The Good, the bad and the ugly: Week 16 At Dallas

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

hey this is the last of these for the year. unfortunately next week’s game is meaningless in terms of the eagles playoff chances so I am going to just watch it and not do a write up as i don’t think there‘s much to take from the game except we should be playing young guys and seeing what they can ultimately do and be here next year. Losing probably benefits us more long term in terms of draft pick placement. I don’t root for us to lose but I’m not actively jumping up and down for a meaningless win either. Nevertheless I have enjoyed these write ups and the discuss that follows. unfortunately for us the eagles didn’t give us a particularly fun or great season  

The Good:

1. First half offense—Since Jalen Hurts has taken over as the Eagles starting QB, the Eagles have found ways to score points in the first half. This game was no different as the Eagles were able to compile 17 points in the first half. Over Hurts’ first three starts the Eagles have scored 17, 20 and 17 points in the first halves of games. Additionally, the Eagles were able to put 14 points on the board on their first two drives of the game. Furthermore, the were able to get a homerun type of play from DeSean that they had not gotten from him or the WR position since week 1 of the 2019 season. The Eagles had 295 total yards in the first half. However, the trend of the offense disappearing in the second half continued. The Eagles are catching their opponents off guard and doing an excellent job of having success to much of their scripted plays. However they have yet to adjust to the adjustments teams have made and it is why you see the offense just not able to put points on the board after the halftime break. 

2. Congrats to DeSean—I was against bringing back DeSean originally because I thought he was older and unreliable. For the most part of his return he has been unreliable with the injuries and not as big of a playmaker as they probably expected. It has been 32 NFL weeks and a playoff game since DeSean had the big homerun type of play for the Eagles.  His 81 yard touchdown receptions was the longest TD reception by a WR this year. His 81 yards on the play also led the Eagles WR corps in yards. I still do not think he is back next year especially at his price tag. It is too much money for a guy you do not know if he will be on the field week to week and at his age. My question from this game is why was DeSean not targeted the rest of the game after that play if you knew you could exploit the Dallas defensive secondary. It is kind of like why the Eagles just often go away from Sanders and the running game. 

3. Slay does it…A corner got a pick—While most of the day the Eagles corners were awful, but for the first time all year the Eagles had a corner that came up with an interception. You read that right, it took the Eagles 16 weeks to get an interception from the cornerback position. It was a pretty awesome play by Slay and really kept the Eagles in the game late in the 3^rd quarter and gave the Eagles great field position that was later squandered. Trading and paying Slay was expected to improve the secondary and gain another playmaker, but really the Eagles secondary as they played against better WRs has struggled to get off the field. More amazing this is the first pick by a corner by the Eagles since week 17 of the 2019 season. 

4. Draft pick gets better—If you had no interest in winning the NFC east and making the playoffs then you like the fact the Eagles moved up in the pecking order in the NFL draft. They are currently sitting on a top 5 pick and potentially could move up into the top 3 if some things go their way next week. I am not sure what position the Eagles go after. I think they’re some teams ahead of them (Jets and Miami) who could use a WR so Chase might not make it to where the Eagles are picking. 

5. Red zone defense—The defense had a really tough time stopping the Cowboys after the first quarter, but where the Eagles managed to find some success was inside the red zone. The Eagles were able to hold the Cowboys to 2-5 (40%) inside the red zone. However, the Eagles still gave up points on every trip inside the red zone for the Cowboys. The Cowboys converted two trips in touchdowns but the three other trips they also got 3 field goals. While optically it looks good that the Eagles held the Cowboys to just 2 touchdowns inside the red zone, they allowed for 23 total points inside the red zone, which when you combine the long touchdowns Dallas put up is just wayyy too many trips and success inside the red zone. 

6. Quez getting more involved—One of the few bright spots in this game for me was Quez Watkins. I know he didn’t get an overwhelming amount of targets, but the last few weeks he has come on for the Eagles. Over the last two games he has had only 5 receptions. However, he has had two big time receptions for the Eagles. Against the Cowboys he was able to get open and pull in a 43-yard reception. Additionally against the Cardinals he was able to use his agility and playmaking skills to turn a screen pass into a touchdown of 32 yards. In the last two weks he has shown me more than JJAW has shown me his entire tenure as an Eagle. He has compiled 5 catches for 97 yards and 1 touchdown. I do not know what the future holds for Watkins but I love seeing him continue to develop and come on strong at the end of the year. IMO the Eagles need to play Reagor, Hightower and Watkins the majority of the snaps next week. The Eagles need to see what each one of those young rookies can do rather than throw DeSean and Jeffery out there who aren’t going to be back next year. I do find it curious to know what exactly happened with Hightower. I thought he had some highs and some lows early on in the season. However he has completely disappeared from the offense and I rather see how far he has come from week 1 until now then continue to see Jeffery and DeSean who’s future lies elsewhere. 

 

On the fence:

1. QB heading into next year—I do not know what the Eagles are going to do or what they should do. I am not ready to say Hurts is the guy going forward. I liked what I saw the first halves of the last 3 games. But the second halves of the last 3 games are also very alarming. As teams adjusted to Hurts, the Eagles offense has failed to be able to put the ball into the end zone and put points on the board. At some point, Hurts has to see the adjustments made and get better as a passer from the pocket cause like Kyler Murray are going to take away your strengths and force you to try to beat them with things you aren’t great at. I have yet to see that adjustment in the second half from Hurts. Some of this is on Doug as well. Some of this is the fact he is a rookie in his third career start without an offseason. I still like the kid and think he has upside to be a solid starter in this league. However, I am also not ready to just hand the keys over to him. I do not think the sample size of 4 games is enough for me to make that decision. Especially in what is going to be a meaningless game for the Eagles next week against Washington. It might have meaning for Washington, but if I am the Eagles I am using my young players to see what I have for next year and not overly concerned trying to win a game that does nothing in the long run anyway. That said, I do not know if you decide to go with Wentz if he is fixable with this coaching staff in place. I definitely think they need to fire Press Taylor and get someone in there he isn’t buddies with and is harder on him about his mechanics. I think that would also likely benefit Hurts as well. I think both could use the tough love when dealing with their mechanics. I do not envy the Eagles this offseason. I think this decision to go with Wentz or move forward with Hurts could likely determine the next decade of Eagles football. If you make the wrong decision it could have dire consequence and you scrambling for the next 3-5 years trying to correct it and put you even further away from your goal of winning a second SB. 

2. Seumalo—I have to go watch the All  22, but I do not think this was one of Seumalo’s better games. I thought he was having issues at time in the run game. It felt like he wasn’t getting a good push and was actually getting blown back. I also didn’t like the fact that he had 2 false start penalties. Those five yard penalties are killer when you are having issues sustaining drives on offense and generating offense. I do not think he play anywhere close to Pryor, but it definitely wasn’t like his performance against the Saints and Cardinals. 

 

The Bad:

1. Neglected the Safety position in the draft for years… Epps, Mills and Wallace not good enough—Sometimes you pay for what you get. The Eagles are currently paying for neglecting the safety position for years. I like Wallace, but I do not think he is ready to be a starter yet. I would’ve liked to see him be the 3^rd safety for much of the year, but injuries cost him and he just has been ok not great in games he has played. I think a normal offseason will help him out and expect him to be better next year. That said, Arnold and Epps were UDFA for a reason. When you rely on UDFA to step in and be major contributors more often then not you are going to see why they are strictly backups. I do not see either one of these guys as more than just backups in this league. This brings me to Mills. I do think there is a place for him on this roster. He is fine as a backup at corner or safety, but if you are relying on him to be a starter then you are in trouble. He doesn’t make enough big impact plays and just asking him to be a solid safety after a handful plays last year was just laughable. I am super concerned about this position next year. I do think Wallace has a chance to be groomed into a solid starter, but you have a injured McLeod coming back, 2 backups and Mills who shouldn’t be starting. When you neglect to draft a safety from Ed Reynolds until Wallace, which spans nearly a half decade this tends to happen. Jenkins and McLeod were getting older and more expensive and the Eagles continued to just put it on the backburner. Feels like the Eagles are paying the piper here. 

