Doomed in the Dome

Posted: December 15th, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 243 Comments »

The Vikings played their best game of the season today. And the Eagles couldn’t handle that.

I did not think it was possible for the Vikings to put up 48 points, with or without Adrian Peterson. I am completely shocked at today’s performance. That is the best I’ve seen Matt Cassel play in a long time, maybe ever. He was 26-35-382. Those are astounding numbers.

We have to give the Vikings credit for playing so well. Most Eagles fans will want to rip the team, but Minnesota earned a lot of those yards and points with good execution.

The Eagles did struggle for sure and the defense was dreadful today. There is lots of blame to go around. CB Bradley Fletcher was awful, especially late in the game when the Eagles were trying to make a miracle comeback.

Let’s go ahead and dispense with the notion that the Eagles weren’t focused, lacked heart or were flat. That kind of crap had nothing to do with today’s loss. Those are tired cliches.

The Eagles were sloppy today. There was no lack of effort or anything like that. This was all about poor execution.

* Nick Foles had a poor pass downfield that Riley Cooper couldn’t catch inbounds. A throw that is 2 yards to the inside is a TD.

* Foles then threw a needless low block on a reverse that negated a DeSean Jackson TD run.

* DeSean Jackson failed to break up an INT on a downfield pass.

* There was a pass to RB Mass Asiata where he was uncovered.

* There were more than a few missed tackles.

* There were some blown coverages.

* The blocking was inconsistent.

This was just a sloppy performance. Minnesota played terrific football and made the Eagles pay for these mistakes.

The Eagles now have to start pulling for the Packers to win in Dallas. Unfortunately, the Boys lead 13-3 at this point. Not looking like a good day.

_


243 Comments on “Doomed in the Dome”

  1. 1 ICDogg said at 5:04 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Aargh.

  2. 2 theycallmerob said at 5:59 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    exactly.
    Better this game happened against MIN than DAL. Still control destiny.

  3. 3 Joe Minx said at 6:01 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    They don’t have a prayer in the world of stopping Marshall & Jeffrey. Season’s going to end next week.

  4. 4 theycallmerob said at 6:04 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Any given day. Who knows, another blizzard may slow them down like Megatron….
    I agree it will be a struggle. But I also think Cutler is prone to mistakes, run game can be shut down if LBs show up, and Wolff may return!

  5. 5 AJ Race said at 5:08 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    not sure we can beat the bears

  6. 6 Buge Halls said at 5:09 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    KICK THE BALL DOWN FIELD!

    Sorry for yelling!

  7. 7 Jernst said at 5:51 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    seriously….instead of potentially giving up a long return to Patterson, we just decided to give them the ball on the 40 yard line every possession. If you’re gonna give the other team the ball at midfield all day you might as well try an onside kick every kick off.

  8. 8 sonofdman said at 9:33 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    I agree. It also came across as playing scared. I hated it.

  9. 9 BlindChow said at 5:10 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Nothing about McCoy only getting 8 carries?

  10. 10 TommyLawlor said at 5:12 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    I’ll cover that. This was just a quick post so people would have a place to comment.

  11. 11 the guy said at 6:51 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Comment? Who has time to comment when the sky is falling?!

  12. 12 shah8 said at 5:10 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    One quick little thing:

    Minn has a TERRIBLE pass defense. Why? Because the secondary isn’t very good, especially at running that Tampa2 Frazier wants to play. Teams have been picking that backfield apart by stretching it and finding holes. Foles, for all of his four hundred yards passing, was very inefficient in his attack, mostly because he got so much boom and bust. There was that boom and bust factor, along with some of that Colt McCoy issh with minor negative plays, in big part due to the fact Foles didn’t challenge the zone coverage. He kept looking for one on ones, and while you’re supposed to do that, you also must be able to consistently move the chains methodically when you need to, and that tend to calls for pass plays Foles is very reluctant to attempt.

  13. 13 TommyLawlor said at 5:13 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Need to see All-22 to find out what the issue was…receivers or Foles.

  14. 14 anon said at 10:02 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Seemed like foles looked a lot downfield I think big plays are the traps that Philly qbs fall into. Vick is a prime example. Looking downfield lead to the pick and a couple of sacks. Djax played with a lot of heart today.

    Think game plan was bad w squib kicks. We played scared. Defense wad also maybe bc we had no pass rush? Just looked like 2012. Oh well cowboys lost.

  15. 15 Andy124 said at 10:13 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Definitely going downfield more than I like. Of course, a QB as risk averse as I tend to be isn’t going to be very good lol.

  16. 16 BobSmith77 said at 6:43 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Foles did target Ertz 9 times but it seemed like the Eagles played a lot more 3 WR sets this week since were playing behind a lot of the game.

    Don’t like the offense nearly as much with the personnel in that group because it brings Avant on to the field. Painful to watch how slow he has gotten at times and how even certain LBs cover him in man. Getting a WR who can make plays in the slot especially give them YAC would really give this offense a different flavor in the passing game.

    Offense line also isn’t a great pass-blocking unit either. Peters isn’t quite the stud he was 1-on-1, Johnson still can’t reliably block in pass coverage, and this o-line seems to struggle at times picking up the blitz.

