The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: week 1 at Washington

[e-a-g-l-e-s eagles!]

The Good:

1.Coming of age of Goedert—As the Zach Ertz saga continues to play out in the media and seemingly less likely he is going to be here longer than through this or next season, Dallas Goedert emerged today as the best player on the field for the Eagles. On the day, Goedert was able to pull in 8 receptions for 101 yards and a touchdown. Additionally, he made a terrific catch on the touchdown reception to locate the ball and bring it in. With how many times we have seen any Eagles pass catcher drop the ball and not able to locate it over the last couple of years it was nice to see. To me, Goedert is the guy the Eagles need to be talking to about a contract extension. He is eligible for an extension at the end of the season and if he gets to the end of next year without an extension you are going to be forced to franchise him because I think the market will overpay for a young tight end that is a good run blocker and just hitting his stride as a pass catcher. It isn’t that I hate Ertz or wouldn’t want to see him finish his career here, but the numbers for tight ends over the age of 30 aren’t pretty unless your name is Antonio Gates and Witten. Even with Witten it started to decline after he was 32/33. I really do believe that Goedert is going to have more and more of these type of games this year. He is so big and athletic as well as physical that teams are going to struggle covering him especially if the Eagles offensive line can hold up with the speed that we have on the outside with DeSean and Reagor. 

2. Defense didn’t give up the big plays—Last year against Washington, McLaurin repeatedly burned the Eagles for long touchdowns against the secondary. Additionally, it wasn’t just Washington it felt like every week the Eagles were giving up big plays and backbreaking touchdowns. While the defense couldn’t come up with turnovers or hold the Washington to field goals in critical times, they were able to limit the Washington to just 1 play over 20 yards and it was a 21 yard reception by McLaurin. After a game like this there isn’t a bunch of positives to go around. But it was encouraging that the Eagles secondary who’s has NRC, Slay as newcomers and Maddox playing outside and Mills changing to safety was able to prevent some of the backbreaking plays that have killed the Eagles over the past couple of season. Granted some of that falls on the fact the Eagles offense gift wrapped great field position to a bad Washington offense. 

3.Run defense—Without Hargraves and forced to use Jackson, McGill and Ridgeway more with Gerry and Edwards mainly at linebacker I thought the Eagles might struggle more against the run. The Eagles like they have done for most of Schwartz’s tenure were able to keep Washington below 100 rushing yards. Washington had 36 rushing attempts for 80 yards (2.2 yards per carry). However the Eagles run defense couldn’t stop the Washington inside the red zone as they were able to get Barber to punch it in for two touchdowns. I think next week is definitely going to be a tougher test. The Cowboys had issues with Malcolm Brown all night long and it felt like you knew the Rams wanted to run the ball and didn’t trust Goff throwing to win the game. 

4. Reagor and Shots downfield—Last year, the Eagles offense basically had to rely on Miles Sanders to bust a big run for a touchdown or hope no one made a mistake in dinking and dunking their way down the field. Today, the Eagles showed they had the speed to take big time chances down the field and strike fear into their opponents. Wentz was able to connect with Reagor on a 55-yard bomb, which might have been our gain from a receiver since week 1 last year with Desean. Additionally, it was a thing of beauty to see a wr down the field track the ball and haul it in and not screw it up. After that, Wentz was not able to connect with his young rookie WRs down the field and couldn’t connect with DeSean either. However, it was nice seeing that we have the ability to take shots down the field with the speed we have acquired at the position this offseason. I am still positive as the season continues that this is an area that will get better and better. 

 

On the fence (some optimism some not so good):

1. 3RD Down defense—When I first watched the game, I thought there wasn’t going to be much positive with the Eagles. Really there still isn’t and I am stretching this, but the Eagles defense was solid on 3rd down. They held Washington to 5-of-18, which is 27.8%. On most days, that is good enough defense to win a game in the NFL. Heck, Washington had only 3 third down conversions in the first 3 quarters of the game. The issue to me was the Eagles just had issues getting the critical stop on third down when the momentum and game was hanging in the balance. After a bad Eagles turnover, the Eagles had a chance to limit Washington to just 3 points. Instead a communications breakdown gave Logan an easy touchdown. Fast forward to 3rd and goal from the 1. If the Eagles are able to stop Peyton Barber and force 4th down, they might have changed the momentum of the game and possibly held Washington to a field goal or even better a 4th and goal situation where they might have escaped giving up 0 points. Unfortunately, Barber scampered into the end zone. Finally on the drive where Washington took the lead, the Eagels had a 3rd and 8, Logan managed to beat us for an 8 yard reception to keep the drive alive. Additionally, the Eagles had a chance at redemption on a 3rd and 9 from the 23. Unfortunately, they were not able to get off the field as Iman was able to find a hole in the defense and pick up 10 yards to keep the drive alive again. These are times where the Eagles defense needs to make a play. These are the backbreaking conversions that usually end in misery. I thought for most of the game besides those 2-3 instances the Eagles did a good job at getting off the field. Sadly crunch time you have to be better than what they were. 

2. New look secondary—This was really not a great test for the Eagles besides McLaurin. That is really the only weapon Washington has that is reliable in the passing game. Besides the breakdown in coverage on the Thomas touchdown, (which with no offseason activities and no preseason I think there was a lot of that type of things based off what I watched around the league) the secondary held up. Was it perfect? No. Frankly Sims way too often was able to get separation and get big first downs, but they were able to keep McLaurin in check. That is a massive improvement from last yer. McLaurin had 5 receptions for 61 yards and no touchdowns. That is just a 12.2 yards per reception. I think this goes to McLeod and Mills not allowing him to beat them deep like we consistently saw last year. As well as Slay is the best corner the Eagles have had since Samuel. I was also impressed with some of the plays by Maddox. He should have had an interception if he pulls the ball in. I believe there is going to eventually be growing pains with this unit early in the season in some of these upcoming games as they havent had ideal time together, but I do think this secondary as the season continues on will get better and better. Not sure how good they will ultimately be, but I do see promise there if they can stay healthy and continue to progress.

