👋 Good morning! Just when I was thinking that it had been an unusually quiet two weeks from the Eagles head coach…

I have nothing good, bad or in between to say about Nick Sirianni through two games. That is funny. It is usually not the case, as Nicky Content is always up to something. But there really have been no key fourth-down decisions, coward’s draws, hard counts or sideline antics to analyze. The television broadcast shows Nick pre-game before the opening kick and then for the post-game handshake. But after the game, Sirianni gets an IV out of nowhere and lets you know that he remains a Content Machine. The man still has his fastball.

It did look like quite A Hot One out there. Sideline reporter Kristina Pink said that the temperature on the field reached 157 degrees. They were watering down the cleats! Cam Jurgens said the field was similar to hot lava. That does not seem like a great look for Roger Goodell’s shield, but nobody loves turf more than NFL owners.

Jalen Hurts, though? I do have a few good things to say about him. A couple sections down.

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⚾ Phillies split with the Mets: The Phils’ magic number to make the postseason is now three with six games to go. FanGraphs currently has the Phillies with a 97.4 percent chance to make the playoffs. So, they are still in the driver’s seat. But working on an 8-10 September, the Phils are limping in at the moment.

We just gotta hope they limp in like this.

The big news from the weekend is that Orion Kerkering got demoted to Triple-A. Max Lazar is up in his place. This feels much different than when Andrew Painter got demoted midseason. The Phillies could not have Painter pitching in the majors at that point, but there were also legitimate things for him to work on in the minors.

The IronPigs’ season ended today, so there are no pressure-free games for Kerkering to work on his stuff. It sounds like he will pitch in a “stay-hot camp” starting Thursday. But this was a “we cannot have you pitch for us” type of thing, which in this current Phillies bullpen, is really saying something. The Phils currently employ Brooks Raley, Mets Double Agent in this ‘pen. It would not be surprising if Kerkering has thrown his last pitch in a Phillies uniform.

Unfortunately, Orion had made the situation untenable. Some of the rough numbers:

The Don Mattingly quotes about Kerkering after Saturday’s game were brutal. Completely fair, but brutal:

“Pretty high degree of worry about him.”

“You have to be able to use him there. In a game like that. Not going to try to chase a three-run deficit in that inning. Yeah, it’s hard to find places to use him.”

Three years ago, Kerkering was a September call-up that brought some real juice down the stretch. The sweeper was an absolute revelation. He was excellent in 2024, decent in 2025 and then disaster struck last October in Los Angeles. If Kerkering just throws that ball to first base, are we here? Impossible to know.

Now, Kerkering is a September demotion with a sweeper that is making headlines for all the wrong reasons. It really is a bummer of a career arc. Orion is still young and has legitimate talent, so maybe he rediscovers his form. I find it hard to believe that would be in Philadelphia, though.

And it has been a bummer of a week for the Phillies’ entire bullpen. Jonathan Bowlan suffered a groin strain, although it sounds like he could be in the playoff mix. Regardless of Bowlan’s health, the only reliever that I trust at the moment besides Jhoan Duran is a guy who was pitching in Double-A as recently as two months ago. That is not enough dudes.

Unless we want to see Chase Shugart, High-Leverage Reliever in action, Jesús Luzardo really might have to bridge that gap.

The best news of the weekend is that Luzardo played catch on Sunday. Afterward, he sounded optimistic and Dave Dombrowski sounded optimistic. Over at The Athletic, Matt Gelb wrote the following: All signs point to the Phillies treating Luzardo as a reliever to begin the postseason. When asked if the Phillies are entertaining either scenario — Luzardo as a starter or Luzardo as a reliever — Mattingly said, “Yes.”

Pre-injury, I did not agree with the idea of using Luzardo as a reliever for Game 1 of the wild-card series and the starter for Game 3. Too cute by half, not starting one of the very best starters in baseball for 4.5 months. But the injury obviously complicates things, and you do not have enough quality arms to not have Aaron Nola prominently involved in your pitching plans. So, maybe Luzardo becomes something of a fireman reliever to assist McFarlane and Duran. Would that be easier on his shoulder? I am genuinely asking.

The second-best news of the weekend is that Cristopher Sánchez looked more like himself in Sunday’s rain-soaked win. Sanchy’s line: 6.1 innings, 6 hits, 2 runs, 6 strikeouts and no walks. Justin Crawford had a bases-clearing triple in which the second-base umpire tripped both J.T. Realmuto and almost tripped Crawford. Keith Hernandez is right: Get out of the base line, Blue!

Fresh off the plane, José Urquidy was a fun watch on Friday. Sure, sign him up for one more start or bulk relief appearance.

Here is a look at the current National League wild-card standings.

Over in The Garbage American League, the Phils would already have popped some bottles. But right now they are in sixth place, with some work still left to do.

Here is a look at the schedules the rest of the way:

And the Phillies have two very tough teams left, both at home: Milwaukee and Tampa Bay. The Brewers are still in a dogfight for the No. 1 seed in the NL, they absolutely have something to play for. They have scored runs in really interesting ways this year, sharp organization over there. The Rays will have the AL wrapped up by the time they touch down in Philly, but they could very will be playing for World Series homefield advantage… and just generally might want to stay sharp ahead of their upcoming week off. We have seen what that dreaded week off does to teams.

I trust Bunzy’s numbers.

If you could choose, would you rather play in Chicago or in Atlanta for the wild-card series? It is an interesting question. There are pros and cons to both answers. I could see the Phillies starters mowing down the Braves lineup, but the prospect of having to face Chris Sale in Game 1 is terrifying.

First, a shoutout to Eagles fans.

There have been many an Eagles Fan Road Takeover over the years, but that was something yesterday in Nashville. As great as Jalen Hurts’ throw to Darius Cooper was, the best part of the replay is the incredible crowd pop. That felt louder than The Linc! Incredible showing from the fans, as always.

📻 And if you would like to hear me blab about the game instead of write about it, check out The Ringer’s Philly Special. 📻

The fans count as one take. Let me give you nine more.

1️⃣ I do not care that it was against the Titans in Week 2, that was a signature final drive from Jalen Hurts. This is what all the quarterback rankers and film grinders want to see: A pure dropback situation, when the other team knows that you are passing the ball. This is what those people live for.

Those people better put some respect on Jalen Hurts’ name. Add in a struggling offensive line and a new cast of characters at receiver, and that was some incredibly high-level quarterback play.

You can watch the whole thing here. The blow-by-blow:

I took a quick look back at Hurts’ last three years, and I do not recall many game-winning drives of that ilk. And for any of the previous game-winning drives (New Orleans 2024), it feels like there was at least one failed game-winning drive (Atlanta 2024). Just think back to the last two times Hurts faced Robert Saleh’s defense (New York Jets 2023, San Francisco 2025 Playoffs). Those end-of-games did not go the same way that yesterday did.

So, let’s make sure to celebrate that drive. Big-time stuff from Hurts.

2️⃣ Credit to Sean Mannion for an excellent call in the red zone. I have some issues with how Mannion is calling games. The early-down runs and screen game, in particular. But the new guy is dialing up some nice stuff in the red zone. Patullo-ish, one might say.

The touchdown to DeVonta Smith on the crosser? That is a nice zone-beater.

And the final touchdown to Cooper was a really good call. Hurts’ one disastrous decision that was very much his fault came in the very first drive. As The Great Fran Duffy pointed out, that red-zone interception happened on a play that was a similar concept (bunch set on the right) to the game-winning touchdown. The first one had no motion, though.

But on the second one, Mannion put DeVonta in motion within that bunch set and that created a coverage bust. Two guys go with DeVonta, Cooper is left wide open. Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles (that’s his name) had a good breakdown, too.

3️⃣ The early-down plays (runs, in particular) are killing them, though. I like it when the advanced numbers spell out what we are seeing. It’s easier that way.

Those numbers, in Plain English: Your quarterback is bailing your offense out on third down, because you cannot run the ball on first and second down. I am with RunTheBall Nation with the Eagles’ normal rushing attack. This ain’t it, let Hurts cook on early downs until we can figure that part out.

Take out the huge 42-yard Saquon Barkley scamper against Washington (which, in fairness, the offense does get to count) and the Eagles rushing numbers are downright putrid. They did not have one 10-yard run in yesterday’s game.

To take it back to Hurts, when you are consuming your podcasts and reading your articles this week, this is when you can spot the box-score readers. In past years, Jalen might have benefitted from an incredible supporting cast. But if anybody said that he had an up-and-down performance because of those two interceptions, well, they either did not watch the game or are relying on old narratives.

4️⃣ Just two games, but this has been well below-average offensive line play. Not for the Eagles, either. Below-average for them over the past decade would be like the ninth-best offensive line in the league.

No, this is bad offensive line play for anyone.

I want to make fun of Jeffery Simmons, who Hurts got the last laugh against.

(Jalen would like that one.)