  17. 17 Buge Halls said at 6:44 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    And, with apparently no threat of a running game (did Andy start calling the plays?), their defense could concentrate on the downfield throws.

  18. 18 theycallmerob said at 9:44 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Yea, he shouldn’t have given up 48 pts either. Bum.

  19. 19 Joe Jones said at 5:12 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Desean failed to break up INT? A little harsh…..we’ve seen Desean do that many times this year…..the ball was thrown with way too much air….Prater wasnt even covering Desean,,,,,he came off his man and picked it off.

    The lack of effort was slumping his shoulders and not making an effort to make the tackle. But lets be clear, it was a poorly thrown ball. Sprinting downfield to catch a ball, its grossly underthrown and its Desean’s fault?

  20. 20 RobNE said at 5:17 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    The reply showed how desean was uncovered for about 20 yards.

  21. 21 TommyLawlor said at 5:18 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    The pass was bad as well. Never said it was a good throw.

    DeSean’s teammates were mad at him for not trying to break up the pass. That should tell you all you need to know.

  22. 22 sprawl said at 5:19 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Is it also possible they were upset because DJax wasn’t pursuing the defender AFTER the interception?

    I can’t watch the game rewind yet but they got a pretty healthy return on that pick and you never know when they break one and pick-6 it

  23. 23 TommyLawlor said at 5:26 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Possible.

  24. 24 Vick or Nick said at 7:22 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Djack said after the game that he didn’t see the Defender coming. The cornerback that was initially covering him left him so he thought he was all alone, wide open. That is before the safety switched onto him.

    Great play design and execution by Vikings D.

    Foles should have thrown it earlier when DJack was wide, WIDE open.

  25. 25 Joe Jones said at 8:07 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    I hear you Tommy…..I thought he didnt try to make the tackle after the INT. Forgive me but it seems that Nick is Teflon and every pass of his should be caught or the receiver(if his last name is Jackson) is responsible for making sure the ball isnt intercepted.

    I’m conceding that Desean was wrong on at least one count……

  26. 26 Andy124 said at 10:32 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    A downvote? Nobody puts Baby in a corner downvotes T-Law!

  27. 27 Corry said at 5:15 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    I thought it was pretty cool the Eagles let Andy Reid come back and game plan and call the game for them. Most teams don’t let their fired head coaches be a part of their game planning.

  28. 28 A Big Butt and a Smile said at 5:17 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    LOL. Yeah…

  29. 29 RobNE said at 5:16 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    We could be done next Sunday night.

    It isn’t the loss but how: not running the ball, not kicking deep, having no answer for Matt cassel. This was really depressing.

  30. 30 sprawl said at 5:21 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Doomed in the Dome
    … and thank god the Dome is Doomed!

    Shut it down!

  31. 31 nicolajNN said at 5:22 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Almost every week this year I’ve been nervous before games, I didn’t want to completely trust the team because of bad games and bad halves. There was one game earlier this year where I was confident in a win, and we lost. This week, between our play and a bad and injured Vikings team, I was sure we would win, once again that didn’t happen. Curse me for believing in the team

  32. 32 mrkaplan said at 12:11 AM on December 16th, 2013:

    It wasn’t you bro. It was me. Of all the days to add the Eagles to my facebook likes, i chose last night. (In the words of Tommy Wiseau, God forgive me)

  33. 33 DarthBanner said at 5:24 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    What an awful, pathetic performance from an overconfident team that bought all its own hype this week. Terrible job from the top on down. Awful gameplan and prep from the coach. Vikings feasted off of the short field all day thanks to not kicking it deep and not involving shady, no matter how badly their corners are hurt, is just plain stupid. Foles looked off all day with inaccurate throws, which is even more of a reason to get Mccoy involved.

    As for the defense, they should have to find their own flights home and practice tomorrow, with pads. No excuse for that. Juan Castillo is laughing at you right now, Bill Davis. Now, if the Cowboys just take care of business in two very easy games they force the Eagles into a must win next week against a tough Bears team just to make week 17 mean something.

    The Cowboys may hand the Eagles a playoff birth, but they showed today that they do not deserve to be a playoff team.

  34. 34 Thorin said at 5:26 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    This reminded me so much of one of those Andy Reid games where the QB looked shaky, and for some reason we just kept passing more and more. How did LeSean only get 8 carries on a day when Nick Foles really looked lost.

  35. 35 disqus_jB7dl5fzvO said at 5:30 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    On this disaster
    1. Next time we play Minnesota, it’d better be early in the year to avoid a “letdown”- schedule makers take note
    2. Kudos to Cedric Thornton- he was the one defender who I saw making plays
    3. Earl Wolff=Jesus (hopefully)
    4. If we weren’t so thin at DB, Chung would be cut tomorrow
    5. Loved the fight this team had- I haven’t seen that in a couple of years. But obviously Matt Cassel just had to go all”Manning” on us when we were within 5
    6. I think Nick had a good game with bad moments and was inconsistent at the worst times- I know lots of people will disagree
    7. Really Chip? Only 8??? By the way, Chip and Andy switched bodies or something: KC up big on Oakland, and they’re actually using their RB

  36. 36 SteveH said at 5:31 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    I know cliches yada yada but honestly Tommy I thought we looked really flat coming out of the gate today.