2. Linebackers besides Singleton—While I think Singleton is a solid starting linebacker, the rest of the unit is just ST or backup players. The Eagles drastically need to figure out how to get another competent starting linebacker in here. I am not sure how they go about this. I do not think you can just rely on Bradley and Taylor making jumps from their rookie years. I think Bradley is just a good backup and Taylor was a project when he was drafted and now coming off a major knee injury. I thought in this game the Eagles linebackers in coverage were not an issue. However, the Eagles linebackers against the run as the game wore on were just getting bullied and out of position. Some of this falls on Cox leaving the game and the DL wearing down and blockers getting to the second level. Still this unit has fallen far from where we were in 2017. Kendricks and Bradham were both above average to good linebackers that year. Hicks was a solid linebacker before the injury. On this team, I think Singleton is sadly not as good as any of those three that year and the others are nowhere close.  

3. 3^rd down efficiency— At the start this game, the Eagles were 3-for-4 on third down. It is a major reason why the Eagles first possessions finished with a touchdown. However the rest of the game the Eagles just continue find the same success against a pretty below average to bad Dallas defense. The Eagles offense the rest of the game was just a mere 4-for-14 and overall 7-17 (41.2%). While the 41% is one of the better days for the Eagles offense this year, it is just a continuation of the issue the offense has had all season. The penalties, the poor play calling on first and second down and inconsistent execution on first and second down have really hurt the Eagles all season. In this game, the Eagles were actually much better at being in 3^rd and manageable. The Eagles were in 3^rd and 5 for 12 of the 17 third down attempts. Unfortunately, the Eagles had a bad interception late in the game on a 3^rd and 2. Additionally, there were 5 times in this game where it was 3^rdand 10 or longer. The Eagles were only able to convert on one of those third down attempts. Add on they had another turnover on a 3^rd and 12 where Cowboys defensive back Brown picked off Hurts. This is one of the biggest issues on this team. The Eagles for much of the season have been in 3^rdand long and for much of the season have been very pedestrian at converting on 3^rd down. If you want to have success in this league and win championships, this is where the best teams thrive at and the bad ones falter at. 

4. Miles Sanders lackluster/usage—Miles Sanders has had some big time runs for the Eagles this season, he has also left a lot to be desired outside of those spectacular runs. I love when he gets the opportunity and hits a homerun for us, but I feel like the norm over the last 3 weeks has been less than stellar. In this game, Sanders had 15 carries for 57 yards and a touchdown. That is a mere 3.8 yards per carry, which is right on par for the last couple weeks outside of his 82-yard touchdown run against the Saints. Over the last 3 weeks, Sanders has rushed for 236 yards on 46 carries, which is great 5.1 yards per carry average. However when you remove the 82-yard scamper from the equation he has been pretty mediocre as he has rushed for 154 yards on 45 carries, which is just 3.4 yards per carry. The Eagles need more from Sanders. He has the talent to be a really good back in this league, but he is really been very underwhelming without his take it to the house runs. I think some of the issue is the Eagles run blocking over the last couple weeks has just not been very good. Particularly on the right side with Pryor and Herbig. Sadly Pryor is forced out there due to lack of healthy bodies and Herbig is much more competent when he has a competent right tackle to his right. I also think it is really hard for a rb to get into rhythm when in the first quarter he has 8 carries and then the rest of the game Doug only dials up another 7 rushes for his main back the rest of the game. This has been a maddeningly frustrating issue with the Eagles throughout the year. The Cowboys run defense isn’t particularly great and yet we get away from it. It was a two possession game. It wasn’t a complete blowout until alte in the 4^th quarter. There was no reason to just abandon the run game in the second half. Again it only takes Sanders one rush to break one and maybe the Eagles right back into a one possession game. It is especially hurtful to your rookie QB to be asked to carry the offense with less than stellar WRs and OLine play. Lean on one of your best players instead of just ignoring the run game especially with Dallas having a good pass rush and even better with the lead. 

5. Ertz and Goedert’s dynamic duo?— When the Eagles traded back and then traded up to Goedert I was kind of excited to snag him.. I admit the idea of having two sensational tight ends was something I thought the Eagles could be innovative and exploit. I am still glad we have Goedert and expect bigger things going forward from him after Ertz is ultimately gone. However as the last 3 seasons have unfolded, I really feel like it was one of those smartest person in the room moves. As much as I like Goedert and believe he is the future at the tight end position, I think the Eagles expected much more from the dynamic duo, but the league has shown that two-tight end formations are not how you are going to consistently win or score points in this league. I will not say that was a bad pick, but I think for what the Eagles envisioned with Ertz and Goedert they would tell you it hasn’t been as successful or fruitful as they thought when drafting Goedert. I believe the Eagles were hoping for a Hernandez and Gronk type of production and mismatches that they could exploit. Nevertheless, Goedert has had some injuries and up and down stretches. Ertz was consistent up until this year where he fell off the cliff. I do not think the Eagles would take that pick back, but I do wonder if the Eagles regret not dealing Ertz at the start of this season and moving away from the two-tight end formations and allowing Goedert to just be the guy (after his injury). I think Ertz’s allowed his contract to get inside his head and his performance on the field and the Eagles mishandled his situation along with many others. In this game the duo of tight ends combined for 6 receptions on 10 targets for 71 yards. 

6. Malik Jackson and Hargrave underperforming—I get losing Fletcher Cox is going to be tough for any defense. We might complain he isn’t the same Fletcher from 2017, but he is still one of the better DT in this league and his presence is felt when he is out there. That said, we are paying big time money to Malik Jackson and Hargrave. On any other team they are making starter money. Not just starter money, but money that is given out to some of the better defensive tackles in the league. In this game, it felt like as soon as Cox left, Jackson and Hargrave also decided to leave the game. Malik and Hargrave combined for 7 total tackles. None of those tackles went for a loss. They also managed to combine for a donut of QB hits. I was super disappointed in both of their performances. Frankly since the beginning of the year, Jackson has completely tailed off and has reverted to 2018 Jaguars Malik. More concerning to me is that Hargrave is likely to be the one here after Cox is gone from the Eagles. Yet he was pretty quite in the pass rush with Cox out of the game. I need to see more from him in a situation like this. He is supposed to supplant Cox at some point in the future and today was not a great showing or gives you confidence he will be anything more than just a complimentary DT. 

7. Cam Johnston didn’t look right— Maybe Johnston was still suffering from the concussion he suffered last week, but he really didn’t look right in this game. Against the Cowboys, Johnston punted the ball 5 times for a 36.6 average. While he had a nice 51-yard punt and 3 pins of the Cowboys inside the 20, he also had a shank of 17 yards when the Eagles could have used a great punt by him to really pin the Cowboys and change field position. I do not think this was an awful game for Johnston and one punt doesn’t determine his entire game, but I think if you asked him he would say he let the team down having just a 17-yard punt. 

