This is what Sean Mannion had in mind when he became the Eagles' offensive coordinator and melded his scheme design with input from the rest of the coaching staff during those long spring days and nights of installation. The personnel packages. The formation variations. A passing game featuring crossing routes and catch-and-run gains. The quarterback getting the ball out quickly, and a running game led by a stout offensive line opening holes for Saquon Barkley.

On a Monday night when the Dallas Cowboys were just too potent offensively and snuffed out a fourth-quarter drive with a diving interception takeaway to beat the Eagles 38-21, the silver lining was a true glimpse of what the offense can do.

It is something the Eagles hope to build upon as the 2026 season enters Week 8 and the schedule takes them to Landover, Maryland on Sunday night for the second of three straight NFC East games.

Philadelphia had three touchdown drives led by quarterback Tanner McKee, so let's go into detail about them and what they tell us about the offense and the potential takeoff from here.

On the team's first offensive possession of the game after Dallas took a 3-0 lead, the Eagles opened with a one-back (Barkley), three-tight end grouping (Dallas Goedert, Grant Calcaterra, Johnny Mundt) and made the Cowboys pay for a blitz as McKee, after a play-action fake, moved right and threw on the move to Barkley, who made a catch in the flat and gained 12 yards. On the second play of the drive, Barkley took a handoff and bounced outside, gaining 29 yards before going out of bounds on the left sideline.

Barkley strained his hamstring on the run, an injury that sidelined him the last two games and one that limited him the rest of the game (he played a total of nine snaps with nine touches for 71 yards and a touchdown and also had a ground gain wiped out by a holding call).

On the third play of the drive, McKee threw to receiver Makai Lemon, running a crossing route from the right side of the formation to the left, and he gained 21 yards to the Dallas 13-yard line. After a Cowboys penalty, Barkley took a handoff and bounced outside, sprinting to the right pylon of the end zone for a touchdown.

That was the first taste.

The second time the Eagles had the football, they drove 76 yards on 13 plays with McKee connecting on drive-extending passes to Hollywood Brown and Darius Cooper and the offensive line opening holes for running back Dameon Pierce, in for Barkley.

The running game was to be the bread-and-butter of the offense this season with the Eagles winning the line of scrimmage, with Barkley busting for big gains, with Jalen Hurts operating an efficient and effective passing game that had all those personnel packages and formation variations knifing defenses every which way.

It has been so difficult to build any kind of continuity given the drastic changes along the offensive line and injuries that have had the offense reaching deep into the 53-man roster and the practice squad and even off the streets to fill holes – Elijah Mitchell, for example, finished the game at running back after Barkley and Pierce went out with injuries.

You know the way it's been. Lane Johnson retired. Landon Dickerson, who returned on Monday night and played well at guard, went to Injured Reserve after an injury limited him in Week 1 against Washington. Cam Jurgens struggled at center, battled at guard, and then was traded to Baltimore. Hurts is on Injured Reserve. Barkley has been explosive when he's played, but the hamstring has been a huge burden. Goedert missed time with a knee injury. DeVonta Smith, who missed Monday's game's along with Dontayvion Wicks (ankle), has been limited with a hamstring injury.

Injuries aren't an excuse, but they are a reality. And the reality is that the Eagles haven't been able to run the offense Mannion and Head Coach Nick Siranni envisioned, with so many players in and out of the lineup.

On Monday night, we saw the design come to light. The Eagles put together a third scoring drive to open the second half, a beauty of one, in fact: 17 plays, 84 yards, 9 minutes and 16 seconds off the clock, culminating in a McKee completion to Lemon running a slant route, and Lemon showing his toughness breaking tackles at the goal line to score his first NFL touchdown.

There were positives in this one, but not enough to get back in the win column. McKee showed definite improvement. Lemon played really well and displayed a catch-and-run ability inside the hashes – everything the Eagles said he was when they selected him in the first round of the NFL Draft. The running game gained 121 yards, averaging 4.8 yards per attempt.

Let's see the Eagles build on that and stay in the NFC East picture, starting Sunday night at Washington. It won't get any easier from this point forward and at 2-5 the Eagles have their work cut out for them in a big way. There is no mercy in the NFL, so the Eagles have to create their own momentum, and the offensive progress from Monday night is one very positive place to start.