Frustration mounts as injuries, losses pile up
HILADELPHIA » Doug Pederson’s post-game teleconference began as an interrogation of his twopoint conversion decisions and morphed into a wake.
Like the Eagles, Pederson left it all on the field in a 30-28 loss to the Baltimore Ravens Sunday at sun-splashed Lincoln Financial Field. The furious rally from 17 points down ran out of gas when Carson Wentz was tackled for a loss on a curious read option call.
Pederson had just about had enough of it when he launched into a rant about what was left of his banged-up team of players, applauding their spirit, their fight, their purpose and getting everything they had out of what they are.
“This group, every healthy body that we had played in this football game,” said Pederson, who lost three more starters to injury. “I’m going to tell you, it’s tough to win in the NFL. You guys know exactly where we’re at healthwise and these guys battled their tails off today, and still had a chance to tie this football game, really had a chance to win this football game against a healthy, healthy football team.
So, as the head coach, I can stand here and say I’m proud of those guys in the locker room. And I know they are going to get beat down this week and that’s your job. But my job is to encourage them. For this team to hang together on the sideline, to not point fingers, to battle, to be in this position with all the mistakes that were made in the first half, really offensively and then we missed the kick, the field goal at the end of the half, those are the differences in games.
“Those are things that we’re going to learn from and we’re going to get better from. I’m proud of the guys for the way they battled today.”
At the end of the day the Eagles had an injury list almost as lengthy as the game-day roster, partly due to personnel decisions Pederson has no real control over.
Running back Miles Sanders, tight end Zach Ertz and offensive tackle Jack Driscoll went down Sunday, adding to the glut of injuries already making practices a challenge.
The Eagles went so deep into their bench on the offensive line that Pederson didn’t know whether he should salute the replacement tackle, Brett Toth, by way of West Point, and thank him for his service or warn him that Calais Campbell, the
6-8, 300-pound defensive lineman already had three sacks was an imminent threat to Wentz, who was dropped six times on the day.
In so many words Pederson said he and his guys had done all they could against the superior Ravens with a roster composed of aging injured skills players he couldn’t count on (DeSean Jackson, Alshon Jeffery), of replacement guys brought in off the streets (Travis Fulgham, Greg Ward, Jason Croom) and of draft picks who aren’t ready for prime time (John “Drops” Hightower, JJ Arcega-Whiteside).
When you look inside the numbers the Eagles did stuff to the Ravens
(5-1) that in this season is historic.
The Eagles are the first team to score on the Ravens in the third quarter of 2020 even if running the read option with Jalen Hurts on the two-point attempt after the TD wasn’t the greatest call at the time.
Pederson and Wentz switched gears despite the challenges and shared the closest thing you’ll see to their Super Bowl season synergy.
Wentz threw touchdown passes to Croom and Fulgham and ran for a one-yard score in the final frame. The Eagles tallied 28 secondhalf points against a defense that before Sunday, surrendered 23 points all season in second halves.
The reward for rallying the guys, some of which Wentz quipped might not be around next week is 1-4-1.
“That’s right where we should be,” Pederson said boldly.
Pederson deserves better. The players deserve better. Eagles fans deserve better, including the diehards who showed up and caused the Ravens to false start in the first half, one of a dozen penalties for the visitors.
Deserving, of course, has nothing to do with it.
At the end of the day the fumble Arcega-Whiteside recovered in the end zone in the third quarter after Sanders ripped off a 74-yard run for the second straight week is still a touchdown.
At the end of the day the 21-yard run Hurts rocked for a first down in the second quarter to kickstart the offense coming off five threeand-outs, a lost fumble by Wentz and minus-7 yards of offense still is a
21-yard run. The Ravens were ahead, 17-0, at that point.
At the end of the day Hightower still dropped a postcard perfect pass that would have been an
88-yard touchdown on the third play of the day.
The story of the Eagles season is their inability to grow their own wide receivers. Since 2014, the Eagles have burned two first-round draft picks (Nelson Agholor, Jalen Reagor) and two secondround selections (Jordan Matthews, Arcega-Whiteside) on receivers.
Their most productive now are Greg Ward, a converted quarterback and Fulgham.
In the last decade the Pittsburgh Steelers haven’t drafted any receivers in the first round yet have hit on Chase Claypool, who tortured the Eagles last week, JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Washington in the second round.
There’s a disconnect between the people who find the skills players for the Eagles and the coaches who have to position them to make plays.
At the end of the day that’s why the Eagles have just one victory six weeks into the season for the first time since 1998.