8. It might be time for Schwartz to move on—I do not think the defense’s performances the last two weeks are all on Scwartz. He is playing with a stacked deck of cards with all the injuries the secondary has sustained over the past couple weeks. I thought the Eagles defense fought hard in the Cardinals game especially in the second half. In this game it just felt like after the Cowboys punt on the second possession the defense just had no answers. I thought Schwartz didn’t make the adjustment of moving Mills down to corner to get his vulnerable corner in Jacquett out of the game. It likely wouldn’t have mattered much, but you could see Jacquett just had no answers to any of the Cowboys receivers. Additionally, I would have to watch the all 22, but once Cox left, I thought Schwartz needed to make a bigger adjustment in getting pressure on the QB. I think when you are down Cox, Barnett, Sweat then you need to blitz more and become more creative in how you get pressure on Andy Dalton. I am not saying Schwartz sucks or he is undeserving of the accomplishments he has had here, but it just feels like the Eagles might need a new scheming and a coach that can develop his back 7 or utilize them better than what we have seen over the past couple years. 

 

The Ugly:

1. Second half woes on offense continue— Something that I have become obsessed with and concerned about over the last two weeks was how the Eagles offense just couldn’t put points up on the board in the second half of games. It has become a consistent problem for the Eagles. In the last three weeks, the Eagles have had 7, 6 and 0 points. Furthermore, the Eagles were able to get 205 yards but no points. Their second half possessions look like punt, punt, punt, downs, interception, fumble and interception. The Eagles were in this game until late in the 4^th quarter and yet it felt like with how the offense couldn’t finish drives that they were just a snap or two away from combusting. Out of the 19 second half possessions since Hurts has become the starter for the Eagles, they have had just 2 touchdown or scoring drives. Furthermore on those 19 second half possessions, the Eagles have turned the ball over on downs or a turnover on 7 of those 19 possessions. If you combine the punts and turnovers, the Eagles have had one or the other on 15 of their 19 possessions. That is not just bad, it is awful. Sadly, the Eagles have yet to adjust to how teams adjust to Hurts in the second half. They are taking away a lot of his running lanes and daring him to beat him with his arm. He isn’t great enough yet in that aspect to beat teams with his arm, have no running game and oline that is just awful on the right side. To me this issue comes down to Doug not adjusting his gameplan and being one step ahead of his opponent. I get the Eagles were down double digits most of the second half, but there was still time to pound the ball and not put it all on the shoulders of your rookie QB. I thought this game got away from the Eagles when Sanders became an afterthought. 

2. Doug is a major part of the problem— Since the Eagles SB run, the Eagles are just 22-23-1. Frankly it has felt like for much of the season, Doug has not been able to figure out how to properly utilize the players he has and put them in a position of strength. I felt like this game got away from Doug at the start of the second half. In the first half the Eagles were committed to running the football. The Eagles defense was not going to be able to make consistent stops as most of the secondary was trash and the defensive line was down Cox, Barnett and Sweat. So to help the Eagles defense out, the Eagles really needed to control the tempo of the game and time of possession to limit the amount of time they were on the field. At halftime, the Eagles had 21 rushes to 13 passes. Granted the Cowboys were able to score 20 points, but you were able to stay in the game and not allow a snowball to become an avalanche. In the second half, Sanders had two carries after the Cowboys opening drive touchdown and then didn’t have a rushing attempt the rest of the game. It was just a 13 point game up until the last 5 minutes of the second half. The Eagles could have given Sanders some more touches and he might have been able to spring one off for a big play. Instead the Eagles and Doug allowed the game to get away from him and slip away. Additionally, I didn’t like that the Eagles just didn’t play to their strengths. Last week we saw multiple screens to Watkins and Reagor. This week by my count there was only one. Both of those guys are good enough to make that routine WR screen into big chunk yards and it is an easy pitch and catch for Hurts to get him some confidence as well. Another issue is that the Eagles were still trying to dial up slow developing plays down the field. While the DeSean reception and the Watkins reception were nice, as the game went along Pryor and the right side of the offensive line began to have more and more issues keeping the Dallas pass rush off Hurts. Finally, I didn’t get the Eagles not going for it on 4^th and 3 from around midfield and then going for it on 4^th and 15 from the 33 with just over 14 minutes left. SO you weren’t aggressive from midfield where it is just 3 yards to pick up a first down. The analytics in the past have saod to go for it at that position of the field especially when you only need 3 yards to get a first and gain some momentum. Now the next possession deeper in Dallas territory down 13 points on a 4^thand 15, he decides to go for it. I get down 13 and early in the fourth quarter. However with how the offense had looked up to that point in the second half I thought having Elliott kick a 51 yarder might have given the Eagles some sort juice. Granted he could have missed and it would have been just as deflating as the 8-yard reception that failed to get a first down. Nevertheless, this is a microcosm of the Eagles season. It feels like Doug is randomly picking out of a hat when to be aggressive and when not to be aggressive. If you are going to be aggressive on 4^th and 15 with a struggling second half offense and not 4^th and 3 (both in Dallas territory) that doesn’t make much sense. But then again, I think most of this season the offense just as a whole from play calling and performance just hasn’t made much sense. There is no consistency in his play calling, when he is and isn’t aggressive and how we are utilizing the playmakers and players we do have. 

3. Howie’s roster is a bottom five roster—Besides the positive of the Eagles getting a top 5 pick from this dumpster fire of a season, this roster has really never been good. Before the season I thought this roster was a bottom half of the league roster and getting older. They would be fortunate to go 9-7 and I guessed 8-8. They have looked and played worse than an average football team. Yes we have seen massive injuries along the offensive line, but I could go up and down this roster even when they were healthy showing they had way too many positions back in May where they had question marks. I could point out that the receiving corps is one of the worst in the league and were too reliant on a injury prone DeSean and Jeffery being able to produce week in and week out when that was severely unlike. Additionally, I questioned just handing Maddox and Mills the starting jobs. Maddox has been regressing the last two years and isn’t an outside corner. The depth behind him was a complete joke. Mills making the adjustment to safety was going to be challenging and take time and yet the Eagles just believed it would go smoothly. It wasn’t realistic. I am not going to even talk about the linebacker position as it was laughable the unit they had start the year and play most of the season. I like Singleton but really he is just an average starting linebacker. The rest of the unit are backups or ST guys that are being asked to play way above their paygrade. I cannot blame Howie for the fallen bodies along the OL, but I can blame Howie for being way too reliant on older players who tend to get hurt more and more. I also blame this organization for keeping some guys around way past their usefulness like Peters or Jeffery and some others. I think the Eagles roster has been a slow reflection of the last 3 drafts where they really have minimal players who are actual starters. Additionally continuously making trades is going to catch up to you in time. I like Slay, but by the time the Eagles get back on track and become a contender you are looking like he is out of his prime. We basically gave up a 3^rdand 5^th along with a big cap number next year for a guy who might never see the playoffs with the Eagles. I am not sure where the Eagles go from here. IMO this team needs an entire rebuild. I do not think just changing Schwartz and coaching gets this job done on offense and defense. The cap supposedly is going to be significantly less than anticipated so I am no sure how the Eagles improve the roster outside of the draft and getting healthy to get better next year. I am of the impression unless Hurts or Wentz can elevate their games to be Pro Bowl caliber QBs that this team is likely going to be a 5-7 win team next year as well. At this moment, I see some of these bad teams in the top five of the draft at least improving from week to week and giving hope, the Eagles I just think look as pathetic as they have all season. Add on no cap space and limited amount of draft capital makes you have less hope. 

