Eagles look to right the ship against woeful Lions
Gasping for air following their fifth loss in seven games, the Eagles are looking for that light at the end of the tunnel when they oppose the Detroit Lions Sunday at Ford Field (1 p.m., FOX TV, WIP 94.1-FM).
The Eagles are favored by three points over the Lions, who have lost all seven of their starts. A win resuscitates the Eagles. A setback would mark their first ever defeat to an 0-7 team, the streak dating back 50 years to the NFL-AFL merger in 1970.
Eagles skipper Nick Sirianni, his ship taking on water, gathered the players to tell them they’re better than the guys who play OK in the first quarter, get buried in the second and third quarters and get most of their points and yards in the final frame, the games out of reach.
It wasn’t a fiery “Any Given Sunday” talk, Sirianni’s self-described metaphors more flowery and nurturing than the high testosterone “look into the eyes of the guy next to you” deal. But players took it to heart.
“No matter what the analogy is we get the point behind it,” guard Jack Driscoll said. “And we understand that it is important, and it’s not just cliché. As a team we really do need to come together and get this thing going and start winning some games.”
An Eagles veteran who will remain anonymous indicated
it was a gut check for the entire team, players to coaches.
“This game will tell us who we are,” he said.
No Eagles player needs
a win more than quarterback Jalen Hurts, who in 11 NFL starts has beaten Taysom Hill, 36-year-old Matt Ryan of Exton and Sam Darnold, all of them on the not trending list of league passers.
Hurts has thrown 10 touchdown passes and four interceptions, completed 61.2 percent of his passes and rushed for a team-leading five scores.
While Hurts will go to his grave believing the Eagles have been close enough to win most of their games, the reality is they’ve lost by 20 points, 12 and 11 in a league where seven points or less is the standard.
With Joe Flacco traded, and backup Gardner Minshew a loss or two away from being the fan favorite to disenfranchised Eagles fans, Hurts would be wise to do whatever it takes to get over the hump in Motown.
“I think it comes down to the one thing I’ve always said, and that’s just executing, and doing that and believing in that,” Hurts said. “I think every player believes in themselves on this team. We all believe in the coaches, too. It’s just putting it together. The coaches aren’t the ones who have the penalties or the false starts or things like that. Those are things that we control. We just have to do a better job of that. When we do, we’ll win.”
The Eagles will be without the services of running back Miles Sanders, out with an ankle injury, but with a full complement of the offensive line that started the previous game. The plan is to promote veteran running back Jordan Howard to the 53-man roster and also spread the ball to Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott.
The Lions have serious injury problems in the secondary, and that should open opportunities for receivers DeVonta Smith, Jalen Reagor and Quez Watkins, as well as tight end Dallas Goedert.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Eagles need to keep Jared Goff from having a breakout game. Goff has completed 66.1 percent of his attempts with eight TDs and six interceptions. But he’s just 1-2 against the Eagles from his stint with the Los Angeles Rams, and is 0-14 without Sean McVay as his head coach, including the seven losses this year.
The Lions know the Eagles’ personnel better than any team in the league. Duce Staley, formerly assistant head coach of the Birds and Dave Fipp, the special teams coach, are in those positions with the Lions. While Fipp’s status due to positive COVID tests is iffy, he’s been participating virtually. Last week the Lions converted two fake punts into first downs and recovered an onside kick. It netted them the early lead but eventually a 28-19 loss to the formidable Rams.