Eagles fooling the odds one wishful step at a time
PHILADELPHIA >> What at first seemed like another Super Bowl hangover scenario for the swaggering September Eagles soon revealed itself to be something of greater concern.
Regardless of what took place the previous winter, they realized they probably weren’t all that good.
At least not with offensive wizard Frank Reich gone off to enjoy greater coaching rewards, and not with Trey Burton seeking free agent riches elsewhere, and not with the departure of LeGarrette Blount so closely followed by a season ending injury to top running back Jay Ajayi.
The Eagles offense, which last year could play down to a level that demanded the defense to bail them all out at the end of games, now seemed stuck in the mud. With injuries decimating the defensive secondary, it seemed a matter of when, not if, they would exit the playoff chase, another one-Super-hit wonder bound for the football history books.
They had been routed in New Orleans to fall below .500 with the season stretch drive approaching. They couldn’t score. They could only hope some undertalented and inexperienced defensive players could quickly learn how to keep the other guys from scoring more. And a string of fellow NFC East opponents lay in wait. So what happened? “Well, you’d like for it to start earlier, but I think you’re still seeing ... you’re seeing flashes of it,” coach Doug Pederson said Tuesday. “I think the flashes are a little more consistent now. It still wasn’t perfect in the game (Monday night). Still some mistakes that we need to clean up.”
Forgive him for being understated, if not entirely inaccurate.
For Exhibit A in the cleanup case, there are penalties. The Eagles, with offensive and defensive fill-ins and young players in crucial spots, have had problems with them much of the season. Against the Redskins, they had five penalties that set them back 38 yards. But honestly, that’s not bad. For them this season it represents
a step forward. And hey, the ‘Skins took twice that many.
Then there are turnovers. In particular, Carson Wentz’s choice to uncork a pass on a first-andgoal at the Redskins 5 in the third quarter, the Eagles trying to stretch what was still a precarious 14-13 lead. Wentz unloaded unwisely and it was snagged by Washington cornerback Josh Norman. A mistake of youth.
Otherwise, Wentz was 27 of 39 for 306 yards and two touchdowns, with a passer rating of 98.9. Far from perfect, but reminiscent of the kind of performances he was typically producing last year.
As for the rest of the offense, the Eagles had 25 rushes for 112 yards split between busiest back Josh Adams, a real find this year as local kid surprisingly making good, and cheerleading backup Corey Clement. And though there were three fumbles by the Eagles, none were of great consequence, since they recovered all three.
On top of that, the offensive line, despite missing Jason Peters for a spell (Pederson: “He got rolled up ... he’s going to be fine.”) played as solid a game as it has in some time.
“You have to run the ball,” Pederson said. “You have to have that balance. We had it again last night, the last two weeks . ... It opens up a little bit more in the play action world and getting the quarterback out on the perimeter, getting Carson on the edge and where he’s been good at seeing the field.
“It goes back to the offensive line, how well are they controlling the line of scrimmage and starting there, and we started fast last night and that’s a positive in the big scheme of things.”
Keeping mistakes to a minimum and creating holes for the running game to get going and giving Wentz time? Consider it a throwback line to last year, though with one heartfelt difference: Darren Sproles.
Playing his first game since injuring his hamstring in the season opener, playing his second game since breaking an arm and imploding a knee ligament in Week 3 of 2017, Sproles took a little while to shake off some rust in a limited performance Monday night. He would carry the ball just four times.
He also ran over people on the way to a 14-yard touchdown burst late in the first half that changed the game and left him emotional afterward.
“Going into that game, I didn’t want to put Darren
out there right away, necessarily, and give him a ton of reps,” Pederson said. “I just didn’t; I felt like Josh was doing a good job. Corey was doing a good job, and then let’s mix Darren in where we can find him some work. Obviously the run, the 14-yard run for the touchdown, was one of his plays in the game, and it was well blocked, well executed. And it was really good for him to get in that game and kind of get banged around again from the physical aspect of it. And then to finish off that drive in the end zone, it’s exciting for him and what he’s gone through this season.”
It’s exciting for Pederson, too, who knows that a Wentz still trying to get up to A-game speed, and an offensive line still learning how to get it together again need the kind of change of pace that, even at a rebuilt and overly rehabbed 35, Darren Sproles can still provide. All they have to hope for is he stays healthy.
They can hope he does that.
They can hope Wentz stops throwing the occasional extra-effort pass that gets him in trouble, and continues on an upward performance arc.
They can hope Josh Adams keeps improving, that
their offensive line keeps melding.
They can hope their secondary guys keep getting healthier, that the subs they picked up with crossed fingers keep surprising them.
They can hope for a lot of things, but they still have to beat the hot Dallas Cowboys in Arlington Sunday, then hope for a mini-miracle on the road against the currently 11-1 L.A. Rams, then win at home against a Houston Texans team that has only won nine games in a row.
Finally, they can hope their season finale Dec. 30 in Washington goes as well as this Monday night game went. To that end, they can only hope that game will still mean something by then.
Clearly, reality will have its say at some point. And in trying to not burst the bubble of the past two weeks, there won’t be any talk of how much help they received out of Eli Manning and Mark Sanchez.
But the Eagles had little to hope for when they limped out of New Orleans just two weeks ago. So who’s to say what’s real?