4. Hurts’ turnovers and performance—Whether it is Carson or Hurts going forward, the Eagles quarterbacks cannot turn the ball over 3 times in a game and expect to win the game. I do not care how great or bad the team is but anytime you turn the ball over 3 or more times you are more than likely going to lose that game. We were fortunate in the first meeting against the Cowboys that the Eagles had 4 turnovers and won the game. In this game, Hurts added two more fumbles and one of them that he lost. That means in his 3 starts since Hurts has taken over Hurts has fumbled the ball 7 times and lost 2 of them.  On the season, Hurts has fumbled the ball 9 times, which is a horrific pace that he is on (9 fumbles on 282 snaps). This has been a massive issue for both Wentz in his career and for Hurts in his short career.  This is something that needs to be ingrained and harped on by the coaching staff. The fact we have this many fumbles from both quarterbacks is ridiculous. Onto the interceptions, I thought both of the throws were not very good throws. One was late in the game when the damage had already been done and the game was practically over. However I think the thing that bothers me more than just the two interceptions and fumble in this game is that he should have had one last week versus the Cardinals and against the Saints he also should have thrown a pick six. I think the mistakes are continuing to occur. Now he is a rookie behind a bad oline and a lack of adjustments by his HC, but you cannot have  9 fumbles and 3 interceptions (really should be 5 if guys don’t drop easy picks) in under 300 snaps on the season. This is an area where Hurts has to get better if he is going to be starting QB in this league. I thought there were some good things he did in the first half when the Eagles were running the ball. He hit DeSean on the deep ball, which was a thing of beauty. However it is tough to ignore the turnovers he had (even if the fumble lost shouldn’t have been a fumble) and the fact the Eagles offense finished turnover on downs, interception, fumble and interception. On the evening, Hurts was 21-39 for 342 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions, fumble lost and 69 yards rushing.  The turnovers aside, I thought there were some other areas where he has to improve to get better. Like Wentz, he missed Sanders in the flat that should have been an easy completion and kept a drive alive. Additionally he had a play late in the first half where Reagor has a touchdown if he makes a better throw and the Eagles are forced to settle for a FG. Additionally, he has to be better going through his progressions. Late in the third quarter he decided to take off and run and it went for very minimal gain. Meanwhile if he went through his progression he finds Sanders open and yards in front of him. This was something I pointed out last week on the Ward touchdown. It was a good job by Ward to get his foot down, but if Hurts went through his progression he would have seen Reagor wide open in the middle of the end zone with no one around him for 4-5 yards. I think this is part of being a rookie. He was always going to have days like this and times where he struggled cause he is a rookie. The things I would like to see him improve going into next year is his accuracy. I think it is really tough to win in this league 54% of your passes as a starting quarterback. We are in a league right now where completion percentage is extremely high across the board. Meanwhile Wentz and Hurts are two of the least accurate QBs in the entire league. Wentz is ranked 36^th, (Hurts close to the same %)which is behind guys like Daniel Jones, Trubisky and Mullens. That is not good for either of them. 

5. Jacquett gets torched—For a couple of weeks I wanted to see what Jacquett could do over Maddox because I already knew Maddox was not the answer or the solution to the outside cornerback position opposite of Slay. I thought last week, Jacquett had a lot of good plays along with times where he just was beaten. In this game, he really didn’t have any good things to highlight. Whether it was a bad pass interference or a long reception by Gallup or Cooper, it just felt like we were watching Bradley Fletcher or Cary Williams out there. I was hoping he could build on his previous game and have some confidence going into this one. I thought it was going to be a tough task as the Wr unit of the Cowboys is a massive upgrade from the Cardinals (Hopkins is he best WR but the trio the Cowboys has is a better unit). I am not ready to just completely give up on him. I do think you could develop him to be a competent backup. I am realistic that I do not think he is going to be a starter in the NFL. However you need solid backups that can come in and be competent when a guy is out or leaves a game early. I still like his size and frame, but it just shows he is a long ways away from being able to be a consistent contributor. 

6. NRC massive let down signing—I know a lot of people when we signed NRC thought he could be a great upgrade to the slot corner position. I think many believed he could be the best slot corner the Eagles have had since Patrick Robinson in 2017. Unfortunately, there was a reason why the Rams were willing to just let him go and replace him. I thought Lamb absolutely just killed him in this game. On the 52-yard touchdown, Lamb just beat NRC and NRC had no chance on the play and Lamb was off to the races. That 52-yard touchdown was really a backbreaker. It felt like if the Eagles could get off the field on 3^rd and 3 and force a punt that the Eagles had a chance to strike back and regain the momentum. To me, I can understand why Jacquett would have issues in this game as a UDFA. However, NRC was expected to play significant snaps and be a difference maker. He has shown lack of effort at times, poor tackling and for much of the season just getting destroyed by slot receivers. 

7. Cox injury—Once Cox left the game, the snowball Cowboys’ offense really turned into an avalanche. I thought at the start of the game, the Eagles did a good job stopping the running, limiting the Cowboys and getting to Dalton. They were up 14-3 when Cox left the game, and they allowed the Cowboys to outscore them 34-3 the rest of the game. I think the Cowboys were able to wear down the Eagles defensive line with Zeke and Pollard. Additionally, as the game continued it felt like the Eagles just couldn’t get enough pressure on Dalton to help their weak secondary out. Once Cox left the game, the Cowboys had plays of 31, 52, 69 and 55 yards. A lot of that was because the pressure just couldn’t get home on the Dalton and the secondary didn’t hold up whatsoever. On the afternoon, the Eagles recorded 2 sacks and 7 QB hits, but it felt like much of that came prior to Cox leaving the game.  

8. Continue to give up massive plays— Another game after the bye, another game that the Eagles just continued to give up big plays to their opponent. I understand that Cox, McLeod, Maddox, Sweat, Barnett and some others were out, but the Eagles just continued this trend that has been devastating over the last 7 weeks. In the game against the Cowboys, the Cowboys had plays of 21, 31, 55, 69 and 52 yards. They had 3 plays of over 50 yards in this game that is an outrageous number regardless of who is out there playing. I haven’t seen many teams giving up 3 50+ yard plays in a single game and if they do they are getting routed and usually are one of the worst teams in the league like the Eagles are. Over the last two weeks, the Eagles have given up 6 plays of over 40 yards. Since week 10 after the bye, the Eagles have given up 22 plays of 30 yards or more. They have given up 33 plays of 20+ yards. The Eagles defense has been shredded on 40+ yard plays as they have given up 13 of them. Furthermore, the Eagles have given up 6 plays of 50+ yards or more since the second Giants game. You are going to have a really tough time winning in this league if you are giving up huge chunk yards like that every single week. 

9. 3^rd down defense— One of the few bright spots for the Eagles defense last week against the Cardinals was their ability to get off the field on third down. The Cardinals were just 3-10. It was a major reason why the Cardinals struggled to put up points in the second half. Heading into the contest against the Cowboys, the Eagles had been solid on third down over the last month. They were holding their opponents to just 38%. In this game, the Cowboys had too much success as they were 6-13 (46.2%). The Eagles progressively got worse as the game continued on. On Dallas’ first two drives of the game, they were 0-2 and were only able to get a field goal. The rest of the game, the Cowboys were 6-11 and Dalton was 6-8 for 99 yards and a touchdown  after the first two drives of the game on third down. Furthermore, the Eagles didn’t help matters as NRC picked up an obvious PI call. 

10. Penalties were killer— Much like last week, penalties were an absolute killer for the Eagles. The Eagles finished the game with 12 penalties for 115 yards. That tells me this team isn’t being coached very well and they are also not very disciplined. The Eagles OL was called for 6 penalties. Five of those 6 penalties were false starts by Seumalo and Pryor. I can understand one false start in a hostile environment, but there were not many fans in attendance and next to no crowd noise. There’s literally no excuse for pryor and Seumalo having multiple false start penalties. The defense was worse as they were called for 6 penalties for 80 yards.  This has been an issue for much of the Eagles 2020 season. Over the last two weeks, the Eagles have been called for 21 penalties that have accumulated for 184 yards. Through 15 games this season, the Eagles have been called for 6 or more penalties in a game 7 times. They are averaging 6 penalties per game and just under 50 yards in penalties per game. It is hard to win in this league when the roster isn’t overwhelmingly great and it is even harder when you put yourself in a bind on offense with bad penalties and defensively give up big chunks of yards or first downs due to stupid miscues. 

