Philadelphia Eagles: After another loss, I’m not mad; I’m just disappointed
After yet another crushing loss, it’s best to dismiss this Philadelphia Eagles season for what it is – the expected results from a subpar team.
The Philadelphia Eagles will still be fine, we all told ourselves. Even after lackluster home losses in the last two weeks to the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks, they were entering the “soft” part of their schedule with easy pickings coming up.
There were three straight gimmes leading up to the big rematch with the Dallas Cowboys in Week 16. It was the perfect time to get things straightened out against inferior competition, and the first tune-up would be the 2-9 Miami Dolphins.
And it wouldn’t even be a real road game, with thousands of Eagles fans descending upon Miami to turn it into “Philly South” for the weekend. What could go wrong?
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Well, Carson Wentz and the offense got things fixed, to an extent. But the newly revived defense, which played excellently in the setbacks to New England and Seattle, was gouged repeatedly by Ryan Fitzpatrick and company on Sunday.
The result was a hideous loss that amazingly doesn’t do much to hurt the Birds’ playoff hopes thanks to the Cowboys’ recent insipid play, but that truly feels like an unforgivable breaking point in this overall bummer of a season.
As I said, I don’t even feel anger at the loss. No Eagles fan should. The time for anger is long past. Instead, disappointment should be the overriding emotion coursing through all of our veins after this club let us down yet again, once more squandering a chance to get its 2019 season back on track.
You can find some positives on the day, like in the results from Wentz. But even those numbers were mitigated by a number of bad throws that should have led to an even better performance. Instead, the focus will be rightly on the defense’s inability to do anything to stop the Dolphins’ typically punchless attack.
After intercepting Fitzpatrick on the opening possession of the game, the Eagles couldn’t create any more turnovers, standing idly by as Miami moved the ball up and down the field all day. Miami also converted all three of its 4th down attempts, punctuated by their bush league trick play late in the first half. But hey, it worked. Again, this Eagles defense found itself bamboozled by a gimmick play. This has got to stop at some point.
Yet, even after all that, the Eagles managed to build a 14-point lead in the third quarter. But that’s when the Dolphins scored 23 points in a row to put the game effectively out of reach. It didn’t matter that the Eagles had a desperation Hail Mary at the end. They didn’t deserve any kind of luck on this day.
By now, we should all accept that they are what they are. This isn’t a team that should be 8-4 but has just had a run of misfortune. No, they are every bit of 5-7. The dropped passes, the Wentz overthrows, the defensive breakdowns. And the penalties! Ten for 91 yards on Sunday.
They’re just not a good team.
And that’s why it’s actually a shame that they’re very much alive in the NFC East “race”, because it honestly would be best for all involved if they just stumbled to a 7-9 finish and then made the necessary adjustments this offseason.
Instead, they run the risk of going 9-7 or even 8-8, winning a horrible division and then getting shown the door immediately in the playoffs. Would that really benefit anyone? Maybe just Wentz, who would finally appear in his first NFL playoff game at the ripe old age of 27.
But we really should just be done with them by now. They don’t deserve any more of our time after Sunday.
Next. Philadelphia Eagles watch their playoff hopes dwindle with Miami loss. dark
And I say that not in anger, but sheer exhaustion. Frankly, I’m as disappointed in myself for believing they could win with this team as I am in the Eagles for the way they’ve played.