But I cannot go there, since Simmons embarrassed the Eagles offensive line for the entire game. Run plays, pass plays, that dude was living in the backfield. Hurts’ other interception? A walk-in touchdown for Smith, if Simmons does not beat Cam Jurgens like a drum and effect the throw.

As it turned out, The Gamesmanship was for a reason: Drew Kendall took over at center, with Jurgens bumping over to a position he has not played much at all in Philly (left guard). No Fred Johnson, though. Anyway, that move does not seem like an indication that Landon Dickerson will be back anytime soon, and it does not seem like much of an endorsement of Jurgens either.

During training camp, all the offensive linemen talked a big game about loving the new scheme. Well, they are not showing it. The interior feels like the biggest issue right now, but it is not just them. Lane Johnson and Tyler Steen are whiffing on outside zone on one side. Jordan Mailata and the left guards have never seen a T/E stunt in their lives on the other side. It has been pretty ugly to watch.

The Eagles should not apologize for wins. Look around the league, and there were hideous losses all over the place (Justin Herbert, meet Nakobe Dean). Chicago scored 59 one week, and then three the next week. But the Eagles gotta figure out something up front. Maybe they should have another pow-wow on Nick Sirianni’s couch.

5️⃣ A nice surprise, though? The receiver room. Besides Hurts, DeVonta Smith is getting the game ball. 10 catches for 117 yards and a touchdown, looking very much like Wide Receiver 1.

As fun as it is to watch Smitty do his thing, we know what he is capable of by now. Those two catches he made on the final drive were absolutely sick, but there is not one Eagles fan that is surprised by them. He has been doing that stuff for a half-decade!

But Dontayvion Wicks Donnie Candles 🕯️🕯️🕯️ coming up with five catches for 74 yards, including three third-down conversions and a fourth-down conversion? We did not know he would do that stuff in Philly. Cooper caught the final touchdown, but he also had a nifty 23-yard gain on a shallow crosser. Even Makai Lemon moved the sticks on a ball that Hurts threw behind him.

26 catches for 264 yards and two touchdowns for the receiver room. A nice day at the office for those guys!

6️⃣ No Saquon and Goedert for most of the game was no fun. The Eagles line blocked up Saquon’s first run incredibly poorly, and he got a stinger on the play. I liked his cowboy collar, very old-school. The sight of one of those things makes me want to an Oklahoma drill again.

Dallas Goedert suffered a knee injury and did not return! Not ideal, but a good job by the receivers stepping up.

7️⃣ In general, I do not think Uncle Vic is gonna be happy with his defense. And he should not be. Zero takeaways, bad red-zone defense and a pass-rush that is taking ages to get to the quarterback. In particular, it feels like the Very Highly-Compensated Defensive Line is not holding up its end of the bargain.

In a key spot, Jalen Carter finally made a play in the red zone. About time.

I want to see what the film grinders say, but it feels like the opponents are finding a ton of success running the ball up the middle. It is great that the Eagles won, but doing so again while losing the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball is not sustainable in any way. Those guys gotta be better, too.

8️⃣ Hurts saved us from The Corey Graham Play, Part 2: I dunno what it is about Nashville, but when the Eagles play there, nothing goes right.

2002? Awesome team, lost in Nashville. 2010? Division champs, got boat-raced in Nashville. 2018? Reigning Super Bowl champs, lost in ridiculous fashion in Nashville.

The Corey Graham Play, from the 2018 loss, made the rounds this week. Some of the most inexplicable coverage that you will ever see on a football field. Well, the 27-yard Tyjae Spears run on 3rd and 22 was every bit as bad. Marcus Epps appeared to have a rough game, and he whiffed bad on that play.

Man, goofy stuff happens down there in Tennessee.

9️⃣ Drew Brees wanted Hurts to lower his shoulder for a first down in the second quarter????? I did a double-take when I heard that. Dude, it’s Week 2 against the Titans! Drew Brees wanted Hurts to treat his body like it was the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl!

Drew, you are a Hall of Fame quarterback. I assume you understand how the position works, right?

The news and notes of the day…

⚽ Union 4, Sporting Kansas City 3: The Hottest Team in Philadelphia Sports keeps the winning streak alive in spectacular fashion!

Cavan Sullivan scored again, by the way. But you already knew that.

🏆 Congratulations to the Philadelphia Waterdogs, who lifted the Premier Lacrosse League trophy! 🏆 I do not have a nice purple Waterdogs section header, but that might have to change. They have won two titles in the last five years.

Flyers preseason tonight! We will get you all caught up on the Orange and Black in tomorrow’s newsletter.

Let’s make it a good one.