11. BOOOOOOOO Matt Pryor— I laughed a couple weeks ago when people tried to tell me Hurts was playing behind the same offensive line as Wentz when he had Herbig and Driscoll out there against the Saints. No Matt Pryor is arguably the worst Eagles offensive lineman to have played this year outside of Jamon Brown. He continues to be horrific week in and week out. In this game he committed 4 penalties. Three of the penalties were false starts. The other penalty was a holding penalty that wiped out a nice Sanders run.  Literally he basically sucked the life out of the Eagles every time they seemed to gain some momentum and juice. The penalties are enough to make you pull out your hair, but his performance when he isn’t committing penalties is just mind-blowingly bad. A missed block here and poor blocking attempt at the snap basically doomed a lot of the Eagles plays from the very start. It is pretty amazing he was competent last year in the playoff game after Brooks got hurt in the Giants game. He has fallen so far since the playoff game last January. I wouldn’t even play him next game. I seen enough to say he isn’t even worthy of being a backup on this team. From the penalties to his performance, just go with Prince and let him get some experience first hand. I do not think he could be any worse right now then what you are getting out of Matt Pryor. To his credit, I did find it humorous that all the officials threw flags and concurred that he was the one who committed the penalty. Heck most of the game if there was a penalty on offense I just assume it was Pryor being Pryor. 

12. Reagor’s disappointing rookie year— With each passing week it is beginning to be harder and harder to believe that Reagor will be good enough in this league to be more than just a complimentary piece. I get the Qb play with Wentz and even this game with Hurts has not helped him. However they’re other rookies whoare being far more productive with their reps with bad QBs. I would argue Aiyuk has had better coaching but far worse Qb play for much of the year, but he is thriving in SF. Meanwhile, I see Reagor just not making the plays you need him to make or really showing much improvement as the season has progressed. It feels like he is still not running great routes to the point of where coaches are yelling at him on the sideline. He is given opportunities to make plays and yet he just hasn’t been able to capitalize. I feel like every week we here this is going to be the big break out game for Reagor. Yet every week passes and I feel as underwhelmed as I did the previous week. In this game, the Eagles finally called a screen-type of play up for him. The Eagles actually had very good blocking for him. Also had some really good set up blocks in front of him. The play had a chance to go for a much bigger play then he finished it with. Unfortunately, Reagor wiggled his way right into a defender and the play went for a minimal gain. That felt like the microcosm of the season for Reagor. Even when he has something that could go well it manages to fizzle out. Do not get me wrong, Reagor could have had a touchdown if Hurts throws a better pass in the end zone down the field, but really this season feels like a giant bust of a season for Reagor. He has been injured much of the year. When he has played he has not made as much of an impact as the Eagles likely were hoping for. Add on things he was supposed to excel at like being a deep threat and killing teams in space he has basically been underwhelming. I still have hope he can turn into a nice NFL wr, but at this point I kind of feel like he is never going to be Justin Jefferson and I would be surprised if he ever reaches what Brandon Aiyuk becomes in this league. Watching Lamb explode on the Eagles today reminds you not did the Eagles pass on Jefferson, but they also missed out on a heck of a player in Lamb because they may not have wanted to give up the necessary picks to move up to leapfrog Dallas. 

13. Red zone offense— If you want to find another area where the Eagles regressed from the previous two Hurts starts then look no further than their performance in the red zone. In Hurts’ first two starts, the Eagles red zone offense had been very good as they had scored touchdown on 5-of-7 trips. Dallas was able to really halt the Eagles red zone performance. Things started out great for the Eagles as on the opening drive they were able to capitalize on 3^rd and goal form the 4 with Sanders rushing into the end zone. However, the next two trips inside the red zone resulted in an Elliott field goal and an interception by Jalen Hurts. On the afternoon, the Eagles were 1-3 inside the red zone. If the Eagles were able to convert the interception into a touchdown this game might have gone differently. Instead the Eagles find themselves eliminated from the playoffs. Since Hurts has taken over at QB for the Eagles, the Eagles offense is 6-10 inside the red zone. 

14. Story of the Eagles defense the last 3 years… not creating Turnovers—I had some hopes that last week’s outburst of turnovers created by the defense would carry over to the Dallas game. Even though the defense was going to give up yards that maybe they could force 2-3 turnovers and that would be enough to change the tide of the game. However, the Eagles once again reverted back to a team that just cannot create enough turnovers. So far this season, the Eagles have managed to create 2+ turnovers in a game against Daniel Jones, Dinucci, Mullens, Taysom Hill and Kyler Murray. Only one of those QBs do I consider the upper tier Qbs in the NFL. I do not think Andy Dalton is an upper tier starting Qb in this league, but I do think he can be a competent NFL starter if you give him weapons and production. After the first two drives of the game, I didn’t think the Eagles made Dalton feel uncomfortable and allowed him to get into a rhythm. This is now the 10^th game where the Eagles have had 1 turnover or less. The Eagles are 0-9-1 in those games. This is another reason why I feel that maybe it is time to find a defensive coordinator that creates more confusion that may help generate turnovers. Imo in the nfl you can win with an average defense that gives up yards if you are able to consistently create turnovers. 

15. Run defense gets gashed—I thought for most of the 2020 season that Ezekiel Elliott looked washed and not very spry like he has over his first couple of years in the league. Frankly I thought Pollard was the better back for most of the year and there was a chance he could supplant Elliott next year. In this game, Elliott looked anything but done as he rumbled for 105 yards on 19 carries for a 5.5 yards per carry. Once Elliott was able to get some yards, it was basically a death blow to the Eagles. That allowed for some play action passing and put the Eagles defense on their toes. If you are allowing a struggling Elliott to get over 100 yards then you are going to have trouble stopping this offense and winning this game. Overall Dallas rushed for 151 yards on 34 carries (4.4 yards per carry) and a touchdown. On the season, the Eagles have allowd 11 of their 15 opponents to rush for over 100 yards. More disturbing is that the Eagles have allowed 9 of their opponents to rush for 135 yards or more in a game. On average, the Eagles are giving up 128 yards rushing per game and giving up 4.2 yards per carry.  

16. Eagles wins vs. lousy QBs— The Eagles have four wins this year and they haven’t exactly come against great QBs. In the Eagles four wins, they have managed to defeat Mullens, Dinucci, Daniel Jones and Taysom Hill. Only one of those quarterbacks is a full time starter at the position and imo he is a bottom 10 of the league in terms of starting QBs. That has to change. I would argue it has been a problem for much of the last two seasons. Going back to 2019, the Eagles managed to beat Daniel Jones twice, Dwayne Haskins twice, Dak (bum shoulder), Aaron Rodgers, Josh Allen, Trubisky and Fulk. While it looks great to beat Dak, Rodgers and Allen I do not think Allen is close to the player he is this year as he was in 2019. He has come a long way. And the other win comes against Dak who was dealing with a bruised shoulder. Nevertheless, 3 wins against upper half of the league QBs out of 32 games is not good enough. If you are going to be one of the best teams in the NFL then you cannot just have 3 wins against the better QBs in this league. 

