The Eagles have the makings of a quarterback controversy with the unexpected play of their back up quarterbacks. They have a veteran second-string quarterback in Marcus Mariota, who they thought was the perfect backup to starter Jalen Hurts. The coaches were eager to see Mariota operate in their offense because like Mr. Hurts, he can pull the ball down and run like a running back.
He has been awful and last night he was 9 or 17 for 86 yards with a pathetic interception and numerous throws two feet over the receiver’s head. The veteran quarterback says, “he was sloppy”. I say it was worst than that.
They have a rookie third string quarterback in Tanner McKee, who is 6’6″, slow afoot, a pocket passer and anything but a running threat. The youngster is playing much better than Mariota.
The veteran signal caller and former second pick in the draft, looks like he is a rookie, who has no idea of what he’s doing. He was off target and high with his passes during last night’s game. The interception he threw was over the head of the receiver. It wasn’t a difficult throw, but it was definitely off target.
I haven’t seen solid quarterback play from Mariota. I was expecting to see him play fundamentally sound football by taking the snap from center, then looking for his first option, and if that’s not there, he looks for his second option, and if that’s not there he runs. He’s been looking for the first option, and if he’s not open, then he throws the ball over the receiver’s head.
Last night the veteran quarterback played as if the coaches had told him not to run with the football. Running is a big part of Mariota’s game, so when you take that away, it greatly diminishes him. He didn’t run very much against the Browns but he ran quite a bit in the first game against the Baltimore Ravens. I know they want to keep him healthy, but they’ve got to let him play his game.
The big problem for the Eagles organization right now is that McKee has come out two weeks in a row, and looked like he’s a better quarterback than Mariota, even though he doesn’t have much speed, athleticism or experience.
After the game, Eagles head coach Nick Sirriani made it very clear that Mariota is still the team’s backup quarterback, but if things continue as they did last night, something should change, but will they bench a guy who is making five million dollars to let a rookie sixth round pick take over.
Right now Mariota is mediocre at best. He can still run, but his accuracy as a passer is horrible and he has trouble reading defenses. It’s amazing to see a veteran quarterback struggling with reading coverages and unable to make quick decisions. Maybe it’s just a lack of confidence. I’m told he played much the same way for most of the season in Atlanta a year ago.
We really would like to see Hurts start the season and stay healthy through the entire 17 regular season games and the playoffs. We don’t want to get the chance to see the backup quarterback take any meaningful snaps. At this point in the preseason that desire is especially true here in Philadelphia. Things happen in the NFL and Hurts does run with the football. He gets tackled, so there’s always that chance that he could get his leg bent back the wrong way or something could happen with his arm.
If Mariota has to play during the season and he’s still playing like he has been the first two games, Eagles fans are going to lose it. Fans are getting so panicked that they’re talking about resigning Nick Foles. If this continues like it is right now, we might even hear somebody talk about resigning Carson Wentz. Philly fans are starting to get desperate and the season hasn’t even started.
