Friday, November 6, 2026
66 ° Heavy Rain and Fog/Mist
66 ° Heavy Rain and Fog/Mist
The Philadelphia Eagles have had a rough start to the season, which has led to plenty of feelings and criticism.
There is a lot of Monday-morning quarterbacking, talk-radio opinions, and posts across every social media platform. Having an opinion is fair game. We all do. Presenting opinions as facts, speaking with certainty, and assigning blame without knowing the truth is something else.
I have seen content creator accounts get called out by professional athletes for wrong analysis, and yet they still argue and debate. The NFL is complex, and there is nothing shameful about being wrong. The fact that incorrect analysis has become so rampant that current and former players feel a need to defend themselves is a place I never thought we would get to.
After games in the locker room or later in the week, players sometimes explain the plays in question and confirm whether that coverage was or wasn’t their responsibility on a certain play, but fans and others watching the game speak and post as if they know who was at fault. This creates many false narratives, as all Eagles fans know. They have endured a lot of this, with many evaluating Jalen Hurts’ quarterback play throughout his NFL career.
I asked players, coaches, and students of the game at all levels what they see as the disconnect between the online evaluations and reality.
These were the most common responses.
Fans see a quarterback look left and then right; they scream at the TV or post on social media, “He missed his second read,” when in reality, they don't know what the progression was. The QB could have been intentionally looking off coverage, working one side of the field, reading a DB, reacting to pressure, etc. There is no one-size-fits-all answer for how the progression is done on every series or play.
What many see as a bad play call because it gained 3 yards or less, which is viewed as a failure, is sometimes intentional to create a future play. The offense is laying the groundwork by establishing a pattern for the defense to see, so they react accordingly later in the game when they see the same look. Other times it has been done to attack a specific coverage, and yes, sometimes, just a bad play call. It’s almost impossible to determine from the sofa.
Was he? Was that player the primary read? Was the route designed to clear out space for another weapon? Did a defender fall, creating the space after the QB moved to the next read? Did the defense adjust or switch post-snap, which changes the picture the QB saw? Many variables come into play. It usually isn’t as simple as the QB missing a player on the field ten yards apart from everyone else.
Two safeties don’t automatically mean Cover 2, nor does one safety mean Cover 1. Defenses use disguise to trick NFL lifers; it fools most everyone who watches the play, too.
Assigning blame to corners for blown coverage when you do not know their responsibility happens a lot. A safety or linebacker could have been the coverage call; miscommunication also plays a role. Corners were more frustrated by incorrect analysis than other positions I spoke with.
After a sack, blame oftentimes goes to the incorrect offensive lineman. A missed assignment by a RB or an incorrect pressure read by the QB affects what an OL does and who they block or allow to go by.
“He didn’t come back for the ball. Should have come back or gone deeper.” Maybe…maybe not.
Sometimes that is exactly how the route was designed. Other times, a receiver runs the wrong play or route, and occasionally the QB and receiver are forced to adjust because of circumstances.
Many see a quarterback make a change and assume it was a full audible, or that the QB didn’t like the play versus a certain defensive look and called a new one. Sometimes it is more subtle than that. He could be changing the entire play; other times, it’s protection, a hot route, direction, or a predetermined communication meant to confuse the defense.
The famous line: “Why are they running that?!”
In short, not every play is designed to gain a lot of yards, or even a few. Coaches can incorporate it into the playbook to manipulate the defensive design, set up pressure for future plays, identify personnel, or respond to field position.
Watching football gives you enough information to criticize the result. It rarely provides enough information to confidently explain the process.
I mention this during draft time as well; NFL organizations have far more intel on players and teams than the public does. Some is shared; most is not.
NFL, College, and High School programs have studied everything available to decipher opposing teams' game plans. Public practice tape, scouting reports, identifying personnel packages, and how to exploit weaknesses after reviewing the injury report. They've reviewed every minute detail, run every communication check, and dedicated themselves to piecing through the data.
We see a play and a result; they know the entire process that produced it.
MORE: Eagles rookie WR Makai Lemon is flashing first-round potential