3. Early in the game Sweat, but later tired out—I thought a big issue as the game went on and the Eagles offense continued to sputter was the fatigue factor. At the start of the game, I thought Jackson and Sweat were doing a really good job just making plays and getting some pressure. Sweat had a nice move around the edge to get to Haskins to get the strip sack, which if the Eagles recovered would have been inside the 10-yard line. Unfortunately, the Eagles were unable to recover. Nevertheless, Sweat was able to get a sack and two QB hits before the Eagles imploded. I like Sweat’s upside. I think his athleticism at DE is something that none of the other Eagles defensive ends have and I think if you can keep him fresher he might be able to make a bigger impact than people are expecting. I think getting Barnett back will somewhat help with that. But losing Curry is going to allow for Sweat to get more snaps..

4. Defense—I am actually not really sure what to make of the defense overall against Washington on Sunday. I thought they shriveled up in some big moments of the game against a pretty bad offense. However they also just gave up 239 yards total and 2.2 on the ground. Additionally, only 159 net passing yards. Also they didn’t give up a big play touchdown. Then again they gave up 27 points, but then again Washington’s scoring drives were of 45, 20, 26, 48 and 20 yards. 

 

The Bad:

1. Creating Turnovers— Over the last two seasons, the Eagles have seen their turnovers drop from the Super Bowl run. Last year, the Eagles had just 11 interceptions and the season before only 10. Those were bottom half of the league in those categories. The Eagles had multiple chances today to get some turnovers. Sweat had a strip sack that the Eagles were not able to pounce on. Additionally, Maddox had great coverage on Logan Thomas and the ball hits him in the hands and he drops it. These are plays that have to be made. With the Eagles offense maligned and battered, the defense really had an opportunity to turn the tied. They let golden opportunities slip through their fingers that ultimately might have changed the course of this game. The Eagles finished with 0 turnovers. 

2. No Cordy Glenn—While I do not think Glenn is the savior to the Eagles offensive line woes, I thought it was laughable and ridiculous the Eagles didn’t sign him or bring in some veteran so they didn’t have to rely on Pryor, Mailata and Herbig who were all by far worse options for the Eagles. If the Eagles sign Glenn this week it was clearly about the guaranteed money, which might come back to bite them this year in terms of a loss to Washington. Glenn isn’t great. I get that. However, he has started in this league for over a half decade, which speaks more to me then Pryor and Mailata who were beaten out by a rookie during a covid year. And Herbig who I just don’t think is very good. Again he isn’t the savior, but I am much more comfortable that he could be competent then any of those three mentioned. Add on his is good insurance as a backup swing tackle to Lane and Peters. I much rather rely on a veteran against a stacked DLine then Herbig, Pryor, Mailata and Driscoll. Mailata, Herbig and Driscoll had a combined 3 NFL snaps. I am not willing to risk my QB getting pummeled hoping young guys are ready when the Eagles have shown they weren’t ready. 

3. Ertz performance and his contract—First off, I think it is ridiculous that Ertz and Howie during practice were airing their displeasure with each other about contracts. About as unprofessional as I think it gets for a GM and a player to do so in public in front of players. Second, I think the writing is on the wall for Ertz. I do not think he is going to be here after this season. I think his agent leaked that report so that fans would be angry at the front office about that decision. I think the Eagles shouldn’t pay him Kittle or Kelce type money. Frankly I don’t really feel comfortable giving him a Hooper like contract. I believe if he makes it to free agency in two years someone will overpay but I don’t believe he will get what he wants. Furthermore, I think this contract is affecting his attitude and performance on the field. He dropped a relatively routine 4th down play that basically sealed the Eagles fate. I can understand his frustration but carrying it over to the field hurts himself and the team. I love Ertz for the things he has accomplished here , but not everything has a happy ending. Frankly the Eagles should have cut ties with Graham instead of extending him. It would have saved them money and could have invested it elsewhere to replace him as he is declining. 

4. DeSean "not injured”—I think all of us do not buy DeSean saying he wasn’t hurt. I think he didn’t want to get labeled as he is over the hill and cant stay healthy anymore. Looked like to me, he was dealing with something cause he went down and then was on the sideline when we badly could have used a more experienced receiver out there than Hightower. If he was healthy and just on the sideline, then there is a bigger issue. He has to be out there for us. Relying on JJAW, Ward and rookies is a recipe for disaster. It also wasn’t a great game for DeSean as he hauled in 2 passes for 46 yards. In fairness, he had plays downfield where Wentz just missed him and he couldn’t connect. I do wonder how DeSean is going to go if the Eagles are struggling. He didn’t exactly handle it great in DC or Tampa. 

5. Elliott Short kick?—I’ll point out this wouldn’t have been a 53-yard field goal if Wentz just throws the ball away. But he didn’t, and Elliott normally has the leg from 53. It might not always be accurate, but almost always has the leg. Today, his field goal was short and it really hurt the Eagles. If Elliott is able to connect on that 53-yard field goal it felt like the Eagles would seize some of the momentum back. Instead his miss felt like a continuation of a snowball that had become an avalanche. Elliott did make his other field goal and two point conversions, but that miss felt like par of the course for the second half. I think I was more surprised it was short then he actually missed a kick. 

6. Some concern with Sanders—Sanders didn’t play today, but I brought up during the offseason in the blog that it was concerning to me that he didn’t finish some of the games last year. That he needed to get stronger and maybe even tougher to gut through and finish some games. Now he has a hamstring issue that he has been dealing with for a while. This offense badly needs him out there. He is unquestionably their best running back and I would argue their best weapon. That said, I hate calling players soft cause I don’t think that is it. However, it is bothersome that he has had nagging type of injuries early in his career that have taken him out of games and now missing the opening game where this team badly could have used him. At some point if he starts missing multiple games or cant finish games then you have to start questioning his durability. 

