Section 215
Fansided

Eagles Armchair: No Time To Celebrate

By Tucker Bagley

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

WALK THROUGH

Well, that wasn’t supposed to happen, was it?

After getting destroyed on back-to-back occasions by two sub-par teams, the Eagles were not supposed to go to Foxborough where Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots are virtually unbeatable and hand them their second straight loss, 35-28.

The Eagles fell behind 14-0 in the second quarter, but instead of quitting on national television like they did on Thanksgiving, the Eagles fought. They fought for their playoff chances, their roster spots and their coach’s job.

“Coach [Chip Kelly] said that we needed to take the fight to them and come out and set a tone,” said wide receiver Jordan Matthews. “When we came out we were moving the ball, we had a couple penalties, and they got up on us. In the locker room there was still that feeling that we could go out there and get them, but that we needed to stay together. Then we had some big plays. We never took our feet off the gas and we kept going at them.”

Najee Goode returned a blocked punt during the closing seconds of the first half to tie the game at 14. Then to open the second half, Malcolm Jenkins returned an interception for 99 yards and six points and Darren Sproles picked up his second punt return touchdown of the season. Matthews scored a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to cap off a 35-0 run that put the Eagles ahead for good.

But on a day filled with renewed hope and jubilation, it is worth reminding people, the Eagles are still a 5-7 football team. One win over a Patriots team that was missing its defensive leader and its top three offensive playmakers does not change that. And after a season filled with inconsistency, it is nearly impossible to draw any conclusions from just one victory.

After the game, Kelly acknowledged the importance of the win, but he knows the team can be humbled real quick if they dwell on their success.

“You’ve got a first-ballot Hall of Fame coach and a first-ballot Hall of Fame quarterback and maybe the best quarterback to ever play in this game, so you’re aware of that,” Kelly explained. “His record here is off the charts. It’s like 100 to three losses or something. I’m not even exaggerating. I think it’s something like that. It’s unbelievable. It’s in the 90 percent, so we’re aware of that. I guess we always have the mindset – we won. If you spend too much time patting yourself on the back — we’re going to play a really good Buffalo team here – I think they won today – so there’s always the next challenge and the next step.”

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As it stands, the Eagles are one Washington Redskin loss away from being dead-locked in a three-way tie for first-place in the NFC East. But what team will show up down the stretch? The one that dominated all three phases yesterday or the one that didn’t belong on an NFL field two weeks ago?

Hopefully it’s the former, but don’t be surprised if it’s the latter. The Eagles offense only managed 14 points and were out-gained 427 to 248. No team can count on three return touchdowns every week, so it is hard to count on performances like this resulting in consistent wins.

But the fact is, the Eagles won ugly in a historically hostile environment and that is something to be proud of. Hopefully that pride and their brimming confidence can push this team over the hump.

Or else, we’ll be back here, discussing rebuilding strategies.

INJURY REPORT

Did Not Play: Ryan Mathews (concussion), Cedric Thornton (ankle)

Fletcher Cox – Good news on this front, considering Cox was the only injury of the game for the Eagles. Cox seemingly got hit in the head by a Patriots offensive lineman and headed back to the locker room to undergo concussion testing. However, he was back on the field shortly and played without any limitations.

MEASURABLES

94 – The Patriots had won 94 straight games when leading by eight or more points at home heading into yesterday. The Eagles fell behind 14-0 before scoring 35 unanswered points to put the game out of reach. There are a lot of startling numbers that go along with the Eagles win yesterday, but this may be the craziest. The Patriots just don’t lose at home and it has been 15 years since they blew a lead like the one they held early in the game yesterday. Give a lot of credit to the Eagles for not quitting after getting down early.

23 – It has been 23 home starts for Brady since he threw multiple interceptions in a home loss. In a 41-34 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in 2012, Brady threw 65 passes, completing 36 of them for 443 yards as the Pats fell just short of overcoming a 21-point, fourth quarter deficit.

30 – It has been 30 years since the Patriots have allowed three touchdowns of the return variety, the only other time in their history came in 1985 when the Los Angeles Raiders returned a pair of Tony Eason interceptions and a fumble for a touchdown en route to a 35-20 victory. All week I obsessed over the Pats turnover numbers because it is astonishing how well they take care of the ball, but like every other number has shown, yesterday was a complete anomaly in the Belichick era.

SECTION 140

As Peters has struggled with his health the past few weeks, it became assumed that he may be let go at the end of the season due to his unreliable health. You can’t have a guy practice with the first team all week then hang out the rest of the unit to dry by leaving with an early injury. But there is no questioning Peters’ impact when he is healthy and on the field. Now it will be left to Kelly to figure out if his impact is worth his large salary in the off-season.

