Section 215
Fansided

Eagles Armchair: Embarrassed With no Time to Dwell

By Tucker Bagley

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The most comprehensive weekly look at the Philadelphia Eagles on the internet. 

WALK THROUGH

On August 29th, the Philadelphia Eagles walked off of Lambeau Field feeling pretty good about themselves. After an offseason of upheaval, new quarterback Sam Bradford had just finished torching the Packers’ defense, completing all 10 of his passes, three of them for touchdowns. Chip Kelly was a genius, a new GM who played the market like an 11-year-old kid playing Madden, but had improved his team from a decent team, unable to compete with the class of the conference into a complete juggernaut.

My, how things have changed.

86 days later and the Eagles are reeling, Jameis Winston threw for five touchdowns and Doug Martin ran for 235 yards as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers embarrassed the Eagles at home, 45-17.

Bradford watched helplessly from the sideline with his arm in a sling as Mark Sanchez tossed three interceptions. Kelly looked dumbfounded as his roster full of his handpicked players got outclassed in every phase of the game.

But there’s good news. The Eagles have a chance to redeem themselves in just four days.

“I told those guys, ‘You better have a short memory,’ because we’ll be back tomorrow morning at eight o’clock,” Kelly said after the game. “We have a game. We have to train tomorrow on the field. We’re on the field tomorrow, which we’re normally not on the field on Monday.

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“So we all take ownership; we all take responsibility. Every single person in that room contributed to that loss and contributed to the outcome of that football game. [So I told the guys], ‘Go get some sleep, turn around and we’ll see you guys tomorrow morning at eight.”

There aren’t many positives to take out of yesterday’s game, but now the Eagles have a chance to go to Detroit and try to salvage some amount of respect.

“We can’t dwell,” Jason Peters explained. “If we dwell we will keep getting kicked in the teeth. We are getting ready for Detroit. They are kind of like us. Their backs are against the wall and they are trying to get some momentum going. It is going to be a dog fight between us and them. Anything we do from this point on needs to be positive.”

It is laughable that the team that we watched quit on the field yesterday is just one game out of a playoff spot, thanks to the ineptitude of the rest of their division, but that is where they are. Kelly needs to find his magic again and light a fire under his team if he wants to salvage what little opportunity the Eagles have left.

Because with what little fight the Eagles showed at the Linc yesterday, Kelly should be put on notice, that is his job is in jeopardy.

INJURY REPORT

Did Not Play: Sam Bradford, Ryan Mathews

Zach Ertz: Ertz left the game in the second quarter with a concussion after a scary play that left many thankful he was even able to walk off the field under his own power. Ertz tried to hurdle a defender after catching a short crossing route and got flipped over, landing on the back of his neck. With the Eagles scheduled to play in just four days, it seems highly unlikely Ertz will be ready to go.

Jason Peters: Peters never really got hurt, but he took himself out of the game once the outcome was decided. The left tackle said after the game it was his decision and he didn’t want to aggravate his ailing back. He should be good to go on Thursday, but his participation in practice should be monitored.

MEASURABLES

4.9 – Somehow the Eagles averaged 4.9 yards per carry against the second-best run defense in the NFL. Murray had another decent game, picking up 91 yards from scrimmage, but he has yet to put together a complete game where he looks like an elite running back. Those are nice numbers in a vacuum, but when Doug Martin runs wild to the tune of 235 yards, it is hard to praise a different running offense.

213 – In the past two weeks, Brent Celek has racked up 213 receiving yards. Not bad for a dude who was supposed to be supplanted by Ertz for the past two seasons. Death, taxes, and Brent Celek making an impact.

.357 – Since defeating the Cowboys on Thanksgiving last year, the Eagles have a winning percentage of just .357. They have won just five of those 14 games and have been outclassed in the majority of them. Kelly’s record of 10-6 in each of his first two seasons look good, but these losses are a disturbing trend and make you wonder if the mad scientist is losing his touch.

SECTION 140

Barwin was one of the few players on the Eagles defense who played hard for all 60 minutes. His effort is commendable and hopefully he let a few of his teammates know that what they put on that field in front of their home fans is completely unacceptable

Just four weeks ago, the Eagles defense was carrying this team, but in the past month, the unit has fallen off a cliff. Luckily, there is nowhere to go but up from here.