 

The Ugly:

1. Wentz starts hot, finishes ice cold—Before the game began, I thought this game would be a bigger struggle than people believed it would. I thought the perfect remedy for a team less talented than the Eagles was a makeshift oline against the only strength Washington had. That defensive line is really good and deep as well. A great defensive line can be a game changer for a team with less than average talent elsewhere. However, Wentz and the offense looked like they were going to turn this into a laugh. Now Wentz wasn’t perfect and neither was the line, but they were moving the ball. They were hitting on big plays to Reagor for 55 yards and even a nice floater to Goedert for the 34-yard touchdown.  The oline was not spectacular but giving time for Wentz and Wentz was getting the ball out to his guys to make plays. He was 14-17 for 182 yards and 2 touchdowns. And that is when everything came crumbling down. For the rest of the game, he was 10-25 for 88 yards, 2 interceptions and a lost fumble. While I agree that Hightower and Reagor could have run better routes and definitely came back to the ball on his two picks, I also thought Wentz didn’t make very smart decisions with the ball. It felt like the Washington corners were reading his eyes and knew where the ball was going, which didn’t help his receivers on those plays. It felt like he was trying to force it to his rookie wideouts and it wound up backfiring on him and started the avalanche. Additionally, he probably should have had a 3rd even worse interception when he overthrew his receiver and was fortunate the Washington defender just dropped the ball. It wasn’t just the interceptions, Wentz held onto the ball far too long knowing he had a makeshift line he had. He fumbled the ball and nearly fumbled another one as he held onto the ball just way too long. I love that he believes he can make magic happen and wants to keep a play alive, but sometimes you have to learn to live and fight for another day. It is better to throw the ball away then to take a sack. He made Elliott’s job much tougher by having to kick a 53-yard field goal instead of a 40ish-yard field goal. Those are things that hurt your team by trying to do too much. A field goal there would have been huge boost and momentum to the Eagles. Besides the turnovers, he also missed DeSean and Reagor a couple of times down the field. Just before the half, he missed out on an easy touchdown if he drops a dime. Instead it went incomplete. This is an area he has been hot and cold on since coming into the league. I believe he can be better and with more game time with Reagor and DeSean will be better. I am not as down as others on Wentz, IMO I am not sure how many QBs would be successful with this type of offensive line, lackluster backup RBs and play calling/gameplan. Don’t use that as an excuse, Wentz was not good against Washington. He is in year 5. He has to continue to work on his mechanics, which seem to disappear from him at times when he’s faced with pressure. He has to be more consistent. If he wants to be a top 5 QB in this league and return to his 2017 form then he has to be more consistent and better. At the moment, he has some amazing highs, but some really really bad lows. This should seem familiar as it replicates a lot of how Foles looked at times in his Eagles career. 

2. Relying on Peters, Herbig, Mailata, Driscoll and Pryor—I am sorry to break the news to everyone, but if we have 3 of those 4 guys out there consistently along the offensive line it is going to be a long year.  The Eagles gave up 8 sacks. It could have been more if Wentz didn’t escape a sack or two. That said, it wasn’t their entire fault as Wentz also held onto the ball wayyyyy too long at times and the running backs didn’t exactly provide a stellar performance in the run blocking area. I think as Eagles fans we have become accustom to just assuming we will have a good line because we have talent there and due to Stoutland being a good coach that it becomes an afterthought. Sadly it isn’t going to be like that this year. I love what Jason Peters has given us over the years and I do think he is a competent starter, but he just isn’t the same guy he used to be. You saw that today as Young, Kerrigan and Sweat give him some issues. While Peters is not great anymore, I think he will be Ok as long as we give him some help. Unfortunately I do not feel the same about the other guys I mentioned. First off, I do not think Herbig and Pryor are NFL caliber backups. I know people might disagree with me on this, but I don’t see it. I think Herbig isn’t athletic enough to be a guard in the NFL. His only chance to have continual success is at center, he definitely isn’t athletic enough to replace Kelce if that is what you want from your center. We have had Stoutland working with him for over a year now and I still just don’t see it. I am hoping he proves me wrong. I think on most teams, he may be a practice squad type guy. As for Pryor, I think it speaks volumes the Eagles were willing to start a rookie in Driscoll over him. Think about this, Driscoll had no minicamps, no OTAs and no preseason yet the Eagles felt more comfortable with him then they did with Pryor at right tackle. That is pretty damning if you ask me. Add on when Driscoll left the game, the Eagles went with Mailata over Pryor at RT. What irritates me more on this topic is the Eagles continuously spin with Pryor. I am sorry not every late round pick turns out to be like Vaitai. I think Stoutland is a very good oline coach, but he isn’t a miracle worker. He can only teach and bring up guys so much. Talent plays into this and being able to apply what he teaches to become muscle memory matters. Which brings me to Mailata. I thought it was a good shot in the dark risk. In the 7th round see if you could get this guy to be a competent tackle at the NFL level. He has had no previous experience, but while that hurts, it helps that he has never had things he learn that were flaws. That said, it is obvious the Eagles don’t trust him yet. He like Pryor couldn’t start over the rookie Driscoll. At some point you have to just say is it ever going to happen. We are in year 3 and it is commendable he has come this far in 2 years, but it might just never happen with him to where he gets to the level you think. It was a nice story, but now we are forced into relying on a guy who is clearly not ready for this stage. I do think Driscoll in time will be a competent player. Will he be a starter? I do not know. Frankly I think he is better suited for guard then tackle, but I think the Eagles are training him at all four positions. Nevertheless, this offensive line without Lane and Brooks might be the worst unit we have seen since the 2012 season. 