    The kickoff plan sucked, the lack of usage for Mccoy sucked, the pass defense was atrocious. Foles was up and down. Peters couldn’t handle Jared Allen. The only person who I thought played good today was Ced Thornton and maybe DSJ.

  37. 37 Ark87 said at 5:37 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    This team needed this. Gut check. If we don’t get to the playoffs, then we didn’t earn it. Always easier to learn from a loss.

  38. 38 RobNE said at 5:37 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    The Vikings receivers seemed college open for a lot of the game. It was like let’s rush the minimum and play a soft zone , give up kicking off, etc like we thought if we just don’t make a big mistake. Instead death by a thousand paper cuts.

  39. 39 DarthBanner said at 5:37 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    The eagles played like just showing up was enough, and there is a decent chance that that arrogance cost them a playoff birth.

  40. 40 Jernst said at 6:01 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    The game plan reeked of being scared. It’s a fine line between being scared and being stupidly aggressive, but I thought defensively and ST they played to not lose, they played prevent, so to speak, in both of those facets of the game. And, like you said, the coaches plan seemed to say, as long as we don’t mess up/let up the big play we’ll win. And, they played like that too. They played like a team that felt they didn;t have to go out there and win, like they just had to not lose. And, you can’t play winning football like that.

  41. 41 RobNE said at 6:15 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    I love chip but…this works in college when the talent disparity is greater.

  42. 42 47_Ronin said at 5:47 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    The Eagles were getting burned in man coverage, their corners are limited it would’ve helped if the birds had a pass rush.

  43. 43 Jernst said at 5:48 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    it looked to me like a good 3/4 of Cassel’s completions came to WR for whom no defender bothered to be within 10 yards of. Of the times that a DB actually stuck with the WR, we invariably committed PI. Combine that with a nonexistent pass rush, bad angles and poor tackling. Not really a winning formula on D.

  44. 44 Julescat said at 5:52 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    trap game?

  45. 45 jshort said at 5:55 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Dallas looks much improved, know it’s GB without Rogers, Still,
    hope for us to look improved next week. Might look at this as a good loss in a few weeks,

  46. 46 BobSmith77 said at 5:55 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Run defense was great today and Asiata did nothing on the ground all day. Vikings just max-protected today and the Vikings o-line did a great job of providing Cassel exactly what he needs to succeed – a stable pocket and the ability to step up and make a throw downfield.

    Eagles would have been a lot better off if Ponder had played because he doesn’t make a couple of the throws Cassel did today.

  47. 47 mksp said at 5:59 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    That 3rd and long completion to Chase Ford was such a back-breaker. Kendricks missed it by an inch. We were poised to get the ball back with a chance to take the lead. Everything snowballed from there.

    Not Nick’s best game. Looked tentative, was inaccurate. Made a handful of big time throws, but overall way too inconsistent.

  48. 48 jshort said at 6:03 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    What were his numbers today? Missed it. …Also was that the type of QB performance Tommy was talking about down late in a game

  49. 49 Buge Halls said at 6:51 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Foles today

    30 of 48 for428
    3 TD
    1 Int

    Pretty damn good numbers actually. This all falls on the defense and STs. STs have really fallen apart the last two weeks.

  50. 50 BlindChow said at 6:56 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    I didn’t think ST’s were too bad themselves. Fipp asking them to squib every time was a killer.

  51. 51 anon said at 10:11 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Did you watch the first half? There were some great plays but Foles didn’t play well despite those numbers. There was just no defense in this game

  52. 52 Erik Richardson said at 11:57 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Does Kendricks not being over 6′ 0″ have anything to do with that “missed it by an inch”? Seems like a great many a completed pass has been described the exact same way with Kendricks guarding an opponent.

  53. 53 theycallmerob said at 6:02 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Tommy, I know it’s hard to approximate without re-watching, but how much blame would you put on simply not having the talent?
    Strictly speaking to Defense and Special teams, it seemed like once Boykin went down the secondary fell apart. Need two starting safeties (Wolff may be one, but I don’t think Allen starts on a super-bowl contender. Maybe a 3rd S). Also need to upgrade at least 1 CB spot, and get some needed depth. That depth will also help the ST coverage.
    Pass rush was lacking. A tremendous rush OLB makes all the difference in this D.
    Lastly, we need a kicker with a leg to boom kicks out of the end zone. I don’t care what Kelly says, there needs to be some competition for Henery.

  54. 54 Joe Minx said at 6:04 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    If you can’t trust your kicker to kick the ball through the end zone in a freaking dome then why the hell do you even have him? He needs to go, period.

  55. 55 jshort said at 6:05 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    wait a second…they didn’t even try!!

  56. 56 anon said at 10:13 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    If you don’t have the talent to stop Matt cassel then you don’t belong in the league. I think part of the problem was pass rush the others were penalties an missed tackles. Jennings and Simpson aren’t that good.

  57. 57 BobSmith77 said at 6:05 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Bigger mystery is what the hell has happened to the special teams kickoff coverage unit the last 2 weeks?

    Eagles’ strategy of avoiding Patterson did avoid any large kick returns but in the process often gave the Vikings good/very good field position outside of the 30. This hasn’t been a defense all year that has stopped teams from moving the ball up and down the field but been able to clamp down in the red zone & force some turnovers.

