Eagles cough up big lead late in loss
BIRDS WATCH 17-0 LEAD DISAPPEAR IN FOURTH
PHILADELPHIA >> When there is not another lineup change to make, not another trick play to set up a quarterback for a touchdown reception, not another X to scribble or O to plot, there is always the wail of the exasperated coach.
When losses are accumulating, and leads are being blown, and boasts of world championships being the new normal are falling flat, there is always the standard rationalization of the frustrated.
When there is not another mummer’s hat to sport, not another ring to fit, not another commercial to film or book to write, there will be the default position of the failing. So, Doug Pederson, have at it. “Nobody in the outside world,” the Eagles’ coach said Sunday, “is giving us a chance to do much of anything.”
So there the Eagles were after a 21-17 loss to the Carolina Panthers at the Linc, back to when they were yelling that everyone else was so wrong about everything.
There they were, safely positioning themselves as the disrespected, as the underappreciated, as the underdogs. All that was missing were the dog masks. Then again, by morning, the internet shopping sites should have them back up and on sale.
Pederson’s postgame babble after the Eagles were outscored, 21-0, in the final 10:41 to drip to 3-4 in their world championship defense was twisted and free flowing. His attack on the outside world was not even his primary theme. Rather, it was stashed in his re-telling of his postgame locker room speech. But it was clear. The Eagles have nine games to play, but only one opponent to beat: Those people over there. The outside world. It’s their fault. Theirs. Them. “The message is, quite frankly, is we have to learn from this,” Pederson said, of his clubhouse address. “These are games that galvanize football teams, that bring them closer together. Basically, I told them the pressure is off of us.”
The Eagles were Super Bowl champions, playing at home and 21-point winners in their last game. Their preferred and surgically repaired quarterback was back and playing well, without a hint that his left knee must be smothered in protective gear. They had some injuries, but it is almost the midpoint of a pro-football season, and there is a reason every NFL stadium effectively includes a compact hospital.
So where was that pressure that Pederson so casually mentioned after his team’s third loss in four games? And who was it, exactly, not giving the Eagles a chance? Haven’t they been favored in every game? Aren’t every one of their home games sold out? Weren’t they given every rightful national-television opportunity that a Super Bowl champion deserves?
And didn’t the Panthers give them quite the chance Sunday, flubbing a field goal and an extra point, and going the first 49 minutes without bothering to score?
“No. 1, I think that no one is giving us a chance anyway,” Pederson said, doubling down when pressed on the issue. “Whether we are putting pressure on ourselves to perform, to play, whatever it is, to live up to a certain expectation. I think it’s to that point where no one is giving us, maybe because of the injuries or whatever it is, much credit going into games.
“I think sometimes we force issues. We try to press just a little bit. We don’t have to go searching for plays. When plays come, let’s just make the plays that come to us. And right now we’re just not doing that. So I think that’s the pressure that’s off of us. And we just have to get back to playing and executing better.”
It’s probably that basic. And that’s why Pederson didn’t need to invent disrespect after a loss to a good team with a big-play quarterback. The Eagles have lost four games. One was in overtime. Another was by two points. Their rally in Tampa fell short. Then, there was Sunday, when they were at the Carolina 14 with their last possession, still gripping two timeouts, before Carson Wentz was sacked and lost a fumble, chasing 69,696 toward the windy parking lots.
“Like Doug said after we met, this brings us together,” Wendell Smallwood said. “We’re going through things like this. Everyone can go through something good and be happy. But what about the bad stuff? Are you going to buy in? Or are you going to go the other way? This team is never going to go the other way. We all buy in. Everything matters to us. We play for each other. So this hurts. And we will do everything to get it fixed.”
The Eagles have not had a parade-worthy season. But it is only October. And they will have their chances in the soggy NFC East. It’s not a crisis. But Pederson’s play-calling, timeout usage and general sideline sleepiness has bent it in that direction. And only he knows why on third-and-two, in fourdown straits, deep in Carolina turf, with seconds remaining but with those two timeouts, that he ordered a pass play.
If the Eagles are beginning to leak respect, that kind of play-selection is a reason.
If they are going to leak more, it’s because blaming the outside world grows tired in a hurry.