3. Vintage 2016 Doug with a bad game—Back in 2016, I thought Doug started off the season hot and got his rookie quarterback comfortable. He catered to his strengths and leaned on the run game to help him adjust to the NFL level. However as the season went along, I thought he had wayyyy too many games that he didn’t read the room with his QB. While Wentz has to take responsibility for his poor performance, Doug needs to be at fault too. When your offensive line is a makeshift OLine and Wentz is struggling badly, try to make life easier on the oline and Wentz. No offense, I think it is bullcrap when you stop running the ball after 10 carries and say it didn’t work so we had to just throw. No, the Eagles in 2017 (and I brought stats last year proving this) had games where they started off slow in the running game, but eventually stuck with it and had some nice runs that got the offense back into a rhythm.  Additionally, it doesn’t have to be all running back runs. There’s end arounds and other ways to get some of our new speedy type receivers the ball in their hands that are like running plays. We had zero creativity with the game plan and play calls. The fact we had a 17-point lead and continued to try throwing the ball with play action passes when Wentz was struggling badly and the oline wasn’t much better in pass protection is alarming. I am sorry this felt very similar to Andy Reid type of stubbornness with Winston Justice. 

4. No adjustments or creativity on on offense-- Additionally, it wasn’t just not trying to stick with the run, where was the adjustment to get Wentz rolling or on the move outside the pocket where he is extremely dangerous. It felt like we ran a single play to do that and when it failed, Doug crossed it out.  Another point I like to talk about is why are we running slow developing play action plays when our line isn’t capable of holding up for that long and wentz is struggling. Either get the ball out of his hands quicker to try and establish some rhythm or try to establish the running game. You are asking 2 backups, a 38 year old LT to hold up for that long against a ferocious DLine along with a struggling QB. But alas we continue to just keep doing the same thing over and over again. It was the definition of insanity. You are asking for trouble by being that stubborn. I get the game plan is likely to be more vanilla in nature because oline being depleted, Sanders out, rookie WRs playing major snaps, but you have to be more creative with the play calling cause even bad NFL teams with good coaches can figure you out. I have pointed this out this in the past, the Eagles outside of 2017 have really struggled with consistent creativity in the offense. At some point it isn’t just the assistants and has to be pointed back in the direction of Doug. I will say this, it is not all his fault as this roster imo was inadequately from the start.

5. Be aggressive, don’t be dumb—I thought it was completely stupid when the Eagles offense was sitting at midfield on a 4th and 4 up a field goal in the 3rd quarter and Doug decided to go for it. I get being aggressive and having faith in your team. However with Wentz looking pedestrian and the oline breaking down with backups and the running backs being of no help I am not for going for it. It was not aggressive it was stupid. Again this goes back to reading the room. If the Eagles offense had been humming like the first 25 minutes of the game, then go for it and be aggressive. However, your defense had been playing well for the most part except for when they were put in short fields. Allow your stud punter to pin Washington deep and make them earn the field goal. Instead Wentz was sacked and gave Washington great field position. At that point it felt like it was inevitable Washington would at least get a field goal to tie or punch it in for the knockout blow to the Eagles. I would also say I was against us going for it on 4th and 3 at our own 42-yard line with 4:35 left on the clock. With three timeouts left, we could afford to put the game in the hands of our defense to make a play and get the ball back. Instead we called a good play, but Ertz dropped the ball and it basically was game over. With how bad the offense had been looking for 2 quarters, I much not have to rely on them picking up a 4th down and rely on our defense that when not put on short fields had made some plays. However that one wasn’t as bothersome as the going for it on 4th down from midfield with a sputtering offense up three. 

6. Howie drafts and luxury picking—I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. I said when the Eagles drafted Jalen Hurts that I didn’t see how you could afford a luxury pick in the second round. This roster was not good enough to afford yourself a backup QB in the second round. You had needs and holes all over the roster. I thought outside corner was a need with Jones and Douglas looking like they weren’t long for being here. I thought OLine could have used a tackle who could play multiple positions. I thought another WR might have been useful. There were too many other positions of need that needed to be addressed to make that pick. It isn’t that I think Hurts sucks, actually think he will be a fine backup. I just do not think the Eagles were like the 2002 Eagles who could afford to take luxury picks cause they had a stack roster. This team isn’t stacked and is getting older with their core. Additionally, I thought it was foolish to think that without a normal offseason that the Eagles would just have the ability to have a package of plays they’d trust Hurts with early in the season. There wasn’t enough practice time to do all that and get him up to speed at the position with no otas, minicamps or preseason. I think that was wishful thinking to have him have some packages like Hill early in the season. I also do not believe he would have been active if some other guys were healthy. In addition, the best case scenario is you never use him and get back the value in the pick. However, you could have just gotten greater value in terms of a starter at multiple positions that you desperately need. Besides this point, lets look at some things hurting the Eagles, we have no one on the roster from the 2014 and 2015 drafts. That is not good. I am not saying you have to have a plethora of guys on the roster, but we have none. It gets compounded even more when you look at the 2017 draft and the only players who played from that draft were Mailata out of necessity and Nate Gerry. We only have 3 players remaining from that draft class if you don’t include UDFA Clement. If that wasn’t bad enough, the 2019 class the only player from that class to play in this game was JJAW. He still looks like a bum. When you have 3 or 4 bad drafts in the span of 5-6 years, it eventually catches up to you. Those poor drafts are finally catching up to the Eagles. You will rarely have consistent success in this league if you are drafting poorly every other year. 

