Turnovers, bad defense have Birds in 0-2 hole
PHILADELPHIA » In the opener, Doug Pederson was reckless.
Reckless with his play calls considering the inexperience of the offensive line and receivers, reckless with his fourth down gambles and reckless trusting coordinator Jim Schwartz to play red zone defense as efficiently as in years past.
On Sunday, Pederson played it straight and that, along with three turnovers, made him 0-2 for the first in his five years as head coach.
The 37-19 final score was misleading. The Eagles had a chance to take the lead in the third quarter against the Los Angeles Rams, who are 2-0 for the third straight season.
But Pederson uncharacteristically played it safe by taking a 33-yard field goal instead of a penalty that would have given the Eagles a fourth-and-three at the 10-yard line.
“We had some momentum,” Pederson said. “We got the three points and I believe we got it to a five or six-point game. The defense was eager and ready to go back out on the field. We just needed to find a way to get a stop at that particular time and get the offense out.”
The Eagles got on the Rams’ side of midfield just once more, the possession ending with Wentz overthrowing Dallas Goedert on fourth down with 7:48 left.
After the field goal inched the Eagles within 24-19, the Rams went 75 yards in three plays and one penalty, all on the ground except Tyler Higbee’s third scoring reception, a 28-yard grab with Nate Gerry in his rearview mirror with 10:53 left. That put the Eagles in a 31-19 hole.
Pederson was clearly disappointed in the defense although he didn’t mention Schwartz by name.
“That’s the one thing we’ll take a look at, and we’ve got to do better there,” Pederson said. “We’ve got to coach it better and play better in those situations to where everybody understands that you get one stop in those situations, and give it back to your offense, you’ve got a chance to take the lead on maybe the next possession.”
The piece de resistance was a nine-play, 64-yard drive with 3:37 remaining, all but 28 yards on the ground.
The Rams rushed for 191 yards and two touchdowns, Darrel Henderson collected 81 yards on 12 carries in place of the injured Cam Akers.
If you though the red zone defense couldn’t have been as bad as it was against Washington, which tallied TD’s on three of its four trips inside the 20yard line of the Eagles, you would be right. It was worse. The Rams converted four of five red zone trips into touchdowns.
“It was self-inflicted,” safety Rodney McLeod said. “We were an undiscipline team.”
There’s not much Pederson can do about the turnovers. Miles Sanders, who rushed for 95 yards and one score, fumbled on the second play of the game. From the 41-yard line, Jared Goff need just five plays to find Higbee for a four-yard scoring connection.
Goff, by the way, established a career-best completing his first 13 passes on the way to throwing for 267, three TD’s and a 142.1 rating. He’s 1-1 against Wentz, who was 26 of 43 for 242 yards, two picks and a 56.5 rating.
The momentum shifted when Wentz forced the ball to JJ Arcega-Whiteside with seven minutes gone in the second half, the Eagles within 21-16. The Birds were within field goal range. Darious Williams jumped the route and picked it off in the end zone.
“They made a great play,” Wentz said. “I got pretty aggressive trying to force one in there and the guy made a great play. I’ve got to be smarter in that situation. We know we’re right there. At the end of the day we had two turnovers, the two interceptions and the fumble. Turning the ball over is really killing us the last two weeks. Those are things we know we can clean up. But other than that we truly feel that we’re right there. We’re just missing some things. But we’re not panicking.”
Wentz has thrown two interceptions in back to back games, the first time he’s done that in five NFL seasons.
The Eagles are 0-2 for the first time since 2007, one of those Andy Reid years they didn’t make the playoffs.
Since 2007, only 12 of 107 (11.2 percent) teams that started 0-2 reached the playoffs. Nine teams started 0-2 last season. None of them made the postseason.
And one more thing about the terrible twos.
Pederson went for two points after Wentz scored on a sneak to get the Eagles within 21-9 in the second quarter. It failed. Chasing the points so early in the had Pederson, his play