Yes, I understand Bradford did not exactly outplay Brady, but Allen Iverson stepping over Tyronn Lue in overtime of game one of the 2001 NBA Finals is my all-time favorite memory of my all-time favorite athlete, and I’m sure there are a lot of 20-somethings that feel the exact same way.

Apparently, the world’s biggest Patriots fan did not enjoy yesterday’s game as much as the entire Delaware Valley did. Oh well.

WEEKLY AWARDS

The Alex Smith Memorial Award For Superior Game Management – Sam Bradford

Bradford’s numbers yesterday won’t raise any eyebrows, but he did enough to win. He threw for just 120 yards on 24 attempts, but he also made good decisions with the football and did not turn the ball over. In the last seven games that Bradford has played all 60 minutes, the Eagles are 5-2. A lot of people were quick to write him off after his early-season struggles, but if Bradford continues to play like this, one has to wonder if Kelly will make a long-term commitment to the QB in the off-season.

The Redemption Award – Bill Davis

Credit Davis for taking all the heat the past two weeks and overcoming all of it to call a great game against a future Hall-of-Famer. Many people thought there was no way Davis could survive the poor defensive showings against Tampa Bay and Detroit, but he proved Kelly was right for having faith in him. Granted, the Patriots offense was really banged up, but holding Brady to just 28 points is a victory. Now, hopefully his unit can play with the same intensity they showed yesterday for the rest of the season.

NO HUDDLE

  • The running back rotation yesterday surprised a lot of people, myself included. DeMarco Murray had 24 yards on just 8 carries. Meanwhile Sproles and Kenjon Barner combined for 146 yards from scrimmage on 30 touches. Murray’s struggles to fit into Kelly’s scheme has been well-documented this year and after the game, the coach noted the Patriots linebacking personnel as the reason why he went with the smaller, shiftier backs for the majority of the game. It will be interesting to see how Kelly and running backs coach Duce Staley deploy the backs when Mathews gets back healthy, considering Murray has been the least-effective of the group. There is no way Murray is a healthy inactive, but if you had to pick the top-three running backs on the Eagles roster, he certainly wouldn’t be one of them.
  • Watching yesterday’s game really reminded me of Andy Reid. Despite all of Big Red’s shortcomings, he was a masterful game-planner and could out-scheme just about any coach if given time. Remember, Reid lost just two games during his time with the Eagles following a bye week: Super Bowl XXXIX and a regular season game in his last year. It was obvious Kelly saw something the Patriots punt-blocking scheme that he could exploit and he found favorable match ups for his running backs all game long. Maybe it’s because they’re the only two men to coach the Eagles since I was three-years-old, but I often find myself comparing Kelly and Reid. Yesterday was another good example.
  • Lost in all of the craziness was the good performances turned in by Byron Maxwell and Eric Rowe. Maxwell has been unfairly compared to Nnamdi Asomugha this year and its for one simple reason; he isn’t a play-making cornerback. Maxwell has been very solid in coverage and does not give up big plays. As a result, he often allows a few completions underneath, but because of his good coverage, QBs rarely throw the ball down the field against him, giving him few chances to make plays, so the only thing fans see Maxwell do is tackle a guy after allowing a nine-yard completion. Trust me, after a look at the tape, you’ll realize he’s been much better than people think. As for Rowe, he played much better than last week, probably because he wasn’t asked to cover Calvin Johnson, but Rowe competed on balls, recording a couple pass break-ups. Brady tested the rookie a few times on deep balls, hoping Rowe would get scared and commit a pass interference penalty, but the rookie stayed strong. Once again, solid showing by what should be the Eagles cornerback pairing moving forward.
  • The Eagles playing on Thanksgiving last week and at 4:30 this week has given me a chance to watch the other teams in the NFC East, and although I’m sure some fans would rather see the Eagles with a top-10 draft pick, they may be the best team in the division. Honestly, if Tom Coughlin knew how to manage late-game situations, the Giants would be 9-3, but instead they’re 5-7. The Redskins are 0-5 away from FedEx Field and the Cowboys have not won a game without Tony Romo, who is out for the remainder of the season. Despite the Eagles getting blown out and not looking like an NFL team for a stretch, this season may be best suited to compete in the playoffs, especially if their defense shows up like it did yesterday.

WHO’S NEXT

The Eagles will face off against Lesean McCoy and the Buffalo Bills at the Linc on Sunday at 1:00. The Eagles all-time leading rusher has rushed for over 100 yards in three of the last four weeks and the Bills are 2-2 in those contests.

Next: Five Big Picture Takeaways From Eagles' Win over Patriots

Sammy Watkins has become the team’s go-to receiver as of late and will provide good challenge to Rowe and Maxwell. Before yesterday, I didn’t think the Eagles had a shot to win this game either, but if Bradford can take care of the ball against Rex Ryan’s swarming defense and the Eagles can contain McCoy and Watkins, they should be able to beat a team that struggled to put away the Houston Texans this week.

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