The last time the Philadelphia Eagles won was Thanksgiving weekend when they beat the Buffalo Bills in overtime to get to 10-1. Christmas is Monday and the Eagles are 0-3 since turkey and cranberry sauce was all the rage.
In that stretch, they made a move at defensive coordinator, stripping Sean Desai of his play-calling and place on the sidelines, for Matt Patricia, and their quarterback, Jalen Hurts, openly questioned the commitment of the team.
Hurts did so after throwing two fourth-quarter interceptions in what turned into a 20-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night.
Here are 10 thoughts from the most recent defeat and this wretched stretch of football:
Turning point. It’s the 34-yard completion from quarterback Drew Lock to D.K. Metcalf on a 3rd and 10 that began at Seattle’s 37-yard line and kept alive the winning 92-yard Seahawks’ touchdown march.
Cornerback James Bradberry was in coverage and rookie safety Sydney Brown was late on the scene. It was a nice throw and catch and perhaps the Eagles’ defensive front gets some blame here, too, for not putting more pressure on Lock, but the connection kept Seattle’s hopes alive.
One play later, Lock hit rookie Jason Smith-Njigba for the game-winner, with Bradberry on coverage.
Predictable. That is Nick Sirianni’s offense. His refusal to involve other weapons outside of A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert is a problem. His stubbornness to use any form of motion is also.
Now, Sirianni has said the team went to the Super Bowl last year without using much motion, but, hey, defenses have adjusted. It’s time for him to adjust back.
It’s embarrassing when 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey goes on the ManningCast during the game and calls out exactly what the Eagles are going to run on one particular play.
Gauntlet. The six-game stretch of potholes in the schedule is over and the Eagles went 3-3, beating the Cowboys and Bills at home and the Chiefs on the road while losing to the 49ers at home and the Cowboys and Seahawks on the road. Had they not lost the last three in a row, perhaps there would be more optimism that this team can get back to the Super Bowl.
Coordinator decisions. Perhaps it wasn’t wise to hire a pair of inexperienced coordinators in the offseason. Desai had only one season as a defensive coordiantor and that was two years ago. Brian Johnson was the quarterback coach for two seasons before being promoted. The inexperience is showing on both sides of the ball.
While Desai paid the price, Johnson appears safe. Sirianni said the word “no” three times when asked if he was considering any other coaching shakeups this week.
Trend breaking. For the first time since Week 7, the Eagles held a lead at halftime. The last time that happened was against the Miami Dolphins when they led 17-10 at the break. Not that the lead on Monday night helped much.
Bradberry on Bradberry. It wasn’t a good game for the veteran cornerback. It hasn’t been a very good season overall for him, either. As usual, though, he was easy to find in the locker room to answer questions.
About the touchdown he allowed to Smith-Njigba: “I was just playing the sticks. We were in man (coverage).”
What could he have done differently? “Nothing really. He just ran past me because I was sitting at the sticks.”
On his overall play: “I have to play better. “We did pretty good (I as a defense in the game). I just didn’t play well.”
Kelce’s false start. The center had a bizarre false start penalty in the second quarter, where he did something with the ball to draw a flag on a third-and-1 at the 3, to put the Eagles in a 3rd and 6 at the eight-yard line that they didn’t convert on a running play to D’Andre Swift.
The Eagles had to settle for a field goal and a 10-0 lead rather than a likely touchdown and a 14-0 advantage.
“Obviously, the false start on me in the red zone hurt really bad,” Kelce said. “We were up at that point (7-0). I take that one really personally because it was stupid on my part. There are always a lot of points in the game that ultimately culminate in deciding the outcome. We had our opportunities and didn’t quite do enough.”
Kelce said he had been warned about doing that for the last few years.
“I think when you’re trying to get a forward lean, and I’ve had a tendency to do that in the past, so they definitely warned me before,” he said. “I think I’ve just got to be smarter, especially in that situation.”
Jalen Carter. The rookie defensive tackle followed up a game in which he scored his first NFL touchdown on a 42-yard fumble return against the Cowboys with a sack against the Seahawks. It was his fifth of the season which is the most by an Eagles rookie defensive lineman since Derek Barnett had five in his rookie season of 2017.
The most sacks by a rookie defensive tackle is Corey Simon, who had 9.5 in 2000. Fletcher Cox had 5.5 in his rookie season of 2012.
Swift and Gainwell. D’Andre Swift and Kenny Gainwell are “nice” running backs, but they aren’t good enough. The Eagles need more. It’s a shame Rashaad Penny was never given a chance.
Turnovers, what turnovers? The Eagles are good at giving up the ball. They have coughed it up 21 times, more than they did all of last year. Jalen Hurts has accounted for 17 of those turnovers with 12 interceptions and five lost fumbles.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if they were better at taking it away. They are -6 in turnover ratio.
