Well, that didn’t go according to plan. The Eagles marched onto the site of Super Bowl 52 and put up a performance that will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.
Scheme or nah?
The Eagles did a great job making Dalvin Cook, the Vikes’ leader in receiving and rushing coming into this game, a non-factor, but at the expense of making Cousins throw against this secondary.
Stefon Diggs tallied 167 yards and 3 touchdowns by himself, torching Rasul Douglas and Sidney Jones frequently on the same play over and over.
The Eagles run an inverted cover 2, the receiver runs a post and there’s no Safety over the top to help the cornerback, who is trying to keep outside leverage. We’ve seen it again…and again…and again…and again. But Schwartz refuses to adapt and the Vikings exploited that massively today.
Sidney Jones was pulled out of the game for what we presume to be an injury-related issue, but he wasn’t exactly glowing out there.
We’re now almost halfway through year four in this scheme and the Achilles Heel has not changed. The Eagles can’t concede 35+ points per game and expect to win. The question is, when does this fall on Schwartz?
Offense is struggling
Carson Wentz threw the ball 40 times and somehow kept the team in the matchup against all odds. Houdini himself would be jealous of some of the wizardry the quarterback put on display, but he can’t do it all himself.
Whether or not the team just miss DeSean Jackson that much, it shouldn’t be the lone excuse for the fact that both tight ends struggled, Miles Sanders led the team in receiving and any receiver not named Alshon Jeffery was invisible for most of the game.
The Eagles finally found an identity against the Jets, but they may have picked up the wrong ID card.
Questionable calls
Alshon Jeffery screen passes? Yeah, why not.
A decision to go for a fake field goal that ends in a pick, costing your team points on the edge of the half? Cool.
Cover-2 robber over and over again for Kirk Cousins to pick apart? Hooray.
Throwing the ball behind the sticks every third down? Sign me up.
Eagles Film Room is going to be fun this week…
What now?
Honestly, I have no idea. This loss is just confusing on so many levels because everything and everyone not named Carson Wentz or the defensive line was struggling. There’s so much to dissect and try and understand that it’s almost impossible to gauge how the team move on. Sure, they may get DeSean Jackson back, but can he score 4 touchdowns per game to even give the offense a fighting chance due to a complete defensive collapse?
The Dallas Cowboys lurk around the corner and whatever is causing this team to self implode had better rid itself from the locker room before then or there may be hell to pay and a divisional race to chase.
Mandatory Credit: David Berding-USA TODAY Sports
