Wrong, Doug: Sky is falling on the Eagles
PHILADELPHIA — Doug Pederson was wrong when he said the sky isn’t falling. It is.
The fourth-year coach was wrong about his Philadelphia Eagles “being ready to play” against Dallas and how “we’re going to win that football game, and when we do we’re in first place in the NFC East.”
They didn’t. And they aren’t.
He keeps saying the Eagles are really “close” to clicking. In actuality, they couldn’t be further away.
Denial, as the saying goes, is not just a river in Egypt. But since it is the best weapon they have right now, they lock and load … and pray.
At least their quarterback does.
“I pray,” Carson Wentz said Wednesday. “I think we all need a lot of prayer. And when things are struggling, I always just look up and remember there’s a bigger picture.”
Which the Eagles no longer seem to be a part of in the NFL.
Win or lose Sunday’s nonconference clash with the Buffalo Bills, the Eagles have been passed for good in 2019 by the likes of Minnesota, Dallas, San Francisco, Seattle, New Orleans and even one of the teams they’ve beaten, Green Bay. And that’s just in the NFC, which won’t be the winning conference in the Super Bowl anyway.
The best they can hope for this season is mediocrity. Even if they should somehow catch and surpass the Cowboys to win the NFC East title, which is their only realistic
path to the postseason, they won’t be able to advance.
How can they?
How can a team that keeps losing so many defensive linemen and cornerbacks to injuries survive?
How can a team with absolutely no deep threat at wide receiver other than the injured and elderly DeSean Jackson be dynamic enough to compete in today’s NFL while allowing more points than all but seven teams?
How can a locker room keep from spinning out of control after Wentz and the front office have once again faced anonymous criticism from within the organization?
How can a team that either can’t cover receivers because it can’t rush the quarterback or can’t rush the quarterback because it can’t cover receivers expect to win meaningful games down the stretch, much less in the playoffs?
How does a team that can thrive only when out in front expect to contend when it keeps falling behind?
Want more?
OK, until last week the one thing the Eagles had done well was stop the run. Now, after losing so many defensive tackles, releasing linebacker Zach Brown and losing another linebacker, Nigel Bradham, to an ankle injury, they can’t even do that.
The Cowboys, who aren’t even that good to hear some people tell it, last Sunday eviscerated the soft underbelly of the Eagles defense for an entire nationwide TV viewing audience to see, gaining 189 yards on the ground on their way to a 37-10 win.
The Eagles followed that up with a flurry of roster moves at defensive tackle, releasing Akeem Spence and placing Hassan Ridgeway on injured reserve while replacing them with a pair of undrafted rookies, Albert Huggins and Anthony Rush, from other teams’ practice squads.
In the meantime, the Eagles have lost so much faith in 2017 second-round draft pick Sidney Jones they wouldn’t even play the confused cornerback one snap against the Cowboys despite activating him for the game. Turns out, though, they lost more faith in the man who took all Jones’ reps in that game, Orlando Scandrick, who was released the next day.
Yet somehow Pederson expected the public to believe him when he said Wednesday that “my observation of [Jones] — and this is just mine — is that he’s in a good place and he’s ready to get back out there and perform.”
Seriously?
The Eagles are a mess right now, and things are likely to get worse before they get better.
After Sunday’s game against the Bills, who are 5-1 and have a better defense than anyone the Eagles have faced, they return home to face the Bears (who have a better defense than the Bills), have the following week off and then host the Patriots (who have their best defense ever under Bill Belichick, allowing just 6.9 points per game, lowest in NFL history) and Seahawks.
Keep in mind that the only touchdown drive the Eagles put together against Dallas last week was with the aid of two ghastly personal-foul penalties. They never would have seen the end zone otherwise.
So, yeah, Wentz is spot-on: They all need a lot of prayer.