Eagles defeat Patriots in preseason: Tanner McKee takes the lead and replaces backup quarterback Kenny Pickett.

When the Philadelphia Eagles faltered in their regular-season opener against the New England Patriots the previous year, head coach Nick Sirianni declared he would “re-evaluate some of the preseason stuff,” namely whether he would start his starters in the preseason.

However, Thursday night’s Eagles game against the Patriots marked the second straight preseason game in which Jalen Hurts and the most of the offensive starters did not participate.

Week 2 of the preseason has a clear rationale. To start with, in the hours before the game, it was pouring rain in Foxborough. Second, Sirianni believes that the Eagles’ Tuesday practice against the Patriots was superior preparation than the actual game. Additionally, Sirianni prefers to have a “competitive advantage” going into the regular season after hiring Kellen Moore as his offensive coordinator and implementing a new offensive philosophy.

So it’s likely Hurts’ first live action will come Sept. 6 in Brazil in the Eagles’ regular-season opener against Green Bay. Here are some takeaways and observations from the Eagles’ 14-13 win: NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

Did Tanner McKee make a case for backup QB job? As for the game, the Eagles might have a competition for backup quarterback after all. That’s because second-year quarterback Tanner McKee, who has gotten occasional second-team reps in practice, outplayed Kenny Pickett, the 2022 first-round pick of the Steelers whom the Eagles traded for in the spring.

Leading the fourth-quarter touchdown drive, McKee found Joseph Ngata on a 28-yard pass that went all the way down to the 4-yard line. With 4:23 remaining, a 1-yard rush by Kendall Milton put the Eagles ahead 14–12.

McKee gained 140 yards on 15 of 19 plays. Though he faced many of the Patriots starting defensive linemen, he was still superior to Pickett, who participated in the first half.

Pickett completed 11 of 13 throws for 67 yards, but only two of those completions were for more than 10 yards. In addition, Pickett suffered four sacks.

Third quarter: McKee took over. He completed four passes for more than ten yards, one of which was to Ngata for 23 yards. In the third quarter, he went on a series, and in the fourth, he came back.

When linebacker Brandon Smith recovered a fumble on a poor snap by Patriots quarterback Bailey Zappe, the Eagles secured the victory.

Ngata shines, O-line suffers, and E.J. Jenkins
Will Grier found Jenkins, who was competing for a third tight end slot, for a 19-yard reception. Before leaving the game in the fourth quarter due to a leg injury, he finished with 5 receptions for 47 yards.

Ngata finished with 88 yards and 5 catches.

However, the game also demonstrated that the Eagles’ offensive line behind the starters lacks depth. When right guard Tyler Steen departed the game in the first quarter due to a reopened ankle injury, that was further revealed. Steen was considered for the right guard position, even though it seemed like Mekhi Becton had taken it.

Big plays from Nolan Smith and Nakobe Dean
Nolan Smith and Nakobe Dean both had challenging debut campaigns. However, in the third quarter, the former Georgia stars produced impressive plays on consecutive occasions.

Drake Maye of New England completed a short pass to rookie wide out Ja’Lynn Polk on a 2nd-and-10 play near midfield. Dean immediately confronted him and gave him a pointless tackle. The Patriots were forced to punt on the following play when Smith sacked Maye for an eight-yard loss.

Kenny Pickett has a difficult first half.
At quarterback, Kenny Pickett started and was accurate when he got the ball, which wasn’t often because the Eagles were behind 10-3 at the half. However, Pickett was playing with reserve wide receivers and offensive linemen. There was no DeVonta Smith, AJ Brown, or Saquon Barkley for him to pass to.

Tyler Steen, the right guard, then had another ankle injury. In the Eagles’ opening two drives without Steen, Pickett was sacked four times.

In the first half, Pickett was 11 of 13 for 67 yards. The Eagles’ collective yardage in the first half was a meager 65. Pickett, however, didn’t help himself and frequently held onto the ball for too long.