Same result, but under much different circumstances. When the Eagles got blown out by Green Bay and by Seattle a few weeks later last year, it was obvious that roster was unable to compete with the NFC heavyweights. One year later and it’s obvious the roster assembled by Kelly is unable to compete with any NFC team.

WEEKLY AWARDS

The Thrown Under The Bus Award – Bill Davis

To his credit, Davis owned up to his unit’s mistakes after the game, saying it was his fault they played so poorly. However, Kelly was a bit too quick to agree during his press conference, putting the lion’s share of the blame squarely on the defense and not on the offense that scored just 17 points. Both units were terrible, but to the head coach, his unit was “sporadic,” and the defense “wasn’t ready to play.” I’m not sure how many more ways Kelly can continue to deflect the blame before it comes back to bite him.

The Bradley Fletcher Memorial Award for the Best Impersonation of Burnt Toast – Nolan Carroll

How terrible was Nolan Carroll? He was targeted on Winston’s first three touchdown passes, then to add insult to injury, Carroll allowed Martin to run right through him 60 yards down field, before Barwin pushed him out of bounds just short of the goal line. Maybe it’s a bit insulting to Fletcher because he at least tried to tackle people, but after yesterday, nobody is still wondering how Carroll was unable to beat out Fletcher for a starting spot at any point last season.

NO HUDDLE

  • Late last night, Jeff McLane reported on an anonymous Eagle who had this to say about Murray: “Well, when you see DeMarco sliding before getting hit, you tell me. Was that giving full effort? You see that [stuff], and it makes you wonder.”

This report is just the first domino to fall. No successful team has ever had an unknown player rip into the effort of the team’s “star” running back. Last week I noted the Eagles lack a true leader in the locker room and this is an incident that can get out of hand very quickly if another player doesn’t step up and take control. It doesn’t matter who it is, but there needs to be someone on the roster that holds the other 52 men wearing midnight green accountable for the effort they put on the field, or else things are going to remain this ugly.

  • What is truly sad is that last year’s teams, warts and all, would have been true contenders in the NFC this year. The Packers have been ravaged by injuries and Aaron Rodgers looks like a human being. The Seahawks are an average team who can’t get around their porous offensive line. The Panthers are legit and the Cardinals are good, but there is no team that you can point to and say, “That team is going to run through the playoffs.” If Kelly held off on his tinkering, The Eagles may be in a prime position to contend and running away with the division, but instead they are struggling, and somehow just one game out of a playoff spot.
  • All of the Eagles issues could be forgotten, if it wasn’t for a gaping hole at the quarterback position. The Eagles are officially in quarterback purgatory and unless Kelly can resurrect the career of Colin Kaepernick or Robert Griffin III, they will be stuck there for a while. Since Nick Foles‘s dominant 2013 season, the team has not been in position to draft a QB and if you think for a second Sam Bradford was the guy Kelly truly wanted to build around you’re kidding yourself. Bradford was a step up from Foles in the coach’s eyes, but he got him, anticipating a trade for Marcus Mariota.

As of right now, Kelly is running short on time and I don’t know if Jeff Lurie is willing to give him three years to try to develop a young QB. If Foles played like Nick Foles in 2013 and not the second coming of Dan Marino, it would have been acceptable for Kelly to take Derek Carr or Teddy Bridgewater, two guys who are having far more success with their respective teams than the Eagles’ QBs. Instead, fans will have to put up with Kelly trying to coach-up unwanted, potentially washed up, quarterbacks.

  • Yes, the Philadelphia Eagles are just one game behind a team they beat by over 20 points for the division title, but if you think for a second they are true contenders, you’re kidding yourself. This team has so many issues on the field, they can’t look past the 2-8 Detroit Lions, let alone a potential home playoff game.

WHO’S NEXT

The Eagles will travel to the Motor City to take on the Detroit Lions at noon on Thanksgiving. It will be interesting to see how the team responds just four days after getting embarrassed by a less-than-stellar team on their home turf.

Next: Eagles Fall To Bucs: Offensive Grades

After yesterday’s performance, there are just too many questions to even consider giving the Eagles a win over a terrible Lions team. Who is going to cover Calvin Johnson? Will someone other than Jordan Matthews step up on offense? Can the front seven return to form?

These are tough orders on a normal week, but on a short week like this one, I don’t how you can change that much in such a short period of time.

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