Five Big-Picture Takeaways From Eagles Week 16 Loss vs Redskins
By Somers Price
For the second-straight year the Eagles postseason hopes were dashed courtesy of a week 16 loss to the Washington Redskins. Yet another roller coaster campaign under Chip Kelly will end without a playoff win and perhaps even more questions moving forward than ever before. The only reason the team was in the postseason conversation up to this point was as a result of the poor performance by the rest of the division. It turns out a pair of wins against the Patriots and Bills in weeks 13 and 14 only provided false hope for a team and coaching staff that was destined to fail since the beginning of the season.
Next: Eagles Lose to Redskins: Offensive Grades
Unlike last season, the Eagles fell to the worthy winner of the NFC East division crown in week 16. Last year, the Redskins played the role of spoiler as they would join the Eagles in the cluster of teams watching the playoffs from the sidelines. Washington outclassed the Eagles on their home field and will represent the division as the undoubted top team. Meanwhile, a meaningless week 17 road game against the Giants is all that separates the Eagles from yet another offseason of questions and criticism. It would be difficult for Chip Kelly to sell the type of offseason that took place in Philadelphia last season after how disjointed his team looked at different points this year. That being said, there’s no doubt this roster had serious problems from the start. It would be tough to have confidence in a similar-looking roster/coaching staff heading into 2016.
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The week 16 loss to Washington was very much a microcosm of the entire season. Drops, mental errors, missed opportunities, and poor coaching decisions contributed to a humiliating performance. They did very little to convince they were a mentally strong team down the stretch and were unable to bounce back from their own lapses. For all the issues they had in the talent department, the story of 2015 will be the poor personnel decisions made by Chip Kelly this past offseason and his team’s failure to carry out plays that should be made by NFL players. Having an extra week before their offseason will only allow the stink from the season to fester within a locker room that has seemed to be teetering on the brink.
Here are my observations stemming from the fallout of Saturday night’s 38-24 loss: