Pederson tries to avoid reliving an 0-3 memory against Bengals
PHILADELPHIA » Only one team has survived an 0-3 start to reach the playoffs since the NFL expanded to 32 teams in 2002.
It wasn’t the Eagles or their opponent here Sunday, the similarly winless Cincinnati Bengals (1 p.m., Fox29, WIP 94.1-FM).
The 2018 Houston Texans is the club that lived to play in the postseason after starting 0-3, and their comeback ended abruptly in the wild card round.
The Eagles are 0-2 for only the third time in the last 17 seasons. The
The last time they were 0-3 was 1999, a season in which a guy named Doug Pederson started at quarterback for the first nine games.
It’s not the stuff current QB Carson Wentz or head coachPedersonwouldwant on their resumes.
Wentz is in the throes of a disastrous funk. He has an NFL-worst five turnovers, including four interceptions. Even his shorter throws have lacked accuracy, his 48.8 percentage a new low.
The outside criticismhas been so loud that Pederson exploded when asked why Wentz was challenged to make the easy throws.
“I don’t know what’s being said,” Wentz said. “But what people say or how they feel, everyone’s entitled to their own opinion. This is how I’ve been my whole career. I don’t get worked up about what people say, write, feel. I’m confident in myself, I’mconfident in this team. Statistically, where I’m at with the turnovers and all those things, that’s all behindme. Forme it’s all about going forward. I don’t get too caught up or worked (up) about it.”
Wentz hasn’t been the only disappointing performer. Pederson’s game plans have been a far cry from the creative “Philly Special” stuff highlighting the 2017-18 Super Bowl championship season. Pederson has a rebuilt staff with a couple more hands involved in the game plan.
Factor in the injuries ravaging the offensive line and the Eagles rank among the league leaders with eight sacks. Once the gold standard of offensive lines, the Eagles will hit Lincoln Financial Field Sunday with their third different starting lineup. Nate Herbig moves from right guard to left guard in place of the injured Isaac Seumalo, and Matt Pryor likely gets the nod at right guard.
“The guys, they have responded extremely well,” said Pederson, who applauded the week of practice. “One thing I love about this team this year is these guys understand that good football teams can’t continue to make themistakes we’remaking. So, obviously right now we’re not there yet. We’re not in that good category yet. We’re, I would say, below average, because of the turnovers and some of the mistakes that we’re making. But the thing is, they understand that, and they bounce back fromthat and they pick each otherup. This week has been really good.”
The Bengals have their problems, too, although unlike the Eagles they’ve had a shot to win both of their games.
Rookie quarterback Joe Burrow, the first overall pick in the draft, has played well enough to give the undermanned Bengals a chance to win.
Running back JoeMixon
is going to be a problem for an Eagles defense that’s struggling to stop the run, and likely will have to roll with All-Pro defensive tackle Fletcher Cox nursing an ailing oblique muscle.
Wide receivers A. J. Green, Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins present size-speed mismatches for most secondaries, particularly the Eagles.
TheBirds are among only two teams without a turnover forced by the defense. It could be tough getting it against Burrow, who has thrown three touchdown passes and just one interception despite six sacks.
“You can see why he was No. 1,” Eagles defensive captain Brandon Graham said. “You can see why he won a championship. He looks like he’s getting comfortable with the offense. He looks good back there. We have our hands full. We’ve got to make sure that we don’t take him lightly.”
The Eagles are 0-3-1 in their last four games against the Bengals. Yet Cincinnati has lost 14 games in a rowon the road, although in this coronavirus age, the empty stadiums have skewed the homefield advantage.
Almost overlooked in the
analytics is that the Bengals have had extra time to heal and get ready for the Eagles. Second-year head coach Zac Taylor, formerly of the Los Angeles Rams, runs the Sean McVay system that picked the Eagles apart last week.
“Our styles are the same and they’re different,” Taylor said of McVay. “We’ve got our own style here. You always look to take things from other teams, what they’ve had success with. But again, we’ve got to be true to ourselves and make sure we’re doing things that our guys have confidence in.”
Taylor said teams like the Eagles can turn the season around in one game. Graham sees it much the same way.
“I’m not worried at all about the guys in the locker room,” Graham said. “We all had our talks. I was just letting them know, those two games, they’re done with. We’ve got the Bengals, let’s get it started now.
“I think people have bought into that. All we’ve got to do is go show it on Sunday. We’re only one game back in the division but we’ve got to put ourselves in a better position by winning games.”
to play like that,” defensive back Logan Ryan said. “I want to continue to punch the ball out. I want (James) Bradberry to continue to pick it off. I want to find ways to get sacks and find ways to play better on third down and in the red area like we did in the second half. The great Dick LeBeau once told me, ‘We didn’t lose the game, we ran out of time.’ Last game, we ran out of time.
It’s a loss, but hopefully, with four quarters of football, we can play like we did and we can win this game.”
The Giants can’t afford simply another moral victory, or else, where is this season really going?
For more Giants coverage, follow Greg on Twitter @ gregp_j and reach him at gjohnson@21stcenturymedia.com