Eagles QB2 Picture Not So Clear After Preseason Opener

If you laughed at the performances of Andy Dalton and Tanner McKee during the Philadelphia Eagles preseason opener, hard to find fault in that.

For the Eagles, the QB2 battle took a turn for the worse. Neither Dalton nor McKee played well on Saturday night, a microcosm of a pitiful offensive performance that was on display at M&T Bank Stadium. The Eagles had 159 yards of total offense and 10 penalties in the loss. They also were 0-for-9 on third down and had just two first downs deep into the fourth quarter.

The box score told the story of how Dalton and McKee performed, so did the lack of movement when either quarterback was controlling the offense.

The Eagles have a QB2 problem through one preseason game. As the old saying goes, when you have two quarterbacks you have none.

Dalton still has the slight lead in the QB2 race

The Eagles gave Dalton the start on Saturday night over McKee, as he played just three series before giving way to McKee. Those series didn't go well.

The offense failed to pick up a first down in Dalton's three series, running nine plays for 12 yards. Dalton finished 3-of-6 for 20 yards, averaging 3.3 yards per attempt. He was 1-of-3 for 8 yards on third down and 2-of-4 for 16 yards on throws in the pocket.

A Darius Cooper drop on third down didn't help, but Dalton wasn't sharp on the night. The Eagles run a vanilla offense in the preseason, which did play a role in Dalton's performance.

"I think that played a little bit of a factor into it," Dalton said. "Now, we got ourselves in some tough situations with some penalties and some negative plays that affected it. I know that there was one third down that I should have gone somewhere else with the ball that would have kept the drive alive. And not getting that first, first down — we just never got into a rhythm.”

The Eagles had two penalties on the first drive of the game that didn't help Dalton, another reason why they struggled to move the football when he was in there.

So why does Dalton have the edge over McKee despite his performance?

McKee failed to seize the opportunity

Dalton didn't have a good performance, but neither did McKee. This made McKee's performance even more forgettable.

The Eagles ran 20 plays for 40 yards when McKee was in the game -- an average of 2.0 yards per play. McKee went 6-of-10 for 35 yards and 0-for-3 on third down. McKee was 5-of-9 on pocket throws, for 30 yards.

What made McKee's performance disappointing is that he didn't have to make a pass attempt when pressured, so he had mostly a clean pocket throughout the game. He wasn't able to move the football outside of one drive, despite playing five series.

The Eagles had -4 yards in the third quarter, and McKee already had a quarter to warm up.

“Obviously disappointed in today’s performance. Obviously, I am still the same player," McKee said. "I feel like I am a year better of learning and knowing defenses — picking Andy [Dalton]’s brain and Jalen [Hurts] having another year and picking his brain with the new offense.

"Obviously, I wish I could have shown that a little bit more tonight, but I definitely feel like I am an improved one-year-better player from that standpoint."

Perhaps McKee is better, but the progressions weren't shown on the field.

Is Sean Mannion the problem?

While both quarterbacks struggled to get anything going, part of the faults were how the Eagles operate in the preseason. The Eagles already have a very vanilla playbook to begin with.

Combine that with a first-time play caller in a radical offense compared to years past and the results are as bad as expected. This isn't on Mannion, but how the Eagles treat the preseason as an organization.

“I thought the communication — the plays were — I didn’t feel like we were rushed," said Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni on Mannion. "I wasn’t staring at the play clock at any point, I didn’t think, and debating whether I needed to call a timeout or not. So, the operation was good.

"We had a vanilla game plan, as they did, as well. But I thought the operation was good — the subbing in and out of the huddle, the communication from Sean [Mannion] to the quarterback. [We] had one pre-snap penalty on a third down, but I don’t think that had anything to do with the operation. So, as far as the operation goes, I thought that was fine.”

Both Dalton and McKee struggled to find a rhythm, and McKee was more open in admitting that was the case. This is also the product of a new system.

"There are a lot of learning curves. A lot of things to smooth out with everybody — that is route detail, getting your timing down with footwork, those things," McKee said. "Then with a new system, new people — there are just a lot of things that you are going to try to find a rhythm with.

"We are doing a little system now in training camp that I think is a little bit better as far as us getting our rhythm and getting more reps chunked together so we can find that rhythm.”

Is there a leader for QB2?

The leader in the clubhouse is unclear.

Dalton has a slight edge over McKee based on 11 practices and the preseason opener. There is still a long way to go, but McKee missed a huge opportunity to take the lead in the competition.

That was the biggest disappointment on Saturday night. McKee didn't seize the moment.

How the QB2 battle develops this week will be telling. The Eagles have joint practices with the Patriots, an opportunity for both McKee and Dalton to take a hold on the job.

This week may determine who will be the QB2. Both McKee and Dalton will split time until there's a winner.