Biggest questions facing the Eagles in the second half

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By Geoff Mosher PhillyVoice Staff Eagles NFL from Bill Streicher/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect Is Nick Sirianni coaching to keep his job? Read More While nearly every other NFL team is preparing for a matchup in Week 10, the Eagles and three other clubs are resting up and prepping for the second half of the season. The bye week for NFL teams is an opportunity to self-scout and take a big-picture view without the urgency of having to prepare for a game in a few days. Nick Sirianni and his staff need to be doing more of than they probably anticipated back in September. For the Eagles, the second half could be more vital than you'd think for a 2-7 squad that hasn't won a game since Week 2 and has almost no shot to make the postseason. The Eagles know their season is done but they are not intentionally tanking; they aren't going to sit good, healthy players and load the field with more backups than they already have out there. Despite the long-term benefit of losing – a top-five draft pick – the Eagles will put their best foot forward as they play out the string. They have rookie and second-year players who need more evaluation and an offensive coaching staff trying to prove that it shouldn't get canned after a one-year experiment that largely has failed because of uncontrollable injuries but also because of other breakdowns that should be correctable. Here are some of the biggest questions facing the Eagles in the second half: Is Nick Sirianni coaching for his job? Sirianni has every reason to make whatever changes are necessary for his team to be more competitive in the second half; his job could be on the line if he doesn't. Injuries have reduced the Eagles to a shell of themselves but the reality is they are also 5-13 in their last 18 games going back to 2025, so the underperforming didn't just begin this season. Sirianni is an offensive-minded head coach who has never been able to come up with an answer or solution to an offense that has been regressing for several years. As a CEO head coach, he's done well to keep the team together and the locker room unified, but Doug Pederson did that in 2020, too, and still got the axe after a four-win season. At some point, Sirianni must prove he's more than just a glue guy, but also someone who can find answers when his team has sunk to rock bottom – assuming it isn't too late for that. Should Landon Dickerson get benched? For the Eagles to be competitive again, they must be able to run the ball. How bad is their rushing offense? They have the NFL's fourth-fewest rushing yards per game by running backs, and their average yards per carry for running backs is fourth-lowest in the NFL. They also have the lowest yards before contact average for running backs in the entire league. Maybe it's time to sit veteran left guard Landon Dickerson, who already took a pay cut entering the season and clearly is nowhere near the caliber of player he was two years ago and arguably not even an NFL starter anymore. Willie Lampkin played four games when Dickerson was on IR earlier this season and although Lampkin didn't show to be a natural people-mover you could make an argument that he was still better than Dickerson. The Eagles could also find some value in benching struggling rookie RT Markel Bell and going with veteran Fred Johnson to get some experience back in there and to let Bell observe from the sideline. His technique has been awful and he's swimming against blitzes and overloads. The Eagles can't continue to trot out the same starting five and expect to improve in the run game. Bill Streicher/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect Joe Milton should start for the rest of the season. Will Joe Milton start for the rest of the season? If only because he could be a future Eagles backup and because Tanner McKee is headed for free agency and not part of the plans going forward, Milton should continue to be QB1. He performed decently Sunday against the Giants in his first start, especially for someone with just three weeks of experience in the playbook. He didn't throw any interceptions on 48 (!) dropbacks and fumbled just once despite being sacked seven times. Milton is a long, long, long way from being an NFL starter but he has traits worth developing and still gives the Eagles a better chance to win, however small that percentage is over McKee. He should also have the opportunity to be with the Eagles all offseason, continue learning the playbook and acclimating into the organization as he competes next season for a backup job at training camp. Will the Eagles be able to stop the run? The trade of Jordan Davis to the Jags brought back incredible return but also left the defense without its only true nose tackle for the team's 5-2 front on base downs. The Eagles drafted the mammoth Davis to be the main run-plugger for their converted 3-4 scheme. Without him, there isn't a natural replacement. Byron Young could inherit that role; he is a solid run defender but at around 300 pounds isn't built like a traditional nose. Eagles winners and losers from the trade deadline NFL trade deadline: Eagles grades round up Change won't save the Eagles now, but it can clear a new path DC Vic Fangio could also employ more four-man fronts and bring Zack Baun down on the line of scrimmage in obvious run situations for the extra body, but that leaves the second level exposed. The Eagles have struggled in run defense at times this year – the Cowboys steamrolled them for 204 rushing yards in Week 7 and three Commanders backups combined for more than 130 rushing yards in Week 8 – and although Davis wasn't playing at Pro Bowl level he had the fourth-most run tackles among NFL DTs this season and fourth-most run stops, per NFL Pro. Will Sean Mannion adjust his offense? Mannion has leaned heavily on three-wide receiver formations, playing 11 personnel at 78 percent, tied with the Titans for the league's highest rate. That's one reason they also haven't run the ball well; most of their receivers can't block. Mannion's offense was supposed to be predicated on multi-tight end formations, but Dallas Goedert missed two games and has been nursing his sore knee, playing just 56% of snaps. TE Johnny Mundt, signed to help in run blocking, hasn't blocked well at all. The Eagles are trying to get rookie second-round TE Eli Stowers on the field more, but he's also not an effective enough blocker to help boost the run game and neither is TE Grant Calcaterra. Mannion needs to do his best work over the next nine weeks, and that probably involves more creativity, better usage of his personnel and some schematic tweaks. Maybe a Jumbo package and sixth offensive lineman to spring the run game instead of inferior blocking tight ends? Perhaps a little more gadgetry? Mannion must show something, anything, to illustrate why the Eagles were so thrilled to hire him despite no prior play calling experience, and why he was once