  58. 58 jshort said at 6:10 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Yea, kept thinking when Vikings got in the red zone, we had them where we wanted….

  59. 59 BobSmith77 said at 6:10 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Kelly’s decisions today was puzzling at best and at worst downright poor. The worst set of decisions might have been the 3 and 4th down calls though late in the 3rd quarter though including the decision to not challenge the 3rd down spot which likely would have given the Eagles a 1st down and instead challenge the 4th down spot.

    Kelly hasn’t had quite the issues that Reid had with TO management & game-clock management in the 2-minute offense. Still there have been a couple of games this year where Kelly’s overall decisions haven’t been very sound. This was one of them.

  60. 60 sonofdman said at 9:43 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    I wasn’t a fan of wasting a time out on a 2 point conversion when trailing big in the second half.

  61. 61 RobNE said at 6:16 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Coy boys have 10 players with hamstring injuries

  62. 62 jshort said at 6:21 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    maybe need a sports science guy.

  63. 63 Aleandro green said at 6:26 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    no mention of the continuing to kick it short when it clearly wasnt working

  64. 64 BobSmith77 said at 6:28 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    For all the grief that Chung will inevitably get this week (current Eagles’ whipping boy), Anderson has no business on the defensive-side of the ball.

    Coleman stinks all around including his shoddy angles on tackles and positioning in coverage but Anderson is even a worse tackler. Flat out whiffed on 2 tackles today and didn’t even officially record a talent as a result.

    Bears and Cowboys should watch tape off this game until their eyes’ bleed especially if Boykin is out. Play the entire game with 3/4 WRs, max protect, and throw the ball deep early and often. If Davis tries to take that away by playing everybody back, pick this defense apart underneath and gash them with delays/draws/screens with their competent and skilled RB.

    Both Cowboys and Bears have QBs who can get the ball downfield, better and larger WRs than the Vikings, and a competent RB who is the a threat catching/running that the Vikings didn’t have today.

    Can’t see the defense keeping either team the next 2 weeks under 24 pts. Just a question of whether the offense can put up enough pts and the special teams play can be solid enough.

  65. 65 BobSmith77 said at 6:32 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    I had no expectations of the Eagles doing anything and considered it ‘house money’ if they make the playoffs. Still do.

    If they lose the last 3 games of the season and finish up home at 8-8, then yeah I will consider this is a disappointing season ultimately. Failure no, disappointing yes.

    Hope I am wrong but I see a whole lot of ugly for the Eagles’ defense the next 2 weeks especially in Dallas.

  66. 66 BlindChow said at 6:36 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Have to hand it to the Packers, their fans travel well.

  67. 67 Corry said at 6:43 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Packers fans and Steelers fans always seem to show up for their teams on the road. The Eagles fans are fairly good too, but those two teams seem to bring a lot of fans with them.

  68. 68 RobNE said at 6:55 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    We’d have more fans everywhere if we had 5 Super Bowls

  69. 69 jshort said at 6:48 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    looking like they are starting to get enthused.

  70. 70 bdbd20 said at 6:45 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    It would have been nice to win out, but this may not be a bad game to lose. Maybe the guys re-focus.

    It’s just human nature to bask in your own glory. The local and national attention may have been a little much.

    The good teams bounce back and take their anger out on the next opponent. We’ll see if we’re a good team.

  71. 71 Antonio Reyna said at 6:47 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    I know sometimes we don’t agree on some of the things the Eagles do, but the defense was playing better than the beginning, but Im still not sold on the 3-4 defense. Carry Williams looks like a FS to me, not a CB. We need to address this issue on the Draft. You can tell that J.P is getting there on the age, and we need to address that in the draft too.

  72. 72 BobSmith77 said at 6:56 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Peters is a guy that will be a tough case this offseason but drafting a LT very high isn’t a move I would mind at all.

    Defense desperately needs an upgrade at S, starter at outside CB (Fletcher at been ‘okay at times’ this year but was awful today, Williams make some plays but gives up a lot more), and a pass-rushing OLB who can generate pressure 1-on-1.

    More pieces on this defense than I thought there was at the beginning of the year but it still needs another 3-4 pieces to become a Top 10 unit.

  73. 73 D3FB said at 7:08 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    I don’t see us going OL super early. Matthews wont be there when we pick. Maybe Lewan falls. Kouandijo and Tiny Richardson don’t fit our philosophy. We already have Bamiro and Kelly but if we do go OT I hope we aim for James Hurst, Michael Britt, or Wesley Johnson on day 2. At guard the best fits are also day 2 or 3 guys: Zack Martin and Billy Turner would be excellent additions.

  74. 74 Antonio Reyna said at 8:42 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    True….I just dont like the 3-4 defense.

  75. 75 BobSmith77 said at 6:47 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Foles will inevitably get some grief for his performance today including some of the throws he missed, forced INT to Jackson, and holding on to the ball today.

    Still thought he responded pretty well overall though including in the 3rd quarter and was able to consistently drive this team down the field in the 2nd half & put up points.

    There isn’t a QB in the NFL today who could have lead the Eagles’ to victory given the inconsistent special teams play and horrendous defense. If the Vikings had a competent RB, they might have dropped 50+ pts on this team today.

