The Philadelphia Eagles are now 1-1 following a dismal display at Lincoln Financial Field last night against the Falcons. It was a narrow loss and one that’s ultimately hard to stomach given how the team lost, but at this point, should anyone really be surprised?
With 2 minutes left on the clock and a 3-point lead, Philly found themselves deep in enemy territory. A win felt imminent…until it didn’t. The Eagles opted to go for a pass on a crucial 3rd & 3 instead of running the ball. In premise, it makes sense. A first down pretty much seals it and gives the Eagles a huge chance at a touchdown. The risk is the pass being dropped or the play blown up. The former happened as Saquon Barkley watched the ball slip through his fingers.
Down 6 after a Jake Elliott field goal, the Falcons cut through Philadelphia’s defense like a hot knife through butter. Deep shot after deep shot, completion after completion, Kirk Cousins surgically tore the house down and capped it off with a clutch touchdown to Drake London.
It’s easy to point fingers. Saquon should’ve caught the pass, but Nick Sirianni shouldn’t have called it. Sirianni also shouldn’t have surrendered an easy field goal at the start of the game – a decision which in retrospect could’ve completely changed the outcome of this contest. The defense should’ve played better, the pass-rush should’ve created more consistent pressure, and the missed tackles were costly. Penalties also obliterated momentum on several occasions. It was sloppy throughout, and the Eagles got what they ultimately deserved.
Should we be shocked? No.
According to Jeff Skversky, the Eagles have blown more leads in the final 2 minutes than any other team in the last 12 months.
Our man Cory Nidoh dug deep into the stats to work out that the 315 rushing yards given up through the first two games are the most surrendered by the Birds since 1986. Not a great stat when a date with Alvin Kamara lies on the horizon.
What’s going on with the Eagles?
The Eagles were their own worst enemy through most of the 2023 season, and while the goalposts have moved, the sentiment remains the same. Unnecessarily cute play-calling, poor decisions, and self-imposed woes continue to haunt this team in the same way they did last year.
Through 2 weeks, the Eagles have been gashed by running backs and continue to sit defensive backs deeper downfield. The pass defense has been better, because it usually buys the pass-rush time to get home, but the Birds are clearly missing Haason Reddick. Bryce Huff has been invisible through 2 weeks, which I don’t feel is a fault truly of his own, but perhaps one of Howie Roseman for investing heavily in a player who has not yet shown he can handle a 3-down role, and expecting instant success.
On offense, the Eagles are finally using motion…lots of it. It feels like every play there’s some form of pre-snap movement now. But there are next to no deep shots. Everything is thrown in front of the sticks, which is fine…until it isn’t. It’s the total opposite issue to last year where there were nothing but deep shots. Now everything feels a little more complex and cute and when the team needs to drive down the field and score, the war chest is filled with rotten apples as opposed to grenades.
The team entered a death spiral last season due to a failure to adapt. The blueprint was out on how to beat this team for weeks and eventually, people took notice. The Eagles cannot afford to lose their stride or afford that same pattern to persist.
The more things change…
They had this game won. They got greedy. They should’ve had it wrapped up about 10 minutes beforehand, however, and they didn’t because of continued self-imposed chaos. If RPO’s are causing the offensive line confusion, why continue to run them? If tackling in the open field is becoming an issue, why continue to line players up 10 yards off the ball where those misses are infinitely more damaging? If an aggressive play-call doesn’t work, and the Falcons NEED to drive down the field to score in a hurry, why compound it with incredibly conservative play-calling defensively that invites the deep shots they NEED to take?
The Eagles stood in their own way and came out of Monday night with a lot of questions hanging over them. Unfortunately, those questions have been asked many times over the last 12 months. The more things change, the more things stay the same.
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
