The first quarter of the Eagles penultimate game of the season seemed promising enough but then it call came crumbling down yet again and this time it meant that the Eagles would not make the playoffs for the second consecutive season. Whilst the finger pointing continues to escalate..there’s one position we seem to be overlooking that has constantly disappointed us all season long.
A stunning stat was just revealed by the guys at Pro Football Focus who revealed that Eagles guard Matt Tobin had the WORST game of ANY player in the NFL during week 16 achieving a -10 rating. He allowed 12 Quarterback rushes against the Redskins…12. How is Bradford supposed to do anything with the ball when he’s constantly getting that much pressure? Not only that but he threw for a season high 380 yards and didn’t throw a pick…
The birds also averaged a dismal 2.8 yards per carry on their 16 combined rushing attempts. 6 of those 16 rushes were designed to go up the middle..the result was a game which sums up the Eagles backfield this season..or does it better sum up the Offensive Line?
Not to mention the 8 penalties given up, Jason Peters reportedly taking himself out of the game saying “I’m not getting hurt for this” and a complete lack of communication. It’s easy to see why by the end of the game Sam Bradford looked infuriated.
We’re not making excuses for anyone here but when the line are giving up 8 penalties, not opening the holes the running backs need and allowing constant pressure to Bradford that results in 5 sacks then surely there’s a common theme.
The line has been terrible from start to finish this season and it’s almost as if it was such a constant that people began to pass the blame elsewhere..Sam Bradford has seen more scrutiny than anyone despite throwing the most yards an Eagles Quarterback has since McNabb did back in 2009. The receivers are constantly under the microscope because of early woes and the running back circus never seems to end..but would there be so much emphasis on problems other teams face regularly (Amari Cooper has ten drops alone for instance) if the line was more efficient?
It’s an interesting question and the only way we will really find an answer is by addressing the issue in free agency and through the draft..but that also means retaining the same Offensive Pieces and that brings up another debate entirely.
