Before the season began, most fans were at least cautiously optimistic that the Philadelphia Eagles would make the playoffs. But after a 20-19 loss to the Dolphins after leading early on 16-3, playoffs are still somehow likely..but they should be in no way seen as an achievement for the Eagles and here’s why.
The Post-season is the place to be..especially if you’re an Eagles fan. We’re still hungry for that first Superbowl Ring (not NFL Championship) and when you take into account just how quickly this team has changed since the arrival of Chip Kelly, it’s fair to say that the die hards demand results.
The problem is, they haven’t been coming. Last season 6 wins was good enough for third in the NFC East and at the moment 8 could potentially land you with a Division crown. The chances are slim but with the NFC East being such a mess at the moment it would hardly be surprising.
When you look at the Eagles season so far, it’s simply one of missed opportunity. There have been three games where a missed field goal has technically been the difference, but is that on the kicker or on a failure to execute by the Offense?
From minuscule errors like poor long snaps to miscommunication’s and bad reads..the Eagles have the talent on both sides of the ball to be a top 10 team but show the structure and discipline of a bottom 10 team. It pains me to say it, it really does but this is a team that should have at least 7 wins on the board and instead have lost three fourth quarter leads this season en route to a 4-5 record. We could roll off stats all day long from QBR’s to the 21 drops, yards per carry in the backfield early on to a lack of pass rush in the opening weeks..but it wouldn’t change anything.
If the Eagles can rally together and get two wins over the Bucs and the Lions then there is absolutely a hope of playoff Football..but do the Eagles deserve that chance? With the NFC East being such a mess, they have very often been bailed out.
The Giants losing controversially to the Pats when the Eagles choked to Miami is the latest in a long line of lucky coinciding results that have kept the Eagles in contention for a division win. Without Romo, the Cowboys have disappeared off the face of the planet and have become a team where the only way they can stay relevant in the media is through one of the most despicable excuses for a current NFL player whilst the Giants and Redskins have both struggled one week then performed brilliantly the next, sound familiar? It’s gotten to the point where a team who have now lost six games in a row can still technically win the division.
When the schedule was released for the 2015 season, fans were ecstatic. With Chip’s new superteam this could be his most successful season to date. 12-4 predictions were flying in left and right as the schedule contained minimal teams that could easily defeat the Eagles..or so we thought.
There’s no one defining reason as to why this team has struggled so much this season, it’s a combination of a lot of things. But in fixing errors you’ve made that shouldn’t be regarded as success and just receive a nod of respect for fixing things before they became irreparable.
As a die hard fan, I would love nothing more than to see the Eagles in the playoffs and beyond but do they deserve it? Should they be applauded for making the playoffs if they get that far? No. Because the season that has had to be endured to get to that spot is not something to be proud of. A lot of it falls on Chip Kelly and should his team get to an NFC East crown then he has successfully rescued an embarrassing season.
If you push someone off of a building then jump off to save them, should you get applause for saving them? No, you shouldn’t have pushed them off in the first place.
