Eagles’ tough act is hard to follow
Philadelphia took a physical approach against Seattle but the result was still another loss.
For any struggling team, in any sport, at any time, there will be a finite list of escape routes. For weeks, the Eagles have been racing toward their final desperation play.
The drafting too poor for too long, the quarterback confused, the offensive line ever in transition, the coach unable to calculate when to cut an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to eight, the Eagles were unlikely to return to contention with the usual football solutions.
As for the last-chance gamble of the overwhelmed sports team, that was worth a try. So the Eagles would try to physically intimidate. They would hit early and late, even when illegal. They would grab and snarl and start a fight. They would leave their feet to tackle, sandwich-hit receivers and ball-carriers, and generally behave quite in the sports tradition that has proven popular for generations right on their block.
Anxious to recover firstplace status in their division, something they had proudly carried around for weeks no matter how insignificant, the Eagles would spend Monday night banging the Seattle Seahawks around for fun. For that, they would remain competitive on a night when their offense ultimately made that impossible in a 23-17 defeat.
Not once, but twice, on Seattle’s opening possession, the
Eagles were flagged for unnecessary roughness. Not once, but twice, in the first quarter, the Eagles played so violently on defense that Seattle scoring drives were smothered. And while Carson Wentz was typically inefficient if not overwhelmed, it was clear: The Seahawks were about to turn a little jittery, too.
Before the end of the half, the Seahawks would be hit with two delay-of-game penalties, as MVP candidate Russell Wilson suddenly seemed discombobulated. That’s what can happen when a quarterback suddenly finds himself surrounded by teammates just a hair less willing to absorb a hit. It’s when receivers’ arms shorten. It’s when a losing team’s confidence grows.
None of that should have been a surprise. For more than a month, the Eagles have been growling about being “angry” or “mad,” or about confronting some sort of emotion-management struggle. What exactly that meant wasn’t clear, not that it was meant to be clear. All it said was that the Eagles knew they didn’t have the talent, the injury luck or the quarterback to be great. They could have, however, a weird inner belief that they should be great. If necessary, then, they would upgrade their physical play to show how angry they were.
Coming into the game, the Eagles were aware they would be challenged by DK Metcalf, the Hawks’ special 6-foot-4 wide receiver. Less than blessed with tall defensive backs, the Eagles knew they would have to rough Metcalf up in the open field, or allow him to rough them up in the end zone. Darius Slay, who signed a three-year, $50 million contract in the offseason for just such a challenge, clearly took it personally early. Though for the game, Metcalf would get the best of Slay, he did not escape the first quarter without being coaxed into a fist fight with the Eagles’ pricey cornerback.
“Well, he’s so big,” defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said of Metcalf last week. “His arms are so long and things like that. Slay has generally been good handling guys like that. It’s a great challenge for us. It’s not just getting him covered. It’s tackling him. You have to defend every inch of the field with a guy like that. He’s hard to handle. He’s strong and fast and he’s like a linebacker. So you have to get him tackled.
“We have to get him tackled on short routes and on deep balls, and stay with him on plays that are extended. We’re going to have to do all three of those things to limit him.”
Slay went after Met
calf early. Rodney McLeod chipped in with a thumping tackle. Alex Singleton, who is building a reputation for it, did the same. The defensive line, the closest thing the Eagles have had to a fountain of pride, had Wilson under as much heat as possible. And all of it was enough to keep the Eagles in a one-possession game heading into the fourth quarter after they’d settled for 74 total first-half yards.
“Our biggest task right now is limiting (Wilson’s) big plays, whether it is with his passing or his legs,” Singleton said during the week. “He has been doing it in this league for a very long time. We have to find ways to get turnovers and give the offense as many possibilities as possible to score.”
That was the plan Monday, clear early, nearly successful late: Jar the Seahawks, throw the game into disarray, and hope to steal an unlikely and important victory.
It almost worked, but only until Pederson forgot to kick a fourth-quarter field goal down 11 points and, on fourth down, Wentz threw his mandatory interception.
“There have been heartbreaking losses,” McLeod said after a recent loss in Cleveland. “It’s tough, man. And I would be lying if I said it wasn’t. But at the end of the day, there are six games left. I would never quit.
“I know this team and its identity. And no one has that in them.”
The only identity the Eagles really have this season is that of a team with a quarterback protected by a creaky offensive line and eternally under pressure.
The Eagles are 3-71. Five games remain. In a city ever proud of the Broad Street Bullies and Macho Row, the Body Bag and the House of Pain games, there will always be an appreciation of rough play.
But only if it works.