Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Eagles will try to regroup in California
Eagles try to regroup in Southern California before date with Rams
COSTA, MESA, CALIF. » Win streaks can cover up a multitude of sins.
Losses make everything real.
And so it is these days for the Eagles, victimized by turnovers and penalties, and criticized for their strategy, or a lack thereof in a 24-10 loss to the Seattle Seahawks Sunday night at CenturyLink Field.
The end of the nine-game win streak upset Doug Pederson. So did being questioned about why he didn’t challenge Russell’s Wilson’s fourth-quarter lateral to Mike Davis, who picked up a first down. Replays later showed it was an illegal forward pass. Challenge or not, the Eagles still had their chances to get a stop, as the ball was at their 35-yard line. They didn’t, Wilson getting the Hawks into the end zone for a 14-point lead that pretty much sealed it.
“I have to make a real-time decision,” Pederson said. “I don’t get the luxury of the television bringing out protractors and straight rulers and drawing lines, which I guess they did, and saying ‘oh yeah, this is probably a forward pass.’ I don’t get that luxury. I’ve got to make it within 10 to 15 seconds of them running the next play. At that time, I didn’t feel it was necessary to challenge when we all thought it wouldn’t be in our favor. I didn’t want to risk another timeout.”
Pederson let the Eagles know Monday that he wasn’t happy with the way they’d been practicing the previous two weeks. Told them right there in their plush hotel that will serve as headquarters this week as they get ready for the Los Angeles Rams. The beach is what, 45 minutes away?
“Winning can kind of cover up some things, or mask some things and deficiencies,” Pederson said Monday. “A little chink in your armor, if there is any. Coaches and players fall into the same mode sometimes. We need games where we get hit in the mouth and we have to fight, and battle and scratch. Yesterday’s game was one of those games. And you just have to understand that preparation, there’s no substitute for the preparation, the hard work. And it’s my job to make sure they understand that.”
The Eagles need to work out the kinks fast because the Rams (9-3) are for real.
The last thing Pederson would seem to need right now is a new routine, if only for one week, in sunny Southern California. Not after a bad week of practice led to his first loss since Week 2 of the season.
Reasoning it was better to go straight to Los Angeles, than to risk dead legs from back-to-back West Coast trips, the Eagles told themselves it would be OK because this was business, and if they’d proven anything over the first 11 games, it was that they knew how to handle their responsibilities. Until Sunday, that is.
The Eagles never dreamed that for just the second time all season, the lights would be too bright for them. But it happened, and there was enough blame to go around. Carson Wentz fumbled out of the end for a touchback. The secondary played like it was operating a pass interference clinic.
Their comfort zone 2,500 miles away in South Philly, the Eagles will try to get organized practicing at Angels Stadium, the baseball home of South Jersey superstar slugger Mike Trout, who just happens to be the buddy of Carson Wentz and Zach Ertz. Did we mention Ertz is in concussion protocol?
When the Eagles aren’t bussing to practices, trying to find their way back to the locker room after treatment, fighting off autograph seekers in the hotel lobby or telling room service they ordered burgers, not the roast duck with the mango salsa, they will try to avoid the inevitable soul searching that comes from getting your rear end kicked.
The Eagles will be wondering if they really are who they thought they were, the team that defeated four straight opponents by 23 or more points, or just a figment of the football public’s imagination (those were crippled teams). Real, or fantasy, like one of those spectacular 3D rides at Disneyland, about 10 minutes away.
“Obviously you’ve got to keep them dialed in because the week is different,” Pederson said. “We’ve got to eliminate the distractions of traveling to practice, and we’re in a hotel. Things aren’t quite as simple, let’s say, as if we’re back in Philadelphia. And then the part about the game. We’re facing a playoff-caliber football team this Sunday. Good in all three phases. The offense is very explosive. I’ve got to bring everybody kind of full circle back to that and focus on that during the week.”
To normalize the work week, Pederson and his staff will practice at their usual East Coast times. That means 4:45 p.m. practices — and not as much time for rest and relaxation.
“It’s hard when you’ve got backto-back West Coast trips like this, to be able to fly home and practice and then come back out this way at the end of the week,” Pederson said. “We try to keep the week as normal as possible for the guys and the coaches. We’ve got a great setup here in the hotel. Coaches have offices and work spaces to get the work done. Players have everything they need right here from treatment, rehab, doctors, medical facilities, all that.”
The Eagles also have a pretty good record. But they’re now tied for the league lead with the Minnesota Vikings.
“We’re 10-2, still a good football team,” Pederson said. “And everything is in our control. That’s the beauty of this whole thing, everything is still right in front of us. We just have to embrace that and understand that.”