7. 8-8 is who I thought they were—I have been saying for a couple months now that I thought this team was going to take a step back from last year. I thought the last month of the season was fools gold for the Eagles. They got the benefit of playing the hapless Washington football team, the crap Giants twice and Dak with a bum shoulder and they choked. That team was a mirage and covered up a bigger issues that we didn’t want to think about. The bigger issue is this team’s stars are older and beginning to breakdown. Brooks is great when healthy, but has had a serious injury in two of three seasons. Lane is great when he plays, but he has missed more and more time as the seasons have past. Graham is not what he once was. Cox is still a really good DT, but he isn’t the same Cox from 2017 or even 2018. Ertz is 30 and it doesn’t seem like he is going to be around for much longer. DeSean takes himself out of plays now and is also injury prone. Alshon is injury prone and might never be what he once was after his injury. Peters is who he is at 38. He isn’t retro Peters. Kelce is still playing at a high level which is a credit to him, but you are seeing when surrounded with lesser guards he cant make up for that. Mills hasn’t proven anything yet to be considered a long term viable answer at safety. Realistically the next core of the Eagles if you take out Wentz is Maddox, Goedert, Sanders, Gerry, Edwards, Dillard, Reagor and Seumalo. That isn’t all inspiring.  And we don’t know if some of them are legitimate long term players here. I love Sanders and Goedert along with Reagor’s upside, but when I look at teams around the NFL set up for long term success, I don’t seem them with that few of pieces. I think this roster badly needs an infusion of blue chip premiere talent.  To me I thought this schedule was going to be rough for the Eagles. I didn’t expect a sweep of both Washington and the Giants. I thought if everyone stayed healthy this team was likely 8/9 win team with a possibility of 10. However, with the injuries piling up and how it has been the last couple year it was more of a 7/8 win team. I hate living through bad years of football, but frankly that is where I see this going. 

8. Relying on Rookie WRs and JJAW—About a week ago, I had the discussion on the blog that the Eagles had more talent at the WR position then they did at the end of last year, but that didn’t mean they were better. The reason why I said that was because you can be talented but not produce at a high level on the field for various reasons. I also indicated if the Eagles were going to heavily rely on Hightower, JJAW, Watkins and even Reagor you were going to be in trouble. For every McLaurin, Metcalf and AJ Brown’s as rookies, they are Parrish Campbell, JJAW and Nelson Agholor as a rookie. I think it is a bad idea to just heavily rely on rookies to come in and hit the ground running. You saw it today with both Reagor and Hightower. Reagor had a great down the field reception. However, he also ran poor route and made a lackluster effort to come back to the ball on a Wentz interception. As for Hightower, he also didn’t run a great route, didn’t come back to the ball on an interception. He also had a drop and heard some footsteps. Do I think he is doomed? No but there was always going to be growing pains. That is what you deal with in rookies and especially rookies who had no OTAs, no preseason and no minicamps. I thought the plan of just drafting speed guys and asking them to just contribute from the start was a risky proposition. It is why I wanted Robbie Anderson, who went far below what I and many thought he’d get. Meanwhile today he busts off a 75-yard td and goes for 115 yards and a td.  Meanwhile Reagor and Hightower combined for 2 catches and 53 yards. As for Jjaw, I am tired of hearing the Eagles spin machine. Every year I hear them pumping up their own guys in training camp and then the season roles around and they look the exact same. Quit it. He looks lost still and completely non-existent when he is out there. I would be floored if this changed. It could just be you missed on the pick. When he seems to consistently have zero catches for 0 yards and you have rookies playing over him, it is time to just admit he wasn’t who you thought he was. This kills me as there were plenty of WRs on the board who many others and I liked more. 

9. DE long term worries—While I liked what I saw from Sweat at the beginning of the game, it was really not very pleasant watching Curry leave the game with what looked like a significant injury. Graham is starting to look his age. I really didn’t think he was all that good last year for what you were paying him. He had 3 of his sacks against a horrendous Jets team. He accounted for 1 Qb hit, but he really didn’t make much of a major impact as a pass rusher. If Barnett cannot comeback and provide a major contribution like we have been waiting on then this position is in a lot of trouble going forward. I would argue we would need not one but two starting defensive ends going forward. While I like the upside with Toohill, I think he is a lot like Sweat as a good rotational piece. Additionally I feel the same way about Avery. The Eagles have found depth and guys who can be quality depth guys, but they might not have two long term starters at the position. Besides the offensive line and outside corner, this is another major hole the Eagles could be facing next offseason. 

10. Clement and Scott gruesome twosome—It was not pretty when the Eagles did decide to run the ball. I feel like besides Scott’s HB draw for 13 yards that nearly gained a first down that it was ugly. Some of it was Scott and Clement not turning it up field and taking what they could get. Some of it was the offensive line wasn’t doing a particularly great job. And some of it was calling stretch plays for guys like Clement and Scott, which I do not think is their bread and butter. On the day the Eagles had just 17 rushing attempts for 57 yards, which is 3.4 yards per carry. I still would have liked to see more run plays called to see if the backs could find a rhythm as the game went along. Unfortunately, they didn’t look good in their limited carries and we just didn’t want to stick with the run. Hoping in week two the Eagles can get back Miles Sanders who I think can make a major difference in the run game and screen game. I love Corey Clement for what he did during that Super Bowl run, but since then I haven’t really seen that Corey Clement in any game. He hasn’t looked the same as he did his rookie season. 

11. Turnover battle—The Eagles lost the turnover battle 3-0. Not going to win very many games in the NFL having 3 turnovers and forcing 0. In fact, the Eagles are 0-4 when Wentz has 3 or more turnovers in a game. Furthermore it really hurts when the Eagles 3 turnovers allowed the Washington to start at the Eagles 45, 20 and 25. That is prime real estate even for a bad offense like Washington. It is really what ultimately turned the game around and sunk the Eagles. 

12. Red zone defense and defensive failed adversity test— The Eagles offense was a mess in the second half and really after the second touchdown, but the defense had opportunities to step up and win this game for the Eagles. While I don’t think they are the main culprits for the loss, they also didn’t come up big when the team needed them too. Inside the red zone, Washington was 3-for-4. I get Washington had primo field position, but you have to bend but not break. The Eagles continuously broke inside the red zone. It would have been a perfect 3-for-3 for Washington but with the game in hand they basically turned it over on downs. This has been an issue in the past for the Eagles defense. When they have needed a big stop in a critical moment they have had issues getting off the field. I thought for a majority of the game they were doing a great job of doing so, but when the snowball was forming after the first Wentz interception it was like Washington did whatever they want and got a touchdown. Then the second interception where Washington was in the red zone already, they have to hold to a field goal and couldn’t. Washington is not a very good offense, it is why this gives me some concern. You’d think with the lack of weapons and a below average QB the Eagles defense would have risen to the occasion. Of course fatigue is a factor in this, but the defense wasn’t fatigued after the first Wentz INT and really the second 4 minutes into the second half. 