17. No December to remember—I have formed a habit of saying the Eagles will coast for the first 3 months of the season and then in December somehow have a light bulb moment and things will turn around for them. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be for the third straight December. I remember when Doug said the SB was going to be the new norm, but really the Eagles struggling through the first 3 months of the season to turn it around had become the new norm. In 2018, they started off 4-6 and managed to win 5 of their last 6 in Decemeber to make the playoffs. In 2019, the Eagles were 5-7 after an embarrassing Dolphins loss and an atrocious first half against the Giants. Then Doug and the Eagles offense figured out their personnel along with Wentz carrying the offense to 4 straight wins and a divisional crown. This year it was too much to overcome. I think the writing was on the wall that last year down the stretch was fools gold. I also thought 2018 they were fortunate enough to get the right bounces down the stretch and against the Bears. Reality is this team has been slightly above average the last two years and a major regression was going to hit as players begin to exit their prime and the roster construction and drafting has really hurt the Eagles. 

18. 2021 and beyond—I really do not know how the Eagles get this thing back on the right track going forward. I know the plan is hit on your draft picks, make some tough decisions on aging veterans who meant the world to this organization and try to shed as much cap as possible going forward. However, I think this team needs a complete overhaul. They’re way too many older players on this team and not enough draft picks to make this team have a gigantic turnaround in 2021 unless Hurts or Wentz can play at the level Wentz did in 2017 or down the stretch of 2019. I am not sure what Lurie is going to do. The Eagles are in a huge bind with their salary cap due to the pandemic. They are missing a high fourth round pick from the draft capital, but have some extra 5^th and comp picks coming their way. I wouldn’t be surprised if Doug is gone after this season. I think a good portion of the problems with this Eagles offense is because Doug has had issues adjusting to how teams adjust to him (majorly in the second of games with Hurts). I also think it takes Doug way too long to figure out who to scheme and utilize the strengths to his personnel he is given. It always feels like it takes us months to figure things out and he is stubborn with calling plays that just don’t work with the personnel he has at his disposal. To me when your offense has struggled for the large majority of the 5 seasons you have been here and the only sustainable success on offense was 2017 then 2017 is likely more of an outlier then the norm. Maybe Doug is able to turn it around next year if he comes back, but if he is back and it is more of the same then maybe we should be grateful we got that outlier of 2017 and struck lightning in a bottle. I assume Howie is going to be back in charge. As painful as that sounds, I am not so sure you could ask a new GM to come in here with the cap they have going on heading into the offseason and ask him to field a contending team. I actually think Lurie likely allows Howie this offseason to try and correct himself, but I do not think it is a lock he is back for 2022 if next year winds up being worse than 2020. Lastly, I would move on from Schwartz not because he is a bad coach, but I think this trend of lack of turnovers is catching up to the Eagles. I think you need a coach with a scheme that is going to be more exotic and allow for more plays to be created. Yes the Eagles need more and better playmakers on defense (as well as offense), but I think scheme would also help create some more turnovers. I hate saying this, but it might take the Eagles a couple more down years to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am hoping a strong 2021 draft class and Wentz/Hurts playing like a franchise QB makes it quicker, but really I think 2022 might be the year you see the Eagles on the upswing again.

[Jeep_man]

32 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

 

4. Draft pick gets better—If you had no interest in winning the NFC east and making the playoffs then you like the fact the Eagles moved up in the pecking order in the NFL draft. They are currently sitting on a top 5 pick and potentially could move up into the top 3 if some things go their way next week. I am not sure what position the Eagles go after. I think they’re some teams ahead of them (Jets and Miami) who could use a WR so Chase might not make it to where the Eagles are picking. 

 

The most important part of your post.... We have to lose next game at all cost because;

1) We are now back on the JaMar Chase trail &

2) it KO's Jerruh Jones and his REF bribing a** team..

[NCTANK]

F 2020

[LacesOut]

It just felt like a bad mix of players AND coaches the whole season. Putrid football year.

Great job on the game write ups. Many thanks. 

[time2rock]

Not trying to be nitpicky ... just pointing out a minor error.  We currently have pick 6.  

http://www.tankathon.com/nfl/full_draft

I don't think we are likely to move up any further either.  We could only potentially jump Houston, Atlanta, and Cincinnati who all have 4 wins as well.  They play Tennessee, TB, and Baltimore (respectively).  

Anyway, bring on Chase!  

[brkmsn]

32 minutes ago, time2rock said:

Anyway, bring on Chase!  

If if Chase was on our team yesterday, I'm not sure I see a different outcome. If someone like Surtain really isn't worthy of where we pick, we can trade down a couple slots, get another pick in the process and still address our biggest need. We can't afford to fix CB in free agency and if our CB2 doesn't change, no matter what WR we have, he will get outperformed on the field by whoever CB2 covers each week. Every time things got ugly this year, we had Mills to turn to --- he may not even be back next year. Any injury to Slay and our CB2 becomes CB1 ...

I mean ... some of you need to check your man crush and consider instead our biggest need. 

[GeorgeM37]

Awesome write up as usual and so I guess we see you again next year. You summed it up perfectly. The Eagles have looked putrid all year and just flat out embarrassing.

You simply HAVE to beat dallas! It looked like they came to play and the eagles was just some hs football team. 

I don't care what anyone says, DP is not a competent coach. You have Desean make a hell of a play and then he disappears. You have Sanders who always averages over 5 yards per rush and you go completely away from him. You ask your rookie QB to carry the load with that horrible OLine and meh receivers and dallas just blows you out.

I was never ready to just hand over the keys to Hurts but the team and dp was a very sorry supporting cast. I blame it more on Doug for not adjusting to ANYTHING....I will say it again: he is more stubborn than AR in his last few frustrating years here. We saw what the rookie is capable of but of course he is not there yet. But I got high hopes for the kid....I think he will be fine in this league. 

Schwartz simply must go. You will not compete always playing 10-15 yards off the receivers and I know of no other dc who even schemes that way. I AM biased against gym shorts and really do hate him but he must go. 

Howie created this entire mess trying to be the smartest in the room. Look how smart he is these past few years. 

[EazyEaglez]

5 hours ago, Jeep_man said:

The most important part of your post.... We have to lose next game at all cost because;

1) We are now back on the JaMar Chase trail &

2) it KO's Jerruh Jones and his REF bribing a** team..

I kind of feel like it will be difficult to get the ball to this kid when the quarterbacks keep getting hit and sacked. Also our defense is so bad they legit need help too. 

[Utebird]

@e-a-g-l-e-s eagles!

 

This  season much like 2020 has been a dumpster fire.

I enjoy your write ups, would still enjoy one for last game even if it's a meaningless game as I've felt most eagles games this year have been meaningless☹️

Good write up!

[Green_Guinness]

Wow, 26 Bads/Uglies to just 8 Goods/On The Fence.  That tells the story of this team, doesn't it?

Thanks for doing this again this season.  It was greatly appreciated and hopefully next season your write ups will have more Good than Bad/Ugly.

 

[EazyEaglez]

The Eagles roster they trotted out yesterday has about five guys who could start on most NFL teams. Seems like for the past four years the Eagles best players are sitting on the sidelines with injuries. 13 different line combinations. Most of the free agent signings are underwhelming. Most of the draftpicks do not contribute. Hardly any of them become top level talent. On top of all this no relief is in sight due to the Cap being where it is over the next two seasons, and the guy selecting the bad players will never be let go by the owner. I don’t care who the coaches are they will not overcome the lack of talent given to them by this GM. Howie has completely bungled this situation and has ruined the whole team. Somehow he keeps getting ignored as the main culprit for all of this mess. Bring in a new coach, new quarterback, and new coordinators, but expect the same results. 

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

1 hour ago, time2rock said:

Not trying to be nitpicky ... just pointing out a minor error.  We currently have pick 6.  

http://www.tankathon.com/nfl/full_draft

I don't think we are likely to move up any further either.  We could only potentially jump Houston, Atlanta, and Cincinnati who all have 4 wins as well.  They play Tennessee, TB, and Baltimore (respectively).  

