BALTIMORE — The Philadelphia Eagles last traveled north on Interstate 95 from a game in Baltimore in December 2024, looking like bona fide Super Bowl contenders. It’s hard to say what impression they left this time in a 24-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Saturday’s preseason opener, other than they don’t place a premium on the exhibiton schedule — in playing time for starters and play calling from the coaches — and any hope they’ll imbue anyone with that feeling of contention again needs to wait until next month when the games begin to count.
But they still played 60 minutes. There were still jobs up for grabs, roster spots in question and even unforgettable debuts.
Here are five thoughts:
The backup quarterback situation went backward. No ground was made up in the quarterback competition, which is discouraging in itself.
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The whole idea of trading Andy Dalton or Tanner McKee is that they’re both among the top backup quarterbacks in the NFL. It didn’t help that they played without a starting offensive line and top skill players, but pro scouting departments won’t watch this film and view the Eagles’ quarterback depth chart as the envy of the league. Of course, there’s only so much one can read into a preseason game — especially for Dalton, who has started 173 games in his NFL career, including the playoffs.
“Nothing’s decided there as far as who’s the two, who’s the three,” head coach Nick Sirianni said when asked why he decided to start Dalton. “Andy’s played a lot of football. … Tanner’s had two starts.
“That’s just how we decided to go today. Been rotating with them in practice. I think both of them have continued to grow within the offense.”
Dalton finished 3 of 6 for 20 yards on three drives. He was hurt by penalties on the opening drive and a costly third-down drop by Darius Cooper. McKee took over and went 6 of 10 for 35 yards. In four full drives (excluding an end-of-half drive), there were three three-and-outs.
It’s a sharp contrast to one year ago. McKee was the unquestioned No. 2 quarterback. He started the preseason opener and went 20 of 25 for 252 yards and two touchdowns. He looked like a starting-caliber quarterback that night. In fact, the Eagles saw enough that they didn’t play him again in the preseason.
If you told me that night he’d effectively be the third-stringer during the preseason debut one year later, I would not have believed it. It seemed as if the arrow was pointing up in his career.
That’s been the perplexing part of the backup quarterback competition this summer — either his stock fell last season, they didn’t like the system fit, or they were drawn to the asset value of two backup quarterbacks. It hasn’t materialized productively.
Dalton has enough of a track record that the league knows what he is, but McKee’s stock might not be what it was last summer.
“I’ll let the coaches decide that,” McKee said of the competition. “My job is to go out and play when I’m put on field, so how that’s going, I’m going to put in the work, I’m going to do the extra stuff. I’m going to do everything to have my case of why I believe I should be the backup.”
McKee said he looked on the “bright side” of not starting, because if he needed to enter a game in the regular season, it would usually happen in the middle of the game.
This has clearly been a different experience for Dalton and McKee. Their spot on the depth chart changes by the practice. Neither quarterback created distance Saturday, and two weeks remain until cutdown day. Perhaps those two weeks will provide more clarity, but it remains as unclear as ever after this game.
When I remember this game a decade from now — what does it say about me that I might remember this game a decade from now? — I’ll focus less on the offense and the backup quarterbacks and more on an otherwise unremarkable drive in the third quarter when Uar Bernard and Joshua Weru played their first snaps of football in a game — ever.
“How exciting for those two guys to be playing in an NFL football game?” Sirianni asked.
Bernard, a native of Nigeria, and Weru, a native of Kenya, did not start practicing football until the spring. They didn’t wear full pads until two weeks ago. Consider how many youth league, high school or college games most everyone else on the field played before their NFL debuts.
Bernard and Weru did it for the first time in this setting. In the locker room after the game, teammates told Bernard how proud they were of him.
“It’s a dream come true for me,” said Bernard, who had chills when he went on the field. “I think I’m proud of myself.”
There were signs of major development necessary, but there were also flashes you can get behind — especially with Weru. He gets less attention than Bernard, but don’t forget about the undrafted edge rusher who was an international rugby player. He had a quarterback hit, and you saw his burst chasing down the passer.
Weru is 6 feet 4 and 244 pounds with a 4.45-second 40-yard dash and 41 1/2-inch vertical leap, and he’s demonstrated in practice tools that are hard to find at the position.
Both players are a work in progress. Vic Fangio said they’re “light-years away.” But Weru said this week that you need to celebrate the wins during the development process. It was a refreshing outlook. And seeing Bernard disengage a blocker or Weru apply pressure, it’s hard not to think about how far they’ve already come rather than focus on how far they still have to go.