13. Big money, no whammy no whammy no whammy stop DL— The Eagles have absolute ton of money invested into the defensive line: Particularly at defensive tackle. On the day, the Eagles managed to get zero sacks from Cox, Jackson and Hargraves (out). That it s a ton of money the Eagles are spending at the position to get very little production in terms of pass rush especially when you consider who Washington had starting on the left side of their line (LT Christian and LG Martin). As for Malik Jackson, I wasn’t overly thrilled when the Eagles signed him to that contract. I thought it was an overpay for a guy coming off a bad year and might not be the player he once was. Like Sweat, I thought he was playing well early in the game. He was blowing up lineman and running backs. He was able to get some nice rushes up the middle and create 2 QB hits. But like Sweat, the longer and longer he had to be on the field, the more and more he disappeared. Some of that is he has to fight and be better. Some of that is we could use Hargraves back in the rotation to spell him on some of these running downs and keep him fresher. However, I still wasn’t in awe of Malik’s play and especially not for the contract he has. I think you expect better production out of him. As for Cox, I thought he was a monster in the running game, but I again wish I got more pass rush out of him. If the Eagles defense is going to be one of the best, then he has to rush the passer like one of the best in the league. I still think Cox is really good. I would just like to see him be more consistent in his pass rush. He has the ability to change games. I felt like today he could have been that but he never did. As for Hargraves, I am not sure what is going on with him. Has a pec injury, finally returns and then gets a hammy injury. That was the Eagles big ticket FA and it feels like he just cant get on the field. The Eagles paid him a lot of money and we have no clue how good or bad the investment was cause he is injured.  mI really do think Sweat and Malik showed you when they are fresh and not fatigued they can make an impact for the Eagles. So hopefully getting Barnett and Hargraves back sooner rather than later will be a much-added boost

14. Injuries galore—I don’t know what else to say but man the Eagles continue to see injury after injury. I would chalk it up to older players, but it has also been younger guys like Driscoll leaving the game and Scott leaving the game. It feels like every couple of plays someone is leaving the field. The Curry injury didn’t look good at all. That might be it for him for a while. I am not sure how you handle this. It has been an ongoing issue for the better part of 4 years. I know all teams have injuries, but it seems like the Eagles are always leading the way. I don’t think this team as constructed is going to be able to handle them nearly as well as the previous three season. It feels like there is a hole and we plug it then another hole opens up with water pouring in, but this time we cant fix enough holes fast enough. 

 

[UK_EaglesFan89]

This is going to be a rough year unfortunately. And I hope it forces some major changes. 

[Cochis_Calhoun]

i said it in the game thread, I think Mailata clearly needs reps and work but I don't think he was that bad, on the other hand Nate Herbig is the worst lineman I've ever seen in the green, he makes Winston Justice look like Gene Upshaw.  i honestly don't recall seeing Pryor in the game but from memory of last year he is light years more competent than Nate Herbig, the Stay Puft Marshmallow man looking mf'er.

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles]

Great stuff.  Thank you.

Everyone should spend a little bit reading and rereading UGLY #2.  Thats the whole season right there, folks.

[Vlad67]

Well we won division last year so we are not bound to win it this year anyway 🙂

[20dawk4life]

The ugly- the new fox score board. God is that annoying right in the middle of the tv. Who the F thought that was a good idea? Fire that arsehat immediately. 

[nipples]

Say what you want about the young, inexperienced linemen, but JP played like a** too. This is why I said, and still believe, it was ridiculous to renegotiate with him just because he was shifting back over to tackle. I thought he could be an above average guard given that he wouldn’t need to deal with speed rushes inside, but at this point is average to below average as an LT. 

[birdman#12]

Most of this blame falls on Pedersen.  From the play calling to the line problems and the lack of adjustment.

48 passes to 17 running plays?  Talk about playing into the opponents strength.  And where the hell are the misdirection plays?  The wheel routes?  The rollouts?.....The 2-3 step drop passes?  Hell, even a f------ draw play?.....I could go on and on.

The offense gave the foreskins short field on their first 4 scores.  139 yards for 2 TDs and 2 FGs?  2 INTs, a missed FG and a 4th and 2 failure.  That's and average of 35 yards per scoring drive.....

The offensive line struggled....but it should never have gotten that bad because washington knew the eagles were passing and pinned back their ears.......and the eagles never gave the running game a chance or the lineman a chance to pound on some defenders.......

Yeah,  Wentz allowed the skins to get in his head, the defense didn't get a critical stop and the o-line was manhandled.  But the vast majority of this loss is squarely on Pedersen's shoulders.

Holy sh--,  everybody assumed the eagles O-Line could struggle, but Pedersen still had wentz drop back 56 times ....WTF??

[nipples]

1 minute ago, birdman#12 said:

Most of this blame falls on Pedersen.  From the play calling to the line problems and the lack of adjustment.

48 passes to 17 running plays?  Talk about playing into the opponents strength.  And where the hell are the misdirection plays?  The wheel routes?  The rollouts?.....The 2-3 step drop passes?  Hell, even a f------ draw play?.....I could go on and on.

The offense gave the foreskins short field on their first 4 scores.  139 yards for 2 TDs and 2 FGs?  2 INTs, a missed FG and a 4th and 2 failure.  That's and average of 35 yards per scoring drive.....

