Birds’ bumbling season ends as it should
The Eagles’ December to remember flamed out Sunday in a dirty, nasty loss to the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium.
Though the Eagles are out of the playoff hunt, the pain will linger because they decide who wins the NFC East pennant.
Instead of packing up their stuff and planning their offseason the Eagles (4-10-1) have to work another week while all eyes are on them.
An Eagles win over the Washington Football Team and the CowboysNew York Giants winner goes to the playoffs because Carolina crushed the WFT, 20-6, Sunday. An Eagles loss to Washington puts the WFT in the tournament.
It’s football’s version of cruel and unusual punishment. It’s also the end of three straight trips to the postseason for the Eagles, who collectively hit the wall after Doug Pederson replaced Carson Wentz with rookie quarterback Jalen Hurts.
“I’m very disappointed right now,” running back Miles Sanders said. “This city is so passionate about this game and we’re passionate. We owe it to the fans. And I promise you, better days are coming. I promise you.”
The Eagles were in control of their destiny. It looked like they’d be hosting the division championship game after bursting out to a 14-3 lead while the Panthers were steamrolling Washington.
DeSean Jackson, who drops in every now and
then caught an 81-yard scoring pass from Hurts, who threw for 342 yards. Did a flip at the goal line. That, ahem, was his only reception.
The Eagles were leading, 17-14, when Andy Dalton, who isn’t quick enough to get away from a rolling shopping cart, led the Cowboys to points on five straight possessions. He threw for 377 yards and three TD’s, the Cowboys exiting with a 37-17 decision, their third straight success.
“We’re all disappointed, obviously,” Pederson said. “I can put them in situations to be better.”
In all the Cowboys outscored the Eagles, 34-3, after taking that 17-14 lead. The Eagles hadn’t been part of an avalanche like that in a significant game since they obliterated the Cowboys, 44-6, to make the playoffs on the final day of the 2008 season.
The Eagles became progressively worse as the game wore on. The lights must have been too bright for them.
“We’ve just got to figure out how to win games and not beat ourselves,” veteran Brandon Graham said. “No sense in crying about it, we have to figure it out and make sure we don’t do it next year.”
When all was said and done, you couldn’t recognize the names on a lot of the Eagles’ jerseys. You knew who they were by their mistakes, particularly the pre-snap false start penalties.
When owner Jeffrey Lurie, general manager Howie Roseman and possibly consultant John Dorsey evaluate this season, look for considerable turnover in the locker room and on the coaching staff.
Hurts didn’t help his cause in his third start by throwing two interceptions and losing a fumble launching himself toward the end zone in the last six minutes.
The Eagles were desperate, though, and Hurts at least gave them a pulse throwing for 342 yards and a touchdown and rushing for 69 yards.
It was the injury depleted defense, which couldn’t recover from the loss of Pro Bowl tackle Fletcher Cox, much less a litany of coverage breakdowns and questionable coaching strategy that waffled.
The Eagles got an interception from Darius Slay, his first of the season. It was impossible to tell if the back end was that bad or just that poorly coached by coordinator Jim Schwartz and his staff.
Pederson’s judgement didn’t help, either. He went for a first down on fourthand-15 when a 51-yard field goal would have stopped the run of Cowboys points and reduced the deficit to 30-20 with most of the fourth quarter remaining.
“I think Doug did a great job,” Graham said when asked about the possibility of changes next season. “He’s a great motivator. But you know, that’s above my pay grade. ... Whatever they see fit, I’m going to buy into it.”
Whatever Pederson told the Eagles at the intermission, it didn’t work.
The Cowboys rolled 75 yards to grab a 27-17 lead on a 52-yard catch-and-rub by CeeDee Lamb, who left Jalen Mills in the WalMart parking lot.
Receivers Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup both went over 100 yards. Zeke Elliott, a non-factor much of the season rushed for 100 yards.
When the Eagles got the ball, the Cowboys blitzed the Eagles so much with the commanding lead that the TV audience was falsestarting. The Eagles had six false starts in all.
It was like The Longest Yard when the Mean Machine started smartly but fell behind, 35-13.
This time there was no Hollywood ending.
It could have been worse. Cooper, on the long list of players the Eagles were unable to secure in a trade, dropped an easy pass that would given the Cowboys a 17-point lead in the third quarter. Instead, Dallas kicked a field goal for a 30-17 cushion with 8:34 left in the frame. It was the fifth straight possession with points for the Cowboys, who after falling behind by two TD’s scored 27 of the next 30 points.