Anyway, bring on Chase!  

Reason why i said 5 currently is because the bengals and eagles currently are tied in strength of schedule. If that holds true it comes down to a coin toss 

 

[Wentz 2 Ertz]

It's tough to predict trajectory.  The two most important parts of the team (Oline and Dline) are top tier when healthy.  You have to assume either Wentz or Hurts will be at least average next year, which leaves us with the WR and DB positions as the two biggest holes.

The CB position should have been helped with MULTIPLE 1st rounders since Asante Samuel left yet here we are having only used a 2nd round pick on Sidney Jones coming off of an achilles tear along with multiple mid to late round picks on corners who don't have it.  The Eagles got torched last night due to their own doing.  CB2 opposite of Slay has to be the top priority along with SLOT CB (LeBlanc can compete with the new guy for the position).

 

Now for the WRs - A complete overhaul is needed.  Start from zero.

Greg Ward: Used to be a big Ward fan.  Decent slot WR but definitely just another guy who can be upgraded.  We need a Tyler Lockett kind of talent at this position.

Alshon Jeffrey: His size will always make him a threat, but his lack of speed will always limit the explosiveness of the offense.  Howie was obsessed with having size at the WR position for some reason, even though last years two Super Bowl teams didn't have nor need it.  Goedert is your big target, you don't need a big target at WR.  Alshon needs to be replaced for a Robert Woods kind of player.

Jalen Reagor: Disappointing season, however he's caught the ball at least when thrown to and has gotten open multiple times just for the QB's to miss him.  He needs to be a part of the plan next year.

DeSean Jackson: Elite talent, way too injury prone.  When you keep him on a pitch count yet he still hurts his hamstring he's just too old.  Would love to keep him for cheap but that won't happen.  

Travis Fulgham: Has trouble catching the ball, seems like he's always bobbling and rarely making a clean grab outside of the Steelers game.  You have to keep him around but assume he's a backup.  

John Hightower: Too one dimensional definitely not a starter.

Quez Watkins: Too one dimensional.  Probably not starter material.

 

So basically from this list the only starter we should keep around is Reagor......

 

[Utebird]

19 minutes ago, Wentz 2 Ertz said:

It's tough to predict trajectory.  The two most important parts of the team (Oline and Dline) are top tier when healthy.  You have to assume either Wentz or Hurts will be at least average next year, which leaves us with the WR and DB positions as the two biggest holes.

The CB position should have been helped with MULTIPLE 1st rounders since Asante Samuel left yet here we are having only used a 2nd round pick on Sidney Jones coming off of an achilles tear along with multiple mid to late round picks on corners who don't have it.  The Eagles got torched last night due to their own doing.  CB2 opposite of Slay has to be the top priority along with SLOT CB (LeBlanc can compete with the new guy for the position)

 

So basically from this list the only starter we should keep around is Reagor......

 

Eric Rowe was drafted in the he 2nd Round by Chip Kelly.

As for WR I I don't think the eagles need to spend a ton of draft capital in WR.

It's great having good WRs and the jefferson reagor conversation creates a lot of anger yet for all that jefferson has done this year for the first time all year he an reagor will have comparable stats  in the playoffs, zero catches zero yards zero tds.

Going forward I hope howie doesn't figure someway to keep desean, I love desean but the dude can't stay healthy, jeffrey is obviously gone, JJaw can't be gone he was never here.

Ward is a good backup 4th 5th receiver, if he's leading your team in receptions you'll probably be 4-9-1 ☹️

I think reagor watkins hightower fulgham can benefit immensely from a proper off season and reps with a qb who ever that is.

I get there's a lot of chatter for a WR like Chase but how far does he actually move the needle? 

Juedy didn't put the broncos over the top, Ruggs hasn't don't jack for the raiders, Lamb has been good and what's it got the cowboys other than a crappy defense?

The OP mentions Aijuk in SF he had one catch last game and has been up and down and hurt off and on much like reagors season.

Shenault for Jags has been meh?

Point being one can't just continue to use high draft capital on WR year after year and expect the team to all the sudden be contenders

Reid made the playoffs with Small and Johnson at WR and NFCCG with thrash and Pinkston.

One doesn't need Elite Receivers at each spot, would it help? Sure but lots of teams have really good receivers and those really good Receivers will be sitting on their couches come January watching really good teams.

 

 

 

[time2rock]

1 hour ago, brkmsn said:

If if Chase was on our team yesterday, I'm not sure I see a different outcome. If someone like Surtain really isn't worthy of where we pick, we can trade down a couple slots, get another pick in the process and still address our biggest need. We can't afford to fix CB in free agency and if our CB2 doesn't change, no matter what WR we have, he will get outperformed on the field by whoever CB2 covers each week. Every time things got ugly this year, we had Mills to turn to --- he may not even be back next year. Any injury to Slay and our CB2 becomes CB1 ...

I mean ... some of you need to check your man crush and consider instead our biggest need. 

If Chase is available and is considered BPA by a fairly wide margin, I'm taking Chase.  WR is still a major need.  

[time2rock]

51 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

Reason why i said 5 currently is because the bengals and eagles currently are tied in strength of schedule. If that holds true it comes down to a coin toss 

 

Aaaaah, thanks for the clarification/correction.

[toolg]

55 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

Reason why i said 5 currently is because the bengals and eagles currently are tied in strength of schedule. If that holds true it comes down to a coin toss 

 

Actually, this is all wrong. The rules changed.

The Bengals and Eagles are not tied by SOS, the Eagles SOS is tougher by 1 game. So the Bengals are ahead in draft order. It would flip if the Saints and Packers lose and the Chargers and Dolphins win. If SOS ends up tied, head-to-head is tied, then the Bengals lose common games tiebreaker, so they will pick ahead of the Eagles in Round 1. Then the Eagles-Bengals would alternate spots in subsequent rounds (Eagles pick ahead of Bengals in Round 2, Bengals ahead of Eagles in Round 3, etc.)

[hoosierdaddy]

great summary as always -- these articles are infinitely better than anything any of the Philly beat reporters put out each week

[time2rock]

Interesting change to the tie-breaking procedure.  Thanks for pointing that out.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/03/27/new-rule-will-make-draft-order-coin-flips-a-thing-of-the-past/

 

[Utebird]

2 hours ago, brkmsn said:

If if Chase was on our team yesterday, I'm not sure I see a different outcome. If someone like Surtain really isn't worthy of where we pick, we can trade down a couple slots, get another pick in the process and still address our biggest need. We can't afford to fix CB in free agency and if our CB2 doesn't change, no matter what WR we have, he will get outperformed on the field by whoever CB2 covers each week. Every time things got ugly this year, we had Mills to turn to --- he may not even be back next year. Any injury to Slay and our CB2 becomes CB1 ...

I mean ... some of you need to check your man crush and consider instead our biggest need. 

Yup, id rather get a WR in the 2nd round or later

Claypool, Higgins both went in 2nd round.

Heck Desean was a 2nd Rounder.

Year before Terry mclaurin went in the 3rd Slayton in the 5th.

WRs can be found later but like you say doesn't matter if you draft WR 1st 2nd 3rd Rd if one cant block and throw to them who cares, if they catch 100 balls a game and one still loses because your 2 corner gave up 10 tds and you lose who cares how good the WRs are?