The offensive line struggled....but it should never have gotten that bad because washington knew the eagles were passing and pinned back their ears.......and the eagles never gave the running game a chance or the lineman a chance to pound on some defenders.......

Yeah,  Wentz allowed the skins to get in his head, the defense didn't get a critical stop and the o-line was manhandled.  But the vast majority of this loss is squarely on Pedersen's shoulders.

Holy sh--,  everybody assumed the eagles O-Line could struggle, but Pedersen still had wentz drop back 56 times ....WTF??

Honestly they were screwed no matter what the run:pass ratio was. The run game was going absolutely nowhere. Losing Sanders for this game was a huge blow. 

[birdman#12]

Just now, nipples said:

Honestly they were screwed no matter what the run:pass ratio was. The run game was going absolutely nowhere. Losing Sanders for this game was a huge blow. 

Well, I'm a believer of an offensive line needs to get into a groove by pounding on a defense.....and Pedersen never gave the line a chance.  Running games develop as the game develops.  

How can you tell it was "going nowhere" when they ran the ball 7 times in the first half?  That falls under "not even trying to run the ball"  Instead, Pedersen played right into washington's strength by having Wentz drop back instead of quick passes, screens, draw plays, misdirection or rollouts......This was an extremely poor playcalling game. And he put his defense in lousy spots 4 straight times.....

Losing Sanders is tough....but it's not a valid excuse for the playcalling or the lack of adjustment on pedersen's part. Sanders is not the hub of this offense, they can't give up the run game simply because he's hurt.

[toolg]

We all remember how the game ended. The O-line was abysmal. Wentz held onto the ball too long, trying to play hero ball, taking too many sacks and making mistakes. They couldn't sustain anything on offense, making it really tough on the defense: short fields and no rest. Defense could only get off the field after they let the opposing Football Team score. The Eagles literally fell apart. Despite all the injuries coming into the game, it felt like the Eagles were still the more talented team at the beginning. But they weren't by the end of the game.

The Eagles actually played close to a perfect game for the first quarter and a half. Starting Herbing and Driscoll wasn't ideal, but if felt like they had a plan and it worked for a while. When they got the ball, they drove down the field and scored, or at least they punted the ball back setting up the defense deep. The difference was when the Eagles couldn't get off their own side of the field. Clearly this season will come down to how well the makeshift O-line plays. 

[nipples]

10 minutes ago, birdman#12 said:

Well, I'm a believer of an offensive line needs to get into a groove by pounding on a defense.....and Pedersen never gave the line a chance.  Running games develop as the game develops.  

How can you tell it was "going nowhere" when they ran the ball 7 times in the first half?  That falls under "not even trying to run the ball"  Instead, Pedersen played right into washington's strength by having Wentz drop back instead of quick passes, screens, draw plays, misdirection or rollouts......This was an extremely poor playcalling game. And he put his defense in lousy spots 4 straight times.....

Losing Sanders is tough....but it's not a valid excuse for the playcalling or the lack of adjustment on pedersen's part. Sanders is not the hub of this offense, they can't give up the run game simply because he's hurt.

If they were just getting stopped at the line that would be one thing. But the backs were being caught in the backfield constantly. The run blocking was non-existent. 
 

Sanders at least has the combo of speed and strength to get away from some of those and make a positive play out of it. 

[birdman#12]

Just now, nipples said:

If they were just getting stopped at the line that would be one thing. But the backs were being caught in the backfield constantly. The run blocking was non-existent. 

Well they only had one TFL in the first half......but they only netted 13 yards on those 7 carries.......but again, the line was never allowed to get into a groove.....washington KNEW they were going to pass and were firing off the ball in pass rush mode.  And the eagles played right into it.  I also saw Clement and Scott miss some holes.

But I basically agree with you, the line play was poor and it's tough to say whether it would have gotten better with more runs.....but we KNOW that the pass rush was overwhelming and basically won the game for the skins.

[McNabbIsDone]

9 hours ago, E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles said:

Great stuff.  Thank you.

Everyone should spend a little bit reading and rereading UGLY #2.  Thats the whole season right there, folks.

I had to read the entire post just to find out what happened . . . because I turned the game off   3   or   4   times in disgust.

I dunno . . . am I asking too much for my recent Super Bowl winning team & HC to give me something just a  little  more palatable to watch ???

8  sacks ?!?  GMAFB . . . Did a clone of Lawrence Taylor suddenly come in when I wasn't looking ?? 

I don't care what the reasons are . . . that's entirely unacceptable.  At times Wentz looked like a rookie out there.

He should have enough sense to roll himself out even if it wasn't called just to escape the pass rush.

Did we run the ball?  CAN  we run the ball ?  I dunno, guess we'll find out next week. Washington's D was all over our run offense anyways.

Meanwhile, Bill BeliCHEAT wins with Cam as his new QB . . . at least Brady lost, too . . . but that's precious little consolation.

Based on what I saw yesterday this team has a losing record this year.

I'm disgusted . . . time to go wrap fish . . .                                   

[McNabbIsDone]

21 minutes ago, birdman#12 said:

This was an extremely poor play-calling game. And he put his defense in lousy spots 4 straight times.....

Losing Sanders is tough....but it's not a valid excuse for the play-calling or the lack of adjustment on Pedersen's part.

Sanders is not the hub of this offense, they can't give up the run game simply because he's hurt.

IMO even with Sanders in there the Eags get smoked by the Washington DL. Those guys were penetrating & disrupting us even on our very few running plays.

It all starts with the OL, folks . . . and we don't have one.  DOH !!

[Road to Victory]

Looking at the big picture, this team relies on older players and/or guys who can’t stay healthy. Howie’s incompetence as a talent evaluator is really starting to show. The depth on the Oline is terrible. Jackson is old and injury prone. Graham is old and there’s not much else at DE. Maybe Sweat can play? Barnett is always banged up or making some stupid penalty. The LB’s are awful. There’s no young talent in the secondary. 
 