  76. 76 sonofdman said at 9:46 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    The Eagles might have won if they had Matt Cassell because then he wouldn’t have been playing for the Vikings.

  77. 77 Baloophi said at 6:53 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Packers are now within 5, early in the 4th.

    Come on, December / Late Game Romo…

  78. 78 BlindChow said at 6:54 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Also, that Dallas offensive play calling shouldn’t change. Three passes in a row on their last possession…

  79. 79 Baloophi said at 6:56 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    It’s like Chip’s calling their plays!

  80. 80 BobSmith77 said at 6:58 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    A Pick 6 would be epic.

  81. 81 Crus57 said at 6:58 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Close…

  82. 82 Baloophi said at 6:58 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Close enough!

  83. 83 BlindChow said at 6:59 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Will be overturned…

  84. 84 Baloophi said at 6:59 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Aikman is hoping…

  85. 85 RobNE said at 6:54 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Packers now down by just 5

  86. 86 jshort said at 6:54 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    The old shuttle!!!

  87. 87 jshort said at 6:54 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    with momentum!!!

  88. 88 Tumtum said at 6:56 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Next week is going to take 10 years off of my life.

  89. 89 BlindChow said at 6:58 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    That’s how Cole is looking so young. The fandom of Dorian Gray…

  90. 90 Baloophi said at 6:58 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Holidays, right?

  91. 91 jshort said at 7:01 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    They say cheating on your wife can do that to you also.

  92. 92 jshort said at 6:59 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    We don’t beat the bears convincingly, we don’t belong in the playoffs. Period.

  93. 93 Crus57 said at 7:03 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    It’s impressive how quickly Jerry Jones got money into the ref’s account.

  94. 94 Vick or Nick said at 7:05 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Quick thoughts:

    Eagles failed to capitalize early. Vikings had momentum. The crowd was in it. Very difficult atmosphere.

    Eagles are who we thought they were.

    I’m not worried about the offense. Although the slow starts really hurt. People have knocked me for suggesting a big/fast WR is a need. Think about how much man free coverage we faced. A big/fast WR would have really helped today. McCoy is our best player but he got stopped by his own team and coach. I could care less about the D we are facing. Make them tackle 25. Shady has most 4th Quarter runs of 40+ yards in NFL History. Give him a carry or 20.

    Defense was a different story. As I mentioned previously, our two worst games were against Manning and Rivers. Matt Cassel is not elite but played solid football. This game exposed two biggest needs: 1. Athletic OLB pass rusher. 2. Playmaking DB that tackle well. The scheme is good and the players played hard but the talent is not there for sustained success. Our D has benefited recently by poor QB play. They did not respond well to a QB playing well.

    Special teams. I don’t know where to begin. I feel like giving up a TD to Patterson might have been better than the field position advantage Vikings had all day. Bright note was Henery hitting 50+ FG. Albeit in doors.

    I agreed with decision to go for it on 4th and half a yard. Even in our own side of the field. The offense needed a kick start.

    Tough game. But made the holes in current roster very clear. And that might not sound like a positive but it is. 2013 is about learning how the roster adapts to the scheme changes. Who can play and who can’t. The secondary can’t.

  95. 95 theycallmerob said at 7:11 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    spot on analysis. well done

  96. 96 Mitchell said at 7:19 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    I’ve been totally on board with a big receiver although I dnt want to reach in the draft

  97. 97 47_Ronin said at 7:42 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Mostly agree with you on the on the defensive needs but I think the Eagles will need a Safety (possibly 2) & CB. Hopefully Wolff can get back on the field b/c the Eagles really need to see if he can be a starter in 2014. This game showed why Belichik and the Pats let Chung go. Can’t see him on the roster next season, also I think Allen is a FA, only way he’s on the team next season would be b/c the FO couldn’t find a replacement.

  98. 98 Baloophi said at 7:05 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    REF : (HEAVY TEXAN ACCENT) “After reviewin’ the caw, the baw moved under the defendur’s hands, incomplete pass. 3rd down COWBOYS!!! Also, I’m abowt to make a bad encroachment caw and a crappy facemask caw against the Packurs.”

  99. 99 OregonDucker said at 7:07 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Kill me now. I don’t want to lose to the Cowgirls.

  100. 100 theycallmerob said at 7:10 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    we wont!

  101. 101 OregonDucker said at 7:11 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Thanks. I needed that.

  102. 102 theycallmerob said at 7:13 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    don’t become a negadelphian so quick! we have enough!
    seriously, love everything you’ve brought to the table all year. Some folks got ahead of themselves with the 5-game streak and talk of the 2 seed.
    we’re still a flawed team, beyond coaching and scheme. It will take more than a year. I feel blessed with everything Kelly has brought us, so quickly! Sky’s the limit.

  103. 103 Andy124 said at 10:08 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    House money.

  104. 104 Baloophi said at 7:08 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    This is torture. Having to watch the Cowboys for our post-season lives.

    Shot ourselves in the foot today.

  105. 105 Baloophi said at 7:08 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Literally, seeing as we didn’t run it.

  106. 106 bdbd20 said at 7:15 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    No need to watch them. We still control our own destiny.

    If we can’t beat the Bears and Cowboys, we’re just not that good and don’t deserve to make the playoffs.