Saturday night was a benchmark for them. It will be a lasting memory from the game.
Sirianni explained that Campbell did not get as many reps last season — he played 710 snaps, which was 63 percent of the snaps on defense — and that they thought he would benefit from the work. One could push back on the idea that he didn’t get much work last season, although he is the youngest and least-experienced player among the starting defense. Sirianni’s explanation that he wants to give him playing time makes sense. I did not interpret Campbell’s inclusion as a signal that his spot could be in trouble. (The Eagles, however, are deep on linebackers, as you’ll read below.)
With Epps out of uniform along with the other defensive starters, it might signal where the starting safety competition is headed — at least entering the season. Sirianni pushed back on that idea, saying that Epps is “a little bit older” and Michael Carter II had limited experience after his midseason acquisition in 2025.
Training camp has already offered clues, considering Epps has played the preponderance of first-team snaps in nickel. Carter has mixed in with the first-teamers, so the competition has continued, but Epps has been the front-runner since the summer started. I figured both would play. Perhaps the Eagles don’t need to see much more from Epps, who has 53 career starts between the regular season and postseason and played safety in this scheme last season. There’s more to learn about Carter. My guess remains that the veteran presence of Epps will give him the edge in Week 1 against Washington.
Jeremiah Trotter Jr. was one of the bright spots for the Eagles on Saturday, with five tackles, a sack and two quarterback hits in limited playing time. He’s looked like a starting-caliber player whenever he’s entered games. Undrafted rookie Deontae Lawson also made plays, totaling five tackles. This doesn’t even include Smael Mondon Jr., a fifth-round pick last year, who had five tackles and a quarterback hit; and Chance Campbell, who did not play because of injury but impressed on scout team last season, and who Fangio noted should be kept in mind for 53-man roster projections.
It makes you wonder if the Eagles will look to trade from this position of strength. Trotter could carry trade value, although with Campbell’s injury history and Zack Baun turning 30 in December, he might be valuable to keep around for at least the final two years of his contract. I’m not sure Mondon carries much trade value (unless it’s a player-for-player deal), so Trotter would be the trade candidate. This illustrates how far the Eagles have come at the position under Fangio. Linebacker was a wasteland for the Eagles at the start of the decade. Now, we’re talking about having more starting-caliber linebackers than starting spots.
Sorry to tell the fans who watch every minute of the preseason: The most important two days of the preseason come this week in New England. The Eagles have joint practices with the New England Patriots on Wednesday and Thursday in Foxborough, Mass., and those days will reveal more about the offense’s progress and how this team matches up with a Super Bowl contender than anything learned in the 180 minutes of game action on television this month.
“We’ve got a big week this week coming up, and the ones are going to get a lot of reps in New England for the joint practices,” Sirianni said.
That’s also why Sirianni does not play his starters in the preseason. The Eagles prioritize health (and keeping their scheme close to the vest) in games and have placed a greater emphasis on joint practices. The offense was bad Saturday, and there’s no spin or rationalizing the performance. There won’t be games this season (until perhaps Week 18) when they play 11 backups, although other teams play without starters and move the ball efficiently. The Eagles’ preseason opener last year was an example. But it’s hard to form any judgment based on what was on display in Baltimore.
A better evaluation will come in New England — just not in the game next week.
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Two weeks ago, The Athletic surveyed Los Angeles Kings fans on a range of topics related to the state of the franchise.
This is where we want to hear your viewpoints. Some respondents went beyond voting to share their opinions, and that is always welcome. No survey is perfect, but we hope the results provide a snapshot of Kings fans’ attitudes about six weeks out from the team’s season opener against the Colorado Avalanche.
More than 850 readers weighed in, and I provided some analysis of the results to each survey question. Without further delay, let’s examine how the survey turned out.
Hockey Hall of Famer Luc Robitaille’s stewardship of the Kings has been an increasingly hot topic as he nears the end of a decade as team president. The team’s inability to win a playoff series after emerging from a three-year retrenching stretch has left fans feeling uneasy about Robitaille’s direction and worried about the prospect of the club being trapped in mediocrity.
More than 80 percent of survey respondents lacked confidence in Robitaille. Does that reflect the feelings of the entire fan base? Or is it more representative of a passionate, vocal minority of fans? It’s hard to say. However, it’s clear that many supporters blame Robitaille for their frustration with the Kings’ current direction.
