four- and five-man rushes.
But allowing an average of more than 8 (!) unblocked defenders per game for a team averaging just 33 dropbacks per game means the QB is getting rushed immediately on nearly 25 percent of his dropbacks, an astonishing number that explains why the Eagles are having so much trouble executing basic pass game principles.
2026 offenses ranked by percentage of pass plays allowing an unblocked pressure through Week 6:
— Ryan Paganetti (@RyanPaganetti) October 20, 2026
1.) Eagles (20.7%)
2.) Dolphins (13.8%)
3.) Commanders (13.4%)
4.) Colts (13.3%)
5.) Browns (13.0%)
6.) Cowboys (12.5%)
7.) Seahawks (12.3%)
8.) Panthers (11.9%)
9.) Chargers (11.7%)…
This kind of self-sabotage speaks to more than just personnel problems or injury issues.
New OC Sean Mannion and his OL coach, Chris Kuper, must go back to the drawing board and design protection schemes that don't leave the QB out to dry once every five pass attempts, especially with Jalen Hurts out for the rest of the season and a much less mobile Tanner McKee as the new QB1.
Some of the issues aren't just schematic. The Eagles are seeing some of the highest blitz rates against them compared to league average. Every defensive coordinator is salivating at the chance to cook up attack plans against them.
Just look at the blitz percentages of the Eagles' last three opponents compared to their season averages:
| Team | vs. Eagles | Season Avg. |
| Rams | 55% | 32% |
| Jaguars | 43% | 31% |
| Panthers | 44% | 39% |
Two opponents upping their blitz rate by double figures – by more than 20 percent (!) in the Rams' case – is almost unheard of and speaks to how confident these coordinators are that their pass rush will get home with ease against the Eagles.
The Eagles, once among the NFL's best against the blitz, have the NFL's third-lowest EPA against the blitz (-0.39). Two years ago, en route to a Super Bowl title, they had the NFL's sixth best EPA per pass against the blitz (+0.14).
The only way to keep defenses from teeing off on them is by improving their run game and their horrific first-down offense, which are separate issues unto themselves.
But the Eagles also aren't helping themselves with protection calls that commonly require inexperienced offensive linemen – including an undrafted second-year LG and undrafted second-year C, and rookie RT – to be on the same page and handle the increasing number of stunts, twists, overloads and delayed pressures being thrown at them.
Willie Lampkin, Jake Majors and Markel Bell are seeing some of the wildest blitz schemes while they're just getting their feet wet as NFL professionals.
Right from the start of Sunday's loss to the Panthers, another afternoon full of first-down turmoil, the Eagles were in trouble with their protection scheme. They went under center on their very first snap and tried to execute a simple play-action bootleg against what appeared to be a typical four-man Panthers front.
Everything changed after the snap, and the play never had any chance of survival:
A BIG ONE to start it off #CARvsPHI
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) October 18, 2026
📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/0C2boJg6dt
This wasn't even a numbers disadvantage for the Eagles, who had six to block five with RB Dameon Pierce as the extra blocker. But knowing how the Eagles would coordinate their blocking scheme, the Panthers were still able to get three Eagles linemen blocking two pass rushers while Pierce had two unblocked defenders coming directly at him.
Pierce blocked one, while the other – LB Bobby Okereke – took the red carpet to McKee for an 11-yard sack, putting an already struggling Eagles offense way behind the sticks on their very first snap.
Going under center was especially problematic against the Panthers, who took every advantage possible to send an extra rusher nearly every time McKee wasn't in shotgun.
Got 'em#CARvsPHI
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) October 18, 2026
📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/fxspybehiw
The Eagles actually kept seven in to block on that five-man rush and still somehow let LB Devin Lloyd go unabated to McKee for another sack. TE Johnny Mundt came across the line of scrimmage from right to left but somehow never noticed Lloyd blitzing through the left-side A gap.
It's not just bad execution but downright embarrassing to have unblocked defenders hitting your QB when you have more blockers than pass rushers coming as often as the Eagles are having it happen.
You can blame injuries and inexperience, and you can credit defensive coordinators for being good at their jobs, but there's no excuse for this repeated failure, and a big portion of that falls on Mannion and Kuper.
Nick Sirianni constantly says he never wants to be last in the league in any category, but the Birds are the NFL's worst in this one – by a mile.
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