[toolg]

Good was the 14-3 Eagles lead in the first quarter. The Eagles controlled the game on offense, using a good balance of runs, throws, and Hurts scrambles. The defense got the Cowboys off the field. Bad and ugly was everything that transpired after. The Cowboys figured out Jacquet couldn't cover their guys man-to-man and took advantage. Schwartz didn't adjust until it was too late, moving Mills into man-to-man, still refusing to play zone or drop extra guys into coverage help. The Eagles offense was toast when they got behind 2 scored and went into catch-up mode. The late fumble by Hurts was an awful call, his knees were down before the ball came out, but the Cowboys always get the benefit of the homer refs. I turned the game off disgusted at this point. The Eagles were in desperation-mode anyway. It's about time this Eagles team was eliminated from contention.

[hoosierdaddy]

17 minutes ago, Utebird said:

Yup, id rather get a WR in the 2nd round or later

Claypool, Higgins both went in 2nd round.

Heck Desean was a 2nd Rounder.

Year before Terry mclaurin went in the 3rd Slayton in the 5th.

WRs can be found later but like you say doesn't matter if you draft WR 1st 2nd 3rd Rd if one cant block and throw to them who cares, if they catch 100 balls a game and one still loses because your 2 corner gave up 10 tds and you lose who cares how good the WRs are?

Agree -- if we have a top five pick we need to use it on a lineman. Offense or defense? I don't care...just get some young elite linemen on this team for a change. We can only rely on Cox, Graham, Lane, Brooks and Kelce for so much longer.

[Wentz 2 Ertz]

1 hour ago, Utebird said:

Eric Rowe was drafted in the he 2nd Round by Chip Kelly.

As for WR I I don't think the eagles need to spend a ton of draft capital in WR.

It's great having good WRs and the jefferson reagor conversation creates a lot of anger yet for all that jefferson has done this year for the first time all year he an reagor will have comparable stats  in the playoffs, zero catches zero yards zero tds.

Going forward I hope howie doesn't figure someway to keep desean, I love desean but the dude can't stay healthy, jeffrey is obviously gone, JJaw can't be gone he was never here.

Ward is a good backup 4th 5th receiver, if he's leading your team in receptions you'll probably be 4-9-1 ☹️

I think reagor watkins hightower fulgham can benefit immensely from a proper off season and reps with a qb who ever that is.

I get there's a lot of chatter for a WR like Chase but how far does he actually move the needle? 

Juedy didn't put the broncos over the top, Ruggs hasn't don't jack for the raiders, Lamb has been good and what's it got the cowboys other than a crappy defense?

The OP mentions Aijuk in SF he had one catch last game and has been up and down and hurt off and on much like reagors season.

Shenault for Jags has been meh?

Point being one can't just continue to use high draft capital on WR year after year and expect the team to all the sudden be contenders

Reid made the playoffs with Small and Johnson at WR and NFCCG with thrash and Pinkston.

One doesn't need Elite Receivers at each spot, would it help? Sure but lots of teams have really good receivers and those really good Receivers will be sitting on their couches come January watching really good teams.

 

 

 

Funny, I totally forgot about JJAW.  Shows how far he's fallen. 

Regarding drafting WRs, Gallup and Lamb just showed how good WRs can make an offense explosive.  We need good WRs period.  I agree you don't need a bonafide super star at the position but you at least need competence.  We could win games with a healthy Alshon and DJax but clearly that plan hasn't worked and now they are both older and slower. 

[Outlaw]

3 hours ago, brkmsn said:

If if Chase was on our team yesterday, I'm not sure I see a different outcome. If someone like Surtain really isn't worthy of where we pick, we can trade down a couple slots, get another pick in the process and still address our biggest need. We can't afford to fix CB in free agency and if our CB2 doesn't change, no matter what WR we have, he will get outperformed on the field by whoever CB2 covers each week. Every time things got ugly this year, we had Mills to turn to --- he may not even be back next year. Any injury to Slay and our CB2 becomes CB1 ...

I mean ... some of you need to check your man crush and consider instead our biggest need. 

I agree.  You aren't going to fill all the holes we have in one offseason.  I want a CB tandem in this draft...and I mean a Lito/Sheldon combo, not Sydney/Rasul.  If we stay at 6, and a Fields or Wilson are on the board and someone wants to move up a little for the QB, then you trade down and grab a Surtain or a Farley in R1.  Then hopefully grab a Horn or Adebo as well.  I think secondary is our biggest glaring hole going into the 2021 offseason.  Other spots can at least say, "well if so and so are back healthy" (ie Brooks, Lane, Barnett, etc.) they'll be ok.  There IS no plan at CB.  We need two top picks to play CB 2/3 next year and learn from Slay to prepare for his inevitable jettisoning after next year.

I think an ideal realistic Eagles mock nets us: 2 CB, 1 S, 1-2 OL, 1-2 DL, 1 WR, 1 RB, 1 LB.  Get me a Farley or Surtain with a Horn or Adebo!

2 hours ago, Wentz 2 Ertz said:

It's tough to predict trajectory.  The two most important parts of the team (Oline and Dline) are top tier when healthy.  You have to assume either Wentz or Hurts will be at least average next year, which leaves us with the WR and DB positions as the two biggest holes.

The CB position should have been helped with MULTIPLE 1st rounders since Asante Samuel left yet here we are having only used a 2nd round pick on Sidney Jones coming off of an achilles tear along with multiple mid to late round picks on corners who don't have it.  The Eagles got torched last night due to their own doing.  CB2 opposite of Slay has to be the top priority along with SLOT CB (LeBlanc can compete with the new guy for the position).

 

Now for the WRs - A complete overhaul is needed.  Start from zero.

Greg Ward: Used to be a big Ward fan.  Decent slot WR but definitely just another guy who can be upgraded.  We need a Tyler Lockett kind of talent at this position.

Alshon Jeffrey: His size will always make him a threat, but his lack of speed will always limit the explosiveness of the offense.  Howie was obsessed with having size at the WR position for some reason, even though last years two Super Bowl teams didn't have nor need it.  Goedert is your big target, you don't need a big target at WR.  Alshon needs to be replaced for a Robert Woods kind of player.

Jalen Reagor: Disappointing season, however he's caught the ball at least when thrown to and has gotten open multiple times just for the QB's to miss him.  He needs to be a part of the plan next year.

DeSean Jackson: Elite talent, way too injury prone.  When you keep him on a pitch count yet he still hurts his hamstring he's just too old.  Would love to keep him for cheap but that won't happen.  

Travis Fulgham: Has trouble catching the ball, seems like he's always bobbling and rarely making a clean grab outside of the Steelers game.  You have to keep him around but assume he's a backup.  

John Hightower: Too one dimensional definitely not a starter.

Quez Watkins: Too one dimensional.  Probably not starter material.

 

So basically from this list the only starter we should keep around is Reagor......

 

I think Watkins has more potential than Hightower.  The only WR guaranteed a roster spot next year is Jalen Reagor.  EVERYONE else's jobs should be on the line.

[Road to Victory]

A few things stuck out to me: 

1. Doug doesn’t exploit opponent’s weaknesses like teams do to us. Dallas identified a weakness and went right after him all game. Dallas has a terrible run defense and their CB’s are suspect. The running game was working but Doug got away from that. It also keeps the Dallas offense off the field. They were 2-2 on deep plays (DJax TD & Jeffery Pi). We should’ve been going deep all game. Even if it doesn’t work Dallas has to respect DJax’s speed which will open up other plays. It’s not rocket science. 

2. Mediocre QB’s own us. I liked your point about the QB’s we’ve beaten but look at the QB’s who always beat us. Mediocre guys like Kirk Cousins, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Andy Dalton always do well against us. Why is that? 

3. Schwartz’s failure to make changes. Jacquet was getting schooled by Gallup. Why not either give him some safety help or get him out of the game. The guy doesn’t belong in the starting lineup on any NFL team, let alone a team battling for a playoff spot.