  107. 107 Corry said at 7:10 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    On that play, you could hear Aikman pop a boner.

  108. 108 Crus57 said at 7:11 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    On a related note, I would’ve paid good money to hear Joe Buck call the Giants game today.

  109. 109 Baloophi said at 7:13 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    No, that’s just Joe Buck’s voice.

  110. 110 Corry said at 7:14 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Why is it that our kicker is the only kicker that can’t put the ball out of the back of the endzone in a dome?

  111. 111 Andy124 said at 10:07 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Didn’t draft him high enough. Next time need to think about 2nd round.

  112. 112 A_T_G said at 7:23 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    To add insult to injury, in the semi finals of my FF league (one of two games in the past 6 weeks that could keep me from prize money) I see McCoy score points for me like he was being coached by Andy while playing against Jamal Charles, whom not even Andy could slow down.

  113. 113 theycallmerob said at 7:24 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    same…I had McCoy, DJax, and Coop. Only to get blown out of the water by Foles. stupid SI cover….

  114. 114 sonofdman said at 9:50 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    I also had McCoy and was going against Charles. That sucked.

  115. 115 BlindChow said at 7:27 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu267/BoogaFrito/AckbarItsaTrap.jpg

  116. 116 Andy124 said at 10:07 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a better meme. I’m just… wow.

  117. 117 Corry said at 7:27 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Tony Romo just Tony Romo’d the shit out of the Dallas game.

  118. 118 Crus57 said at 7:29 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    He needs his own watch commercial, because he is like clockwork.

  119. 119 Weapon Y said at 7:33 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    The real Eagles defense showed up today. Kudos to Minnesota to exploiting our terrible pass defense. Yeah the run defense is adequate, but this is still a passing league. If you can’t defend the pass, you don’t have a chance. The pass rush is still very mediocre. If you dont have a single defender who can get double digit sacks in a season on your team, that’s pathetic. Barwin and Cole are just average at best. Cox has been ok, but he isn’t the stud defensive lineman we need him to be. I do think part of this comes from the scheme. Too much two-gapping negates his pass rush ability. Thornton is a nice run defender, but offers very little pass rush. Logan actually looks improved in pass rush, but gets pushed around too much in the run game. Curry is the best pass rusher on the team, but he rarely plays more than 30% of snaps a game. Meco is solid but not flashy. Kendricks just makes way too many mistakes. Too many missed tackles. Too many blown coverages. It might be time to pull the plug on him soon. Meanwhile, the bend but don’t break secondary finally broke like I said it eventually would. Bradley Fletcher got exposed today and Patrick Chung just sucks. He makes Kurt Coleman from last year look good. Cary did ok, but he still gave up too much today. Allen didn’t make any bad mistakes, but again, that shouldn’t be the goal. The goal should be to shut down the offense by making plays and doing your job. We clearly still need an upgrade for at least half of the guys on this defense before we can even think about going to the Super Bowl. For now, we’re stuck with the Keystone Kops.

  120. 120 ACViking said at 7:36 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Games like today show where the Eagles are talent-wise on defense.

    The offense, even with Foles’ sometimes erratic passing against MN, posted 30 points. That should be more than enough to win.

    In Kelly’s presser, he said the O-line had a bad day running the ball . . . although with only 8 attempts for McCoy, that critique seems Reid-eque.

    Regardless, Kelly was more than ready to put the game in Foles’s hands. And he did so very early on.

    That’s either a really high endorsement of Foles. An indictment of the O-line. A lack of confidence in the defense. Or just the least bad choice.

    Anyway, the Eagles don’t have the look of a SB contender with this defense. The great results the prior 9 weeks were against some weak ball clubs, with bad QBs playing, or — in the Lions’ case — in some special circumstances.

    Seems like the Eagles are a couple of very good drafts away from rebuilding this defense. Free agency? Who’s out there that’s going to create pressure up the middle? Or pressure on the edge? As for safety, hopefully that situation gets more stable with Wolff back. Chung’s not the answer.
    __________________

    I’d love to know what Kelly thinks about his QB situation.

    [BC: This is not my weekly “mobile QB” comment. That’ll come later in the week.]

    I just wonder what he thinks he has in Foles, who’s cooling down a bit.

    As I said, the offense posted 30 points — and it should have 34.

    But I believe Kelly thinks he can hand 42 on anyone and should, with proper execution, every week. He could be right.

  121. 121 Weapon Y said at 7:42 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    No question the Eagles offense left points on the field. That’s on everyone. Foles for missing targets. The backs for dropping an absurd number of easy catches. The line for giving up too much pressure. Chip for not giving the ball to Shady enough. But at the end of the day, the offense got 30 points. That should be enough to get a win. This loss is first and foremost on the abysmal pass defense. 48 points to a pathetic Minnesota offense with no AP. I refuse to believe Matt Cassel will ever have anywhere close to that good of a game again. So no, I don’t pin this loss on Foles. Not the bulk of it anyway. They lost as a team. Everyone had a hand in it. But the defense was the biggest culprit of all.

  122. 122 ACViking said at 7:48 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    I did not pin this loss on Foles. I started off saying this game shows how short on talent the defense is.

    If I wasn’t clear, sorry.