General manager Ken Holland is also in the Hall of Fame (as a builder), but the 70-year-old executive hasn’t won over many Kings fans. The start to his tenure in Los Angeles was rocky, as Holland’s decision to sign Brian Dumoulin and Cody Ceci to replace Vladislav Gavrikov and Jordan Spence on defense made those who feared a downgrade look like sages.
The trade for Artemi Panarin will help define Holland’s tenure, and some smaller moves still have the potential to pan out. Getting Brandt Clarke signed well into the future might become a feather in Holland’s cap. He’s a win-now GM working for a franchise with the same mindset, and that has made more than 70 percent of respondents wary of his fingerprints on the club’s major moves, but the distrust is less fervent for Holland than for Robitaille.
The results reflect the disconnect between the organization and its fans. It’s clear in this survey that fans are willing to withstand a full-blown rebuild and the lengthy downturn that often accompanies such decisions. But it also raises questions about whether the disparity in the survey results is shared by the broad majority of Kings fans. Will they still buy tickets to watch a bottom-five team for a couple seasons if that means a chance to draft a franchise cornerstone? Would apathy take root over a prolonged stretch of losing?
Far more favorably viewed was the decision to bring in Peter Laviolette, a proven head coach with an extensive track record. The 61-year-old has had a winning record with six previous NHL franchises, and his teams often enjoy a significant boost soon after he takes over — though it’s also fair to point out that Laviolette’s teams have struggled to sustain their initial success.
The most interesting part of this survey response is respondents’ generally positive opinion of Laviolette, even if a healthy segment of the fan base favors a change in direction. But if the franchise is determined to win now, it makes sense to hire a coach with a strong track record of maximizing rosters in his first season with new teams and who will be eager to break his own run of first-round futility. If the Kings didn’t feel this way, “Lavy” wouldn’t have been the coach to hire.
Is this where we spin Holland’s summer as deserving of a passing grade? Nearly half of respondents gave him a “C.” Does that mean landing Mats Zuccarello and Erik Haula in free agency should be met with a shrug? Just about a quarter of voters are more bullish on Holland’s offseason, and maybe the decisions to lock up Clarke, re-sign Scott Laughton and bring back Corey Perry to fill out the lineup are enough to give a higher grade.
Then again, 219 respondents gave a thumbs-down — including 46 that awarded a fail.
Tracking these over a few days, the voting was close to an even split early on, but there was a gradual surge of optimism for Quinton Byfield’s chances to break the 60-point barrier after scoring 20 goals and 55 points in 2023-24, 23 goals and 54 points in 2024-25, and 24 goals and 49 points in 2025-26. It makes sense to believe the 23-year-old is in for an offensive uptick now that Anže Kopitar is no longer there to block his path toward becoming the Kings’ top center. Now, can Byfield be a true 1C in the NHL?
A strong plurality of respondents believe Byfield’s point total will jump into the 60s. That’s a modest prediction, and maybe it reflects fans’ trepidation that he won’t reach the level of stardom that’s long been predicted for the athletic 6-foot-5 pivot. He turns 24 on Wednesday, on the cusp of his prime years. It matters who he will play with regularly, but nearly a quarter of respondents expect him to level up for a career year with at least 70 points. If the Kings are going to do any real damage in 2026-27, they’ll need him to be more than a 50-point player.
Looks like you remember those early days when Adrian Kempe, the Swede with the silky mitts and the undercurrent of a chippy demeanor, struggled mightily when he played in the middle. He has flourished and landed a huge contract since moving to right wing, but let’s see in the early days of training camp whether Laviolette is good with Haula or another player as his No. 2 center.
Kempe has been the Kings’ top scorer for the last three seasons, after Kopitar’s long stretch as the team’s lead point producer. Kempe’s career high is 75 points. Panarin has scored more than 75 points in nine of his 11 NHL seasons. Logical results here. Readers, you know your stuff.
When voting began, the results were evenly split, but they gradually swung in the direction of Perry being welcomed back after playing the first five-plus months of last season with the Kings. The jersey matters more, and Perry was still effective enough to have the Tampa Bay Lightning interested in acquiring him for the postseason. Many fans will happily cheer the famed net nuisance when he scores — or at least do so grudgingly.
The sharp spike in the NHL salary cap and the highly lucrative contracts negotiated this summer have had fans reassessing the earning power of players, and what constitutes a “good” deal. The 23-year-old Clarke took another step forward on the Kings’ defense last season and became one of this summer’s restricted free agents who got paid. But most readers here feel his contract will age well.
