The Eagles got boat raced on their home field with many of their starters on the bench, losing their second preseason game to the Patriots in embarrassing fashion, 35-0. Even that scoreline was a bit flattering to Philadelphia. 

Here's what I saw.

The Good

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• Learning that Wawa is basically selling their version of a Shamrock Shake to support the Eagles Autism Challenge was the highlight of the game and I am not even remotely kidding.

• It wasn't the explosive start to his Eagles career that many would have wanted, but in limited action, you can see exactly why Devonta Smith has been able to overcome his slight frame to this point in his career. Smith is already an upper-echelon NFL route runner and spent most of the first half making guys standing across from him look stuck in the mud. Once he has a real quarterback throwing passes to him again, he looks primed to eat up yards and make a name for himself in Philadelphia.

But listen, you don't have to take my word for it, just ask a former All-Pro receiver:

• The linebacking core was one of the few units that made a good impression on Thursday night, as the preseason of Alex Singleton continues after a strong debut against Pittsburgh. His understanding of angles and positioning jumps off of the screen every time he suits up, and he made perhaps the only standout play an Eagles player made all night (prior to a meaningless forced fumble in the fourth), splitting two blockers to blow up a Patriots screen before it could really get rolling.

Singleton was joined in the positive column by TJ Edwards, who has drawn strong reviews at camp and has translated that to real game reps through their first two games. The important thing for the Eagles is that he has expanded his game somewhat — Edwards has traditionally been viewed as more of a run-defense guy but has done a good job of closing space quickly during the preseason, which has helped him make more of an impact in the passing game.

Maybe this game is an example of why the Eagles have never emphasized the importance of linebackers. If the linebackers look this good and the defense still looks this outmatched, it seems to suggest you're not creating big-time value investing heavily at the position.

• Kenneth Gainwell was basically the only real reason to watch this game after halftime, and he almost made it worth it in limited action. He's a versatile piece Nick Sirianni can move around the field, at least if you believe in the experience he has lining up outside, and at the very least he's a decisive runner with good hands coming out of the backfield. Really like what we've seen from him so far.

The Bad

• On a night that could have been DeVonta Smith's big coming-out party as an Eagles wide receiver, it'd be hard to blame any fans for feeling a tinge of PTSD. Smith was unable to come down with any of the first three balls thrown his way on Thursday night, which was enough to send the diehard segment of social media into hysterics before his first half of professional football had wrapped up. Here's the thing — I don't think you can blame him for any of those misses, and Thursday night really underscored how screwed the Eagles might be if they need to rely on Joe Flacco for any extended period of time. 

The first pass that went Smith's way was several seconds late, with Smith wide open and waiting for a throw after beating his man off of the line of scrimmage. No. 2 was a tough timing play down the sideline that Smith would have been hard-pressed to bring in mid-spin, and No. 3 was thrown behind Smith on a bad throw from Flacco.

It wasn't all that pretty for Flacco outside of his attempts to Smith, either. There were worm burners to the sideline that would have hit wide-open running backs, hospital passes into traffic that nearly got his wideouts injured, and his mobility — never a strength even in his prime — is just nonexistent at this point in his career. Flacco missed early throwing windows, couldn't create later ones, and without the legs to get outside of the pocket, he had to resort to several off-balance throws that ended about how you'd expect.

If Flacco was a camp body here to compete for some sort of backup job, that's one thing, but the Eagles gave him several million guaranteed dollars to come here. I'm not sure what the Eagles saw in recent years to suggest that was a wise use of resources. He has underwhelmed in a big way during the preseason and the Eagles don't really have any other choice but to roll with him as the No. 2 guy. 

Who knows if Jalen Hurts is "The Guy" for this franchise from either a short-term or long-term perspective. If he ends up struggling this season, you can bet that many around the city (and perhaps this writer!) will pine for another signal-caller to get a shot. But from where we sit on August 19th, I can't imagine wanting to see anybody else on the roster throwing the ball from behind center, barring a franchise-altering trade between now and the start of the season.

• While conceding that the Eagles sat a bunch of starters and even began pulling their backups relatively early, it was not a good night for Philadelphia's defensive front. Cam Newton might not be the athletic force he used to be and was never the greatest "pure pocket passer," but none of that matters if you let him sit back in the pocket untouched on play after play. Newton just picked the Eagles apart for most of his time on the field, and rookie Mac Jones continued the onslaught when he took over for Newtown later in the first half.

It's extremely difficult to win football games when you can't get penetration up front, and the backup linemen certainly weren't bailed out with excellent coverage behind them. Rookie corner Zech McPhearson had a particularly rough first half, with the Patriots exploiting some space in the middle of the field as he tried to prevent bigger plays downfield. But his biggest error came on New England's second touchdown of the night, with his whiffed tackle

And really, this underscores a broader point about the Eagles' defensive depth or lack thereof. A week after Philadelphia's third-stringers (and beyond) got gashed by the Steelers in the second half, Philadelphia's backups looked outclassed and outmatched for basically all of Thursday's loss to the Patriots. Depth is arguably more important in football than in any other sport due to the frequency of injuries to starter-level players — something Eagles fans have found out the hard way — so it's fair to worry about this becoming a problem down the line. And if the starters aren't good enough to get it done, Jonathan Gannon doesn't look like he has a ton of options to change things up and get the defense moving in the right direction.

• I get that it's the preseason and a new head coach might not want to tip his plays just yet, but Sirianni could not have been more uninspired after their opening turnover. On the series immediately following New England's opening touchdown, the Eagles opted to run the ball three straight times, with Jordan Howard stuffed in the middle of the line to send the punting unit onto the field.

No one is asking Siranni to come out running hook-and-ladder plays or exotic gadget stuff deep in the playbook, but some semblance of aggression would have been appreciated. This is a stage where you have absolutely nothing to lose and plenty to gain, even with a team full of backups on the field, and the Eagles have been content to just march toward the final whistle with as little creativity or urgency as possible. We'll see what it all means when the real games begin.

• Not a great sign for either of Travis Fulgham or JJ Arcega-Whiteside that they were both playing deep into the fourth quarter. 

The Ugly

• Everything was setting up for the rarest football occasion of all — a preseason game with juice. This was to be the first time we saw Jalen Hurts and Devonta Smith in a game setting together, even if it was meant to be in limited reps, and that alone was worth tuning in for.

At least everyone thought it was right up until the moment Joe Flacco stepped on the field as the starting quarterback. The Eagles almost immediately announced that Hurts would miss the game due to illness, and just like that, most of the excitement for the game was out the window. There will be plenty of questions about this after the game, I imagine, when you consider that Hurts was out on the field for warm-ups and (at least on the surface) looking ready to give it a go. 

Philly's offense made matters worse moments later, when Nate Herbig (filling in for Jason Kelce) launched a snap miles over Flacco's head. Former Eagles corner Jalen Mills was the man who would eventually come up with the loose football, and the Patriots punched the ensuing possession in to put Philly on the back foot.

Pretty brutal all around.

• If the Eagles are screwed with Flacco taking real snaps this year, we're going to have to make up a new word for the danger they'd be in if Mullens ever sees meaningful playing time this season. I'm not sure if boned, cooked, or "out of their minds" is going to cut it.

• Mills getting away with blatant defensive holding/pass interference while playing for the Patriots is equal parts hilarious and annoying. Guess that's what it means to do things The Patriot Way.

• Sending good vibes to Patriots kicker Quinn Nordin, who might find himself out of work after this game. Missing multiple extra points and a field goal in a low-pressure game like this is not exactly going to earn the trust of your head coach. That was tough to watch. 

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