When the Philadelphia Eagles hired Sean Mannion as their next offensive coordinator for the 2026 season, they described their offense as a collaborative project involving Mannion, head coach Nick Sirianni, and quarterback Jalen Hurts. The collaboration was evident in the first couple of weeks as the Eagles led a 2-0 start to the season.
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By Week 3, however, things went downhill, as Philly’s offense faltered against the Chicago Bears. Former Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson recently addressed this sharp contrast between the team’s offensive performance in the first three weeks. And according to him, it might be because Coach Sirianni is getting more involved in offensive play-calling.
“Oh man, I would love to see him (Mannion) just take it over,” said Jackson on the Up & Adams Show. “I feel like it’s always crazy because you get speculations and you don’t really know the ins and outs of what’s going on or what’s happening, but I think through the first two weeks, it was pretty good. Their offense was doing very well. And I just think this pass game, I don’t know if Nick Sirianni is getting his hands in in the pot. You know, it’s steaming out there where he’s kind of taking over. I don’t know. It’s hard to say because I just know the first two weeks was pretty good, right?”
Jackson’s assessment of the first two weeks of the season can be backed up by the Eagles’ offensive performance. While the offense wasn’t dominant, it was good enough for the team to secure two consecutive wins. Against the Washington Commanders, Philly produced 318 total yards, while against the Tennessee Titans, it produced 341 yards.
The Eagles won both games, but they needed late-game execution to secure them.
At the same time, the passing game really did spread the ball around. In Week 1, new Eagles receiver Dontayvion Wicks immediately became involved. He caught two passes for 73 yards and a touchdown, including a 64-yard reception that helped set up Philadelphia’s first touchdown.
Then in Week 2, Wicks caught five passes for 74 yards, while DeVonta Smith exploded for 10 catches, 117 yards, and a touchdown. Darius Cooper also caught the game-winning touchdown. Wicks finished his first two games with 7 catches for 147 yards and a touchdown.
In Week 3, however, the offense faced a major dip, as the Eagles lost their first matchup of the season.
“Then we come back and struggle on Monday night versus the Chicago team without Caleb Williams and a backup, not even a backup, a third-string quarterback, Case (Keenum),” Jackson added. “I mean, I just like, come on, at the end of the day. I mean, that’s we can’t never ever put nothing out like that. And I just feel like what we’ve seen, it wasn’t good. And I’m not going to panic because it’s still early in the season, but I just feel like Sean (Mannion) and I think he’s a good offensive coordinator.
“The characteristics that I saw in the first two weeks were pretty good, right? I’m not going to say it was like all time superior great, but it was good enough for us to be successful. I just like how we’re opening up the offense. We’re doing, you know, Dontayvion Wicks is getting involved. You got Smithy being involved. I would like to see them do a little better with my boy Makai Lemon.”
Against Chicago, Philadelphia scored just seven points and produced 248 total yards. Jalen Hurts finished 16-of-25 for 153 yards, zero touchdowns and one interception. The Eagles converted only 2 of 9 third downs and turned the ball over three times.
NFL.com’s analysis called it Philadelphia’s least-efficient offensive performance of the Sirianni era, with an EPA per drive of -1.68. At the same time, it also noted that the Eagles’ three turnovers and inability to stay ahead of the chains compounded the offensive problems.
But that certainly doesn’t mean the Eagles were operating with a dominant offense in the first two weeks. While it’s true Week 3 gave them a reality check, there were legitimate offensive problems before the Bears’ matchup as well.
Before the Chicago game, Philly faced criticism for not implementing the new offensive identity they had advertised during the offseason. For broader context, the Eagles were using play-action on only about 18.2% of their plays, ranking 22nd in the league, while their under-center usage ranked 26th.
That said, the Eagles currently sit at 2-1 ahead of the Week 4 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams at home. It remains to be seen how the team’s offense will perform as the season progresses.