Will Drew Doughty succeed Kopitar in wearing the “C” for the Kings? He’s long been among the team leaders after becoming a regular alternate captain in 2016-17. A third of you feel it’s time for the 36-year-old to assume the role, but Kempe and Mikey Anderson also have strong support. The most surprising result is that 20 percent of respondents said there shouldn’t be a captain.
Doughty is entering the final year of his contract, and there is mutual agreement on the defenseman playing out the season without an extension in place. He has communicated his desire to stay with the Kings after 18 seasons with the team. Nearly half of you want him to be a one-team legacy player like Kopitar and Dustin Brown. But the other half are prepared to sever that bond with Doughty, either during the season or after it.
Fans will believe. And they can do so realistically in a Pacific Division that’s routinely called the worst in the NHL. (Never mind that there’s been a Pacific team playing in the last four Stanley Cup Finals). But will 90 points be enough to make the playoffs like last season? Or will more be necessary this time around, and will the Kings improve enough to reach the postseason?
These responses were interesting. On one hand, it’s not unexpected. Attending a hockey game is expensive; between tickets, food, parking and perhaps some merchandise, the live-game experience can easily cost hundreds of dollars. Respondents who said they don’t attend any Kings home games likely include Kings fans outside of Southern California who only have the opportunity to see the team in person when the Kings are on the road.
But the franchise averaged 17,435 attendance for their home contests in 2025-26, a slight increase from the previous season. Of course, those numbers reflect paid admission, and the announced numbers often don’t jibe with the actual bodies in the arena. Still, according to these results, quite a few readers make regular trips to Crypto.com Arena for game night.
Crypto is loud. Or I’m just old. Both can be true. While Kings games can sometimes resemble a night at the club more than a professional hockey game, most respondents seem to take the Will Ferrell, Steve Carell and Snoop Dogg video exhortations and regular techno music intrusions in stride. Some may already be hearing lively public address announcer Trevor Rabone pumping them up in their heads. And while Eric Cartman may have “died” once, he will live in eternity at Kings games thanks to massive fans and “South Park” co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
Couldn’t do a Kings survey without this question. Looking back, I probably should have included the roughly 13-year period when the franchise’s primary colors united purple and black, but these two sets of combinations have been the dominant color schemes across the Kings’ 59-year history. Black has been a staple of the Kings’ kits since Wayne Gretzky arrived in 1988, and that has lasted far longer than the 21 seasons they wore the original purple and gold.
While they’ve reintroduced the Gretzky-era logo full-time and brought back an update of the original crown logo for the current alternate third jersey, the Kings have been determined to keep black in their color scheme. They won both of the franchise’s Stanley Cups on home ice in black, and they were mostly bad in the late 1960s, ’70s and ’80s. But never underestimate nostalgia, or how the purple-and-gold combination pops in an era where bold sports colors are coming back into style.
The vote here mirrors two distinct eras of Kings hockey, and perhaps the team’s fan base, over nearly six decades.
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The College Football Playoff championship for the 2026 season will be decided on Jan. 25 in Las Vegas. Sam Hodde / Getty Images
The 2026 college football season is just days away, and our college football writers at The Athletic are beginning to publish their predictions for how things will play out this fall.
We want to hear from you, too. Vote for the national title, Power 4 conference championships and the Heisman Trophy winner below, and we’ll publish our reader consensus alongside our experts’ preseason picks.
Spot the pattern. Connect the terms
Find the hidden link between sports terms
Play today’s puzzle
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The football world appears to have been split down the middle by the issue, with the confederations of Africa, South American and Oceania having backed Infantino.
But even within confederations, there is disagreement and it makes it very difficult to predict whether Infantino or his opponents have the upper hand in this battle.
In Oceania, which has 11 member associations, New Zealand has said it will not follow the confederation and vote for him.
Mexico, Grenada and St Kitts and Nevis have broken away from the other 32 Concacaf nations to support the Fifa president.
Of the 46 Asian confederations members, so far eight countries have split to champion Infantino’s cause – the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Kuwait, Mongolia, the Philippines and Bhutan.
The Fifa Council, on which there are 36 confederation and national association heads plus Infantino, seems similarly split.
It raises questions about whether Infantino has the political power to govern Fifa, even if he wins an election of the 211 member associations.
The first test of Uefa’s threat is just over three weeks away, when the Fifa Under-20 Women’s World Cup is set to kick off. It is being hosted by Poland and features five other European nations, including England.
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