    I wrote: “The offense, even with Foles’ sometimes erratic passing against MN, posted 30 points. That should be more than enough to win. . . . As I said, the offense posted 30 points — and it should have 34.”

    I think my question about what’s in Kelly’s mind is a fair one.

  123. 123 47_Ronin said at 7:57 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Slightly devils advocate, but Kelly’s game plan put a lot of pressure on the D, the the KO strategy back fired and the Vikings enjoyed great field position, and the 4th and 1 call in the 3rd quarter that was 3 freebies for the Vikings.

  124. 124 Baloophi said at 7:37 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Too much time on the clock for Dallas?

    Obviously you don’t take a knee there or anything if you’re Green Bay, but seriously…

  125. 125 Crus57 said at 7:38 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Too much when they only need a FG, in a dome, with the refs paid for.

  126. 126 Baloophi said at 7:38 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Yup.

  127. 127 Corry said at 7:38 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    They had to pay the refs. How the hell do you not call at least holding on that 2 point attempt. Holy shit.

  128. 128 BlindChow said at 7:39 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    And Green Bay’s defense is terrible.

  129. 129 Corry said at 7:39 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Romo is the X-factor here. He can Romo again.

  130. 130 Crus57 said at 7:41 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Please close the ref’s account.

  131. 131 Corry said at 7:41 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    OMG THAT’S AN INT!

  132. 132 Baloophi said at 7:41 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    He did it!! That’s an INT!

  133. 133 Crus57 said at 7:42 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    It is. But can the ref find a way to say it isn’t?

  134. 134 Baloophi said at 7:42 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    He sure can! Tuck rule!

  135. 135 BlindChow said at 7:42 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    If this stands, my week just got a million times better.

  136. 136 Baloophi said at 7:42 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Agreed.

  137. 137 bdbd20 said at 7:39 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Dallas has this one. Perfect setup for Romo to get the winning FG. 2-pt play was huge.

  138. 138 bdbd20 said at 7:41 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Never mind. Romo is unbelieveable.

    Damn.

  139. 139 Stephen Stempo said at 7:55 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Perfect setup for Romo to “Throw Game sealing Int. ” – Edited that for ya

  140. 140 jshort said at 7:41 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    if they don’t call that a clean int…..ref’s are paid off

  141. 141 DamonL86 said at 7:41 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Thats a pick

  142. 142 ACViking said at 7:42 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Romo may be the worst 4th Q – December QB I’ve seen in 50 years.

    I can’t think of anyone remotely close to him.

  143. 143 shah8 said at 7:45 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Don’t know what his deal is.

  144. 144 ACViking said at 7:49 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Beasley pulled up on the INT. What the hell.

    But Romo misread the coverage.

    Seriously, Dallas is years away from winning a SB with Romo.

    It could happen. But I’m thinking “no.”

  145. 145 shah8 said at 7:51 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    he’s got the talent to win it all. Just fuckwittery goes on.

  146. 146 ACViking said at 8:10 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Hard to top that description. Excellent adjective.

  147. 147 Stephen Stempo said at 7:54 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Coaching.

  148. 148 theycallmerob said at 9:49 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Immobile

  149. 149 Tumtum said at 7:42 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Thank god for Tony Romo!!!

  150. 150 Corry said at 7:44 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    TONY ROMO YOU BEAUTIFUL INEPT BASTARD YOU!

  151. 151 Baloophi said at 7:46 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Put a douchey flat cap on this one… it’s over!

  152. 152 Corry said at 7:47 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Kaepernick approves.

  153. 153 Baloophi said at 7:44 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Come on FOX, cut to the Jerry booth!

  154. 154 jshort said at 7:46 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    he left the building!!

  155. 155 Baloophi said at 7:47 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Don’t blame him… that thing is hideous!

  156. 156 jshort said at 7:45 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    lmaorotf

  157. 157 Vick or Nick said at 7:46 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    At 4:15 :/

    At 7:45 😀

  158. 158 bridgecoach said at 7:48 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Green Bay pulls it off! Not such a horrible Sunday after all…

  159. 159 BlindChow said at 7:49 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Allow 48 points to the Vikings, still in first place.

  160. 160 jshort said at 7:51 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    keep the blindfold on …you don’t want to see it.

  161. 161 BC1968 said at 7:51 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Bad Luck Brian is the Cowboys’ quarterback.

  162. 162 Baloophi said at 7:49 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    It’s like today never happened!

  163. 163 Weapon Y said at 7:49 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    No way in Hell can the Eagles beat the Bears. Marshall and Jeffery will tear apart our terrible corners, Fletcher and Williams. We’ll be lucky to come within 20 points of them. Please tell me we get a legit cornerback in next year’s draft.

  164. 164 BC1968 said at 7:50 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Seriously?

  165. 165 Weapon Y said at 10:16 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Yeah, seriously. We’ve been incredibly lucky to face opponents who screwed up a golden opportunity. Terrelle Pryor is a completely inept passer and the Raiders had no offense. Scott Tolzien: ditto. The Redskins receivers are pathetic, but they almost torched us when Shanahan finally decided to throw the ball in the 4th quarter. For whatever reason, Bruce Arians decided to repeatedly run the ball when our strength is run defense and Carson Palmer ate us alive at the end of the 4th quarter when Arians finally let him pass. The snowpocalypse spared us from a 200+ yard receiving game from Calvin Johnson. It’s just surprising that the Vikings of all teams were the ones to solve this incredibly weak pass defense. Unless Cole, Barwin, Cox, Logan, or Thornton can bring a respectable pass rush (dubious considering their ceiling is average at best), we can’t conceal a horrendous secondary.

