Offense in state of disrepair, despair
Monday night loss to the Seahawks puts ineptitude on display for all to see
PHILADELPHIA — Nobody can help now. Not Joe Montana, not
Aaron Rodgers, not Johnny Unitas, not Patrick Mahomes, not Terry Bradshaw and certainly not Nick Foles or Jalen Hurts. No championship quarterback from any NFL era could fix the Philadelphia Eagles’ dysfunctional offense.
It’s too far gone for anyone to make a tangible difference.
If that wasn’t evident before the Eagles’ offense misfired on all cylinders in Monday night’s 23-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, it has to be now.
Worse yet, there aren’t any answers as to why they can’t execute plays they used to make in their sleep.
Coach Doug Pederson pointed to injuries disrupting continuity, forcing the team to rotate in players who might not be experienced enough to know where to be on every play.
But that doesn’t explain how on fourth down with the game on the line early in the fourth quarter, fifth-year starting quarterback Carson Wentz thought third-year tight end Dallas Goedert was going to turn one way on a timing pattern and Goedert turned the other. The result was Wentz’s
league-leading 15th interception that killed all momentum the Eagles gained by driving from their 23-yard line to the Seahawks’ 15 while trailing by 11 points.
It also can’t begin to explain how the rap port between the quarterback andhisreceivers and running backs that should be stronger in Week 12 than in Week 1 clearly is weaker in every area.
The ball is snapped and players take offinmysterious directions on plays where the protection often breaks down too quickly for Wentz to figure out where they’ re going.
The result was six more sacks that increased his league-leading total from40to46. Thatputs Wentz on pace to be sacked 67 times, which would be the fourth highest season total in league history.
While Wentzisn’ t getting any help, hesureisn’t helping himself. He continues to struggle with accuracy onthesimplest of passes that, even when completed, deprive his receivers of crucial yards after the catch because they have to break st ride to haul them in.
Onanotherfourth-downfailure in the fourth quarter, Wentz aimedasideline pass while not under duress toward Richard Rodgers. It came out so low that linebacker K.J. Wrightdidn’t even need the leap he used to bat it down a goods even yards away at the line of scrimmage.
Yet Went zr em a ins the starter andtheplayer they are relying on most to fix an offense no human can.
And perhaps that’ s why his backup, Jalen Hurts, didn’t have the prominentrole in this game that was predicted by so many reports the daybefore. Hurtswas in for just twoplays, completing a 6- yard pass on the first one and handing off to Miles Sanders for no gain on the second. A false-start penalty that no doubt had to do withtheline adjusting to adifferent cadence, wipedoutathird.
Tohiscredit, Wentzkeeps embracing the impossible task withagreat deal of positive energy.
“We’refrustrated,” Wentzsaid. “I know I’ m frustrated. I hate losing. It’s very frustrating to have this result these last couple weeks and where we’ re at this season.
Butthegreatest thing about this league andthis division [NFC East] especially is it’s still wide open and guys know that. And we’relooking aheadtonextweek, getting this thing turned around andgetting going the right direction.”
None of that can happen if the offensecan’t at least begin to get on the same page. Which isn’ t close to happening.
The explanation from Go ede rt about the intercepted pass hadto be more disturbing to Eagles fans than the result itself. Why, if these malfunctions don’t showupin practice, do they occur in games?
“I think we ran that play four times,” hesaid. “I think I hadthree receptions onit. Thefourthtime, I might have been trying to do a little too much, you know, the way they were shifting over there on me.
“... I wastrying to makeaplay. We needed it. I knew the match up was good and I knew the ball was going to come tome and I tried to dotoomuch.”
That’s the thing withthe2020 Eagles.
Too much is not enough.