Change coming for Eagles at left guard

Sep 21, 2017 - 5:06 AM The Philadelphia Eagles, who handed the starting left guard job to Isaac Seumalo at the beginning of training camp, are wasting little time taking the job away from him.

Seumalo, who gave up four of the six sacks of Carson Wentz in Sunday's 27-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, likely will be benched in favor of veteran Chance Warmack Sunday when the 1-1 Eagles face the 0-2 Giants in an NFC East battle.

The move comes two days after head coach Doug Pederson told the media that he wasn't considering benching Seumalo.

"I don't want to push any panic buttons at this time," Pederson said on Monday. "Isaac has done an outstanding job, really, in his short time to start last year, this year and the position versatility (he's shown)."

On Tuesday, offensive coordinator Frank Reich said, "I think Isaac had showed a lot of progress in a lot of ways. Isaac is a versatile, smart player who we're very high on. He had earned the (starting) position. He had earned the right to kind of get put in that position, and we're just proceeding with that."

Seumalo, a 2016 third-round pick out of Oregon State, started four games as a rookie - two at right guard, one at left guard and one at right tackle. He had his ups and downs, like the rest of the line last year.

Right before the start of training camp, the Eagles traded away their incumbent starting left guard, Allen Barbre, and made Seumalo the starter ahead of Warmack, a five-year veteran with 48 career starts, who signed with the Eagles in March, and another veteran, Stefen Wisniewski, who has 83 career starts.

Seumalo has not played well in the Eagles' first two games. In Sunday's loss to the Chiefs, he was dominated.

"Seumalo has just been awful," said Brian Baldinger, a former NFL offensive lineman and an analyst for NFL Network. "They need to fix that position because he's a liability right now.

"Kansas City, to their credit, they knew it. They lined Dee Ford up on him. They knew he was a weak link. When you give up four sacks in one game, I don't even know how you're allowed to finish the game. I don't know what they're looking at."

Seumalo isn't the only Eagles offensive lineman who has struggled the first two weeks. A unit that Pro Football Focus ranked as the best in the NFL this summer has not played well. They've given up eight sacks in two games, have had trouble opening holes in the run game and been atrocious in the screen game.

The Eagles ran five screens against the Chiefs. Wentz managed to complete just two of the five passes and one of them went for a three-yard loss.

One to Darren Sproles had a chance for a big gain if nine-time Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters had sealed the edge. But at 35, he doesn't seem to have the agility he once did and was unable to make the block.



--Tight end Zach Ertz is off to an impressive start. He has a team-high 13 catches in the first two games. Eleven have been for first downs. He's tied for the league lead in receiving first downs with Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown.

--The Eagles are averaging 9.7 yards to go on second down. That's the second worst in the league, behind only Buffalo (9.82). Carson Wentz is ninth in first-down passing (108.0 rating), but 31st in second-down passing (47.1). He's completed just 12 of 26 passes on second down.

--The strength of the Eagles' defense is their front four. The weak link of the Giants' offense is their offensive line. "I think that will go widely reported this week," said Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, whose unit has eight sacks in the first two games, which is how many the Giants have allowed. "It's an important matchup, our defensive line against their offensive line," he said. "But that only comes into play if we can make the quarterback hold the ball. If he's running it or throwing quick, that defensive line can get neutralized."