Eagles Drop To 1-2. The Good, The Bad, and a WHOLE LOT of Ugly
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - SEPTEMBER 22: Nick Bawden #46 of the Detroit Lions leaps over Rodney McLeod #23 of the Philadelphia Eagles in the third quarter at Lincoln Financial Field on September 22, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.The Detroit Lions defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 27-24. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
The Eagles dropped what many considered to be a “must win” game, losing to the Detroit Lions 27-24. It wasn’t as if the Eagles didn’t have their chances. Down 3 points late in the fourth quarter Malcolm Jenkins was able to block a punt that Rasul Douglas returned to the Detroit 20. BUT it ended up being brought back to the 50 thanks to a block in the back, and thus set up for Carson Wentz to win the game late; It wasn’t meant to be. The Eagles need to quickly get over this loss as they will head to Green Bay to face a hot Packers team IN Lambeau. The fact is this Eagles team did everything in their power to lose this game…..and they did it!
The Good
- Carson Wentz: If youre one of these people that is going to blame Carson Wentz for this loss, then you either don’t know football or didn’t watch this game. Working with his B squad Carson played pretty damn good and at times seemed to be the only person on offense who realized they were in the middle of a meaningful game. The 4th year player passed for 259 yards for 2 TDs and 0 picks. 4 rushes for 33 yards….OH and two tackles. Honestly, Wentz was probably the only bright spot in this game as he did everything in his power to move the offense and like a 4 year old at Target throwing a tantrum, they simply refused to go with him.
- Malcom Jenkins: This isn’t just because of his key field goal block, which harkened back to the days of Matt Ware and Quintin Mikell, but Jenkins also had a KEY pass break up in the second quarter, reaching up and deflecting what would’ve been a 3rd down conversion. To no ones surprise he is still playing at a high level.
- Jake Elliot: Yea, its NEVER a good thing when youre looking for positives after a game and the third thing is a kicker (and he didn’t hit the game winning field goal). But After last season when Elliot dealt with inconsistency issues, SO FAR this season hes been perfect. Hes gone 3-3 from field goal attempts and 4-4 from extra points. It might not seem like a big deal, but when you look around the NFL kickers are missing at an alarming rate. So the fact that Elliot has been a sure bet through three games…its nice.
THE BAD:
- Everyone who is paid to catch the ball. Seven drops…..SEVEN. At key points in the game the receiving corp looked like the group that Wentz had to work with in his rookie year. Im talking Doriel Green-Beckham. Jordan Matthews, Bryce Treggs, Paul Turner….you remember those guys.
- Miles Sanders: To fumble once is understandable. Its going to happen. But after you luck out and get the ball back on the same drive and manage to fumble AGAIN…. The worst part is that it was a fumble in Detroit territory and the Eagles were moving the ball. It took points off the board that ultimately proved to be costly.
- Nelson Agholor: Yes, he rebounded in the second half and ended up with two trips to the end zone. But the drops appear to be back. In the first half, even when he managed to catch the ball, he fumbled it. Much like Miles Sanders’ fumble, when Agholor fumbled the Eagles were in Detroit territory and the turnover likely took points off the board.
- Zach Ertz: A week after he cost the team the game (ok, to be fair he was one of the reasons but not the sole reason) the TE played small. He also dealt with drops, but also failed to block, which led to one of Wentz’ 3 sacks. In a nut shell, hes soft. I think back to the season of Hard Knocks that featured the Browns and had our old friend Mychal Kendricks; “86 I think is the best receiver on the team. And notice I said receiver. You F***ing hit his ass over and over….he doesn’t want no smoke.” Translation: He doesn’t like getting hit, and after todays game I would have to agree.
- The Defensive Ends: Im going to harp on this for a while, but not going out and getting Jadeveon Clowney because (ZOMG) “he might not love football” was a stupid decision. The Atheltic’s Zach Berman tweeted out before the game “When Graham trash talks, he picks out a local or popular delicacy to mean sacks for an opposing offensive lineman.” Well I guess Graham is never hungry because he has yet to get a sack. In fact, none of the defensive ends have gotten a sack. I understand that Schwartz doesn’t blitz much, but the first game of the season you played a left side of Donald Penn and Ereck Flowers and you still didn’t manage to get to the QB. For a guy (me) who grew up with Jim Johnsons’ blitz’ this is a depressing fall.
- Duce Staley: Ive never once understood Deuce Staley’s running back rotation. And since were to believe he is in charge of which running backs are in, then im putting the blame on him. Miles Sanders has 4 fumbles in 21 snaps of football. He might be ready in the future, but not now. Yet Duce decided to make him the primary back and didn’t bench him after his FIRST fumble of the day. And in all honesty, if you take out the fumbles then Sanders played well. But to ignore the fumbles is like asking Mrs Lincoln “so other than that how was the play?”. Jordan Howard needs to get the ball. Hes a veteran back who was brought here and isn’t used enough. Its not rocket science…except to Staley I guess.
- Ronald Darby: Ronald Darby is an NFL caliber corner back. I think weve all seen enough from him to agree on that front. But Ronald Darby is coming back from major surgery and simply doesn’t look ready. The last two weeks the Falcons and the Lions have made it a point to target him and hes become a liability. The most frustrating thing is you have Avonte Maddox and Rasul Douglas. You have other options. You don’t HAVE to start Darby. And the Eagles shouldn’t. Not until he is 100% healthy. He did end up leaving the game with a hamstring injury for what its worth.
- JJ Arcega-WhiteSide: Is it concerning that the Eagles drafted this kid in the second round and hes been invisible? YUP. Its even MORE frustrating that the first time you actually get a JJAW sighting it’s the biggest play of the game and he drops it. Coming out of Stanford his specialty was jump balls. He was a big receiver who could create his own space. The final pass of the game was a jump ball that he just flat out dropped. With Alshon Jeffery and DeSean Jackson out with injuries JJAW has a chance to step up and yet he hasn’t. In Atlanta he looked lost and confused, and against Detroit he looked invisible. Lets hope he can turn it around. http://gty.im/1176414575
Pat is Philly through and through, having grown up in the Oxford Circle of Northeast Philadelphia. He attended Cardinal Dougherty High School, and it was at CD that a teacher suggested he should pursue a career in sports radio. He worked his way up the ranks and joined the morning show in June of 2020. As a content creator for 97.5 The Fanatic he writes about Eagles, Sixers, Phillies and Flyers. Follow Pat on Twitter @Pat_Egan
Sign Up For The Fanatic MVP Insider Newsletter
Get the info you need on the Philly Sports landscape, events you need to know about, exclusive contests, and more.
By clicking "Subscribe" I agree to the website's terms of Service and Privacy Policy. I understand I can unsubscribe at any time.