  166. 166 BlindChow said at 7:50 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    I hope like hell McCoy gets more than 8 carries against that run defense.

  167. 167 Andy124 said at 10:03 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    True. Also hope like hell our D comes to play. And maybe our seals can do something about their big 3.

  168. 168 bridgecoach said at 7:51 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Too early to start stumping for TJ Ward in FA?

  169. 169 shah8 said at 7:52 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Corners usually take years to look good, and there’s not really a sure thing coming out.

  170. 170 Stephen Stempo said at 7:53 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    I don’t know. Jay Cutler will probably throw enough to our team that it’ll be a wash.

  171. 171 47_Ronin said at 8:00 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Yeah maybe, but as Charles Woodson eloquently put it a few years back, “Jay will be Jay” over under is 1.5 TOs for eagles d against cutler

  172. 172 ACViking said at 7:51 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Re: Jerry in the booth

    There’s a TV shot, from 30+ years ago, when a very good Cleveland Browns team blew a game at the end of then-owner Art Modell having an incredibly human reaction to his team’s screw-up. Better than any shot of Jones.

  173. 173 Stephen Stempo said at 7:52 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Saying there were some blown coverages implies that there were some coverages that were not blown.. I challenge you to point those out.

  174. 174 Jernst said at 8:01 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    There were times that we had excellent coverage and then got called for pass interfering the sh$t out of the WR, so there’s that…

  175. 175 Baloophi said at 7:57 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    You can always count on Romo to not count on him.

  176. 176 ICDogg said at 7:59 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Death, Taxes, and Tony Romo throwing a 4th quarter INT.

  177. 177 jshort said at 8:00 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Chip must have known Dallas was going to blow it.

  178. 178 xeynon said at 8:05 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Still.. if we had won today’s game, we’d be playing to sew up the division next week. Worst case scenario is it comes down to a winner-takes-all showdown in Dallas, so on the whole I’m still happy where this season has gone… hard not to view today’s loss as a huge missed opportunity though.

  179. 179 jshort said at 8:10 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    You’re right, we blew it today. Look at the bears as a playoff team. We don’t win that, we have no business in playoffs anyway.

  180. 180 ACViking said at 8:05 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Dallas lost. To a pretty decent GB team — that if Flynn had played against the Eagles, things might had ended differently for the Birds (rubs out NYG game, maybe).

    Cowboys have Washington in D.C. next week. Eagles have Bears.

    Should be a mighty interesting day next Sunday.

  181. 181 BlindChow said at 8:10 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    What’s interesting is the Dallas loss today guarantees the Week 17 game is for the division title. It’s also guaranteed to be the second Prime Time game in a row for the Eagles.

  182. 182 ACViking said at 8:11 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    What if Eagles win and Dallas losses next week?

  183. 183 Stephen Stempo said at 8:11 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    the worst case scenario for the eaglers is that we have to beat dallas for the division. The best case is that dallas loses to washington and we beat the bears and we get to spend that whole game celebrating.

  184. 184 BlindChow said at 8:12 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    In that case I take it all back.

  185. 185 ACViking said at 8:14 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    I think, in the end, you’re right, though.

    Week 17 is for the (bad) NFC East title.

    Which is fine. I’d just like to know that in the WC game against SF, the O-line will show up.

    Don’t want to see Foles running for his life all day . . . because then Chip “Andy” Kelly will disdain the running game after 5 carries. UGH!!!!

  186. 186 Stephen Stempo said at 8:10 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    We’ll know by kick off if the game means anything. If the cowboys win then the bears game really has no implications but if the cowboys lose we can sew it all up.

  187. 187 ACViking said at 8:08 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Looking forward to Eagles hosting 49ers in WC Round. That’ll be entertaining.

  188. 188 ACViking said at 8:08 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Because Tony Romo cannot win in December.

    Get a new QB, Jerry.

  189. 189 BlindChow said at 8:17 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    The best part is, after that contract extension, Romo is locked in for a long, long time…

  190. 190 ACViking said at 8:20 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    that’s great!

    who’s a better G.M. than Jerry?

    I’d love to be a fly-on-the-wall at Fox Studios on Sundays to hear Jimmy Johnson’s off-camera stories about what a knuckle head Jones is as a GM.

    Jones was a brilliant business man. Not so much as a GM.

  191. 191 shah8 said at 8:43 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    That wouldn’t be the point. Jerry Jones is the owner. Just thinking of him as the ultimate fantasy football player. GM? Shemale. Jones wants to do the action, regardless of how competent he judges himself.

  192. 192 Mitchell said at 8:22 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Lol that’s what my wife and I were discussing earlier. I said its gonna be funny when Romo finally leaves and they get a new qb who will probably be even worse lol.

  193. 193 BlindChow said at 8:31 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    It would be amazing if he ends up in a place like Cleveland and takes them to a Super Bowl.

  194. 194 sprawl said at 9