I just hope Lurie makes some changes if this ends up being an 8-8 season. I think Doug can coach but he’s got to run the ball more. This team is at its best when they run well. Howie has to be replaced as a talent evaluator. I hope he doesn’t get a pass because of the whole Covid thing. Leave him in the position he’s in but hire a real GM to make decisions on the draft and free agency. Let Howie deal with the cap and contracts. 

[20dawk4life]

48 minutes ago, birdman#12 said:

Most of this blame falls on Pedersen.  From the play calling to the line problems and the lack of adjustment.

48 passes to 17 running plays?  Talk about playing into the opponents strength.  And where the hell are the misdirection plays?  The wheel routes?  The rollouts?.....The 2-3 step drop passes?  Hell, even a f------ draw play?.....I could go on and on.

The offense gave the foreskins short field on their first 4 scores.  139 yards for 2 TDs and 2 FGs?  2 INTs, a missed FG and a 4th and 2 failure.  That's and average of 35 yards per scoring drive.....

The offensive line struggled....but it should never have gotten that bad because washington knew the eagles were passing and pinned back their ears.......and the eagles never gave the running game a chance or the lineman a chance to pound on some defenders.......

Yeah,  Wentz allowed the skins to get in his head, the defense didn't get a critical stop and the o-line was manhandled.  But the vast majority of this loss is squarely on Pedersen's shoulders.

Holy sh--,  everybody assumed the eagles O-Line could struggle, but Pedersen still had wentz drop back 56 times ....WTF??

Preach

[weko]

You have to take an honest look at this horrible Oline, then look at the schedule and find teams we can beat with this group of old, late draft picks, FAs.  Howie has ignored replenishing the Oline with talent, then whiffed in the 1st when he finally did.  Stoutland is a great coach but you have to give him talent.  We've whiffed on so many draft picks, then this last draft wasted a 2nd rounder on a back up QB and a 3rd rounder on a developmental LB who may never play.  It's the most important unit on a football team and Howie has allowed it to fall apart.

[ManchesterEagle]

Great write up as always. I agree with pretty much everything you say.

I do disagree on Hurts being a luxury pick though. He was drafted as a possible alternative to Wentz going forward, not as a backup. I didn’t agree with the pick at the time and I hope Wentz makes it look like a stupid pick, but yesterday wasn’t promising.

[mr_hunt]

is doug's super bowl leash running out of slack?  

 

[EazyEaglez]

10 minutes ago, ManchesterEagle said:

Great write up as always. I agree with pretty much everything you say.

I do disagree on Hurts being a luxury pick though. He was drafted as a possible alternative to Wentz going forward, not as a backup. I didn’t agree with the pick at the time and I hope Wentz makes it look like a stupid pick, but yesterday wasn’t promising.

The Wentz apologist have tried to play off the Hurts pick as "insurance for a possible future first round pick later.” These people are just fooling themselves. If the Eagles wanted that kind of banking the better move would have been to simply trade the pick. Hurts isn’t here to be some fake Taysom Hill either. You don’t draft a guy in the 2nd round to be that. No the only logical conclusion is the Eagles are hedging their bet on Wentz. The most interesting thing Roseman said months ago was he looked at the roster at the end of the season and said "who’s healthy?” Carson wasn’t one of those people and he’s ended his last three seasons injured. His play clearly makes him susceptible to injury. It’s only a matter of time before the Eagles ask the question (and by drafting Hurts they clearly have) why are we paying this guy so much money if we can’t count on him when we need him the most? The words you will hear out of the organization will be "Carson’s our guy”, but the truth is Carson is he is their guy FOR NOW. 

[Cochis_Calhoun]

12 minutes ago, ManchesterEagle said:

Great write up as always. I agree with pretty much everything you say.

I do disagree on Hurts being a luxury pick though. He was drafted as a possible alternative to Wentz going forward, not as a backup. I didn’t agree with the pick at the time and I hope Wentz makes it look like a stupid pick, but yesterday wasn’t promising.

Thing is, If we're at the point of changing QB at the end of this season A) where does Wentz go? Even cutting him in 2022 carries $25million dead cap hit, and if we're giving up on him good luck getting someone to take him with that contract and B) There are better QB's than Jalen Hurts coming out next year.

[EazyEaglez]

6 minutes ago, mr_hunt said:

is doug's super bowl leash running out of slack?  

 

Do you remember in 2017 when the reports came out that Schwartz was walking around like he owned the place, because he thought it was only a matter of time before he would replace Doug? Now the ownership and GM won’t even allow him to pick his own staff. Truth is he’s never been allowed to. I get the feeling that most people in that building think the Eagles won the Super Bowl in spite of Doug and not because of him.

[RastaPasta]

3 hours ago, E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles said:

Great stuff.  Thank you.

Everyone should spend a little bit reading and rereading UGLY #2.  Thats the whole season right there, folks.

Getting Lane back will significantly upgrade the line, though. They'll just need to stay healthy after that, which seems like an impossible task for this cursed team.

I think the real significant part is UGLY #6. Roseman can't draft. He got a huge pass after the Super Bowl win, but he's really been an abject failure since. Speaking of huge passes after the SB, it's looking more and more like Frank Reich really was the brains behind that operation.

 

[nipples]

1 minute ago, RastaPasta said:

Getting Lane back will significantly upgrade the line, though. They'll just need to stay healthy after that, which seems like an impossible task for this cursed team.

I think the real significant part is UGLY #6. Roseman can't draft. He got a huge pass after the Super Bowl win, but he's really been an abject failure since. Speaking of huge passes after the SB, it's looking more and more like Frank Reich really was the brains behind that operation.

 

Eh, I want to see how this year’s class pans out before damning Howie’s drafting. He’s had some big misses for sure, but I for one am pretty confident in Reagor, Wallace and Hightower being good players from this year’s draft. I know Hightower had the drop, but first game jitters and all, I’m not down on him.