The bottom is dropping out on the Eagles’ season
You didn’t have to wait long for the turning point.
No, the Eagles got right after it Sunday in Cincinnati.
Doug Pederson won the coin flip for the seventh time this season and unlike the other six occasions, decided to take the football rather than defer until the second half.
It was bold, aggressive and out of character for the energetic head coach of the Ea- gles, who wanted to see how the players would react.
Unfortunately for Pederson, the players didn’t charge the hill with him and the result was a 32-14 slaughter.
The critical first series Pederson hoped to set the tone with began with Wendell Smallwood losing two yards on a run. It continued with quarterback Carson Wentz having a pass batted down at the line of scrimmage. It ended with the Bengals, who had won just once in almost two months, shaking their heads because they didn’t in- tercept the rookie’s second pass.
The highlight of the threeand-out had to be avoiding the turnover.
And the Eagles didn’t get any more productive until it was basically over. How
bad was the loss? Surveying the damage, it was another example of Pederson, the head coach, performing like the ex-NFL backup quarterback never good enough to be the man, always clawing with his fingernails to stay in the game.
That first Eagles series revealed almost all of their shortcomings on offense, starting with the inability of the ordinary offensive line to open holes. The over-matched receiving corps missed the injured Jordan Matthews but failed to get open. The play-calling was so predictable the TV crew predicted Wentz’s final turnover.
Wentz clearly isn’t ready to throw into the teeth of a zone defense. He was picked off three times, although it easily could have been six. Then again, those four false starts by the line in the first half kind of kept him playing catch-up.
The Birds’ too-little, toolate rally ended with an interception that was forecast by Fox TV analyst Charles Davis. The defensive back in Davis, who played for the Volunteers, recognized that the Eagles threw slants on all of their fourth-and-short plays. Sure enough, they tried another. Linebacker Vontaze Burfict notched his second interception of the game, and the season.
For Pederson, it was a game of endless bottoms. Just when it seemed the Eagles could sink no lower, there was another mistake, the team hitting double-digits in penalties for the fifth time this season.
The Eagles seemed to work at it. Their most ridiculous penalty was lining up offside on the kickoff to begin the second half.
The Eagles are 5-7 and in need of a minor miracle to reach the playoffs. Worse, they’ve been beaten in three straight games by an aggregate score of 8542 with the postseason still in their control.
The Bengals entered the game with a 3-7-1 record, had put up a total of just 26 points in their previous two starts and hadn’t scored more than 31 points in a game. Their kicker is challenged to make PATs, for crying out loud. It’s safe to say they feel like a team again. Andy Dalton completed 23 of 31 attempts for 332 yards, two touchdowns and a 130.0 passer rating.
The previous week the Eagles were ripped apart by Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, who were 4-7.
Sure, the Eagles need upgrades at wide receiver, running back, the offensive line and at cornerback. They’re not just a player or two away, all ESPN chatter aside that deep threat DeSean Jackson, on the other side of 30, could return after his contract ends with Washington.
While it certainly looked like the Eagles were on the right track with Wentz earning NFC offensive rookie of the month in September based on that 3-0 start, now you have to wonder.
Is it Wentz, who in his last eight starts has thrown seven touchdowns and 11 interceptions with an inferior cast?
Or is it Pederson and his coaching staff, who cannot figure out how to win the guys they have?
It’s not the coin flip, although someone is going to argue the Eagles are 2-5 when they win it, 3-2 when they lose it.
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Here’s what the NFC playoff standings look like.
The first four teams are division leaders, the first six in the tournament if the postseason began today:
1. Cowboys 11-1. 2. Lions 8-4. 3. Seahawks 7-3-1. 4. Falcons 7-5. 5. Giants 8-4. 6. Buccaneers 7-5. 7. Red- skins 6-5-1. 8. Packers 6-6. 9. Vikings 6-6. 10. Cardinals 5-6-1. 11. Saints 5-7. 12. Eagles 5-7.
The Eagles were ninth before their loss to the Bengals.
Though the Giants and Redskins lost, the Bucs rallied to beat the Chargers and the Cardinals moved up the list with their 31-23 win over Washington.
The Eagles host the Redskins this week. The Birds have a 99 percent probability of not reaching the playoffs according to PlayoffStatus.com.
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Eagles wide receiver Nelson Agholor returned to the lineup after being benched the previous week and caught four passes for 23 yards, the longest an eight-yarder.
On the second series, Agholor took a huge hit from Pac Man Jones, Wentz’s throw popping up in the air. Agholor did a Jordy Nelson, hauling it in while on the ground, albeit for a two-yard gain.
Agholor also had a big block on a 41-yard reception by rookie teammate Paul Turner, who had six catches for 80 yards. It was a legal block and Agholor wasn’t flagged in the game. In his prior start his penalty cost Zach Ertz a touchdown and the Eagles a lead.
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With the Redskins coming to Philly this weekend, the story lines will be the playoff hunt and Jackson, who Adam Schefter says is likely to pursue a reunion with the Eagles, whatever that means.
Jackson is due to be a free agent. Though he had his most productive season with the Eagles in 2013, that’s the last time he played a complete season due to injuries.
Jackson at the least would be a deep threat. Do you want another high maintenance diva or do you want to take a shot at Alshon Jeffrey in free agency?