No Mania for Gardner Minshew This Time

The Eagles backup quarterback couldn't get the Eagles over the hump for the second consecutive week

PHILADELPHIA - The backup is the backup for a reason but few around the Eagles were concerned when it became clear that Jalen Hurts would be missing some time.

At 13-1, the NFC East title and the No. 1 seed in the conference looked like formalities even with Minshew, one of the more accomplished QB2s in the NFL, forced into the lineup for a week or two.

That sentiment held true even after a loss in Dallas because Minshew more than pulled his weight against one of the better teams in the conference.

That wasn't the case on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field, however, as Minshew struggled to get on track during a disappointing 20-10 loss to the New Orleans Saints (7-9), Philadelphia's worst offensive performance of the season.

All of a sudden the Eagles are 13-3 with Dallas and San Francisco speeding up in the rear-view mirror entering Week 18.

When the 60 minutes of football were finished on Sunday, Minshew's numbers were serviceable: 18 of 32 passing for 274 yards with a 78-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Brown and an 82.0 passer rating.

The contexts those numbers didn't provide were the four three-and-outs to start the game during an obscene first half from an offensive perspective and a soul-crushing pick-six on a quick screen to Brown that Marcus Lattimore read and took to the house from 12 yards out.

"Obviously, he's going to want plays back," coach Nick Sirianni said when asked about Minshew's performance. "We're all going to want plays back, right? I'll have to look at the tape right there. Obviously, 23 (Lattimore) made a good play on the interception in a critical time on that one.

"... Obviously, it wasn't Gardner's best game and it wasn't our best game as an offense. Not even close, right? Gardner is capable of playing better. We're capable of coaching better and we are capable of playing better as an entire unit."

Without Pro Bowl right tackle Lane Johnson in the lineup, things went off thre rails early when Saints LB Kaden Ellis came unblocked off the edge, sacking Minshew on the Eagles' first offensive play of the game.

No. 2 wasn't much better when Carl Granderson and Ellis chased Minshew down.

"The only thing I said to Gardner after the game was sorry that I didn’t get it done for you," Pro Bowl center Jason Kelce said. "I had too many mistakes. I really do not think at all about where Gardner was at throughout the game. I actually felt he did some things to put us in good situations, we just didn’t execute up front. I didn’t put us in the right call at times, so I take that."

The Saints' defense finished with six sacks and nine QB hits while the Philadelphia offensive line was flagged six times.

The shaky start had Minshew off-kilter until things slowed down a bit for him in the second half.

"It was the same stuff," Minshew said when asked about the difference between the first half and the second. "We just started hitting and guys were getting open and running the ball well. We were protecting and everyone was doing their job.

"It was little things here and there, a penalty, taking a sack, whatever it was getting in our own way. It is frustrating when games go like that.”

With Hurts needed to secure the division against a New York Giants team with little to play for next week, it's likely the superstar returns from his sprained shoulder to put a stamp on everything he started.

Minshew will recede to the bench, a little disappointed, but ready to return if needed.

"Shoot, we had chances to win and didn’t make them and didn’t take them when we had them," said Minshew. "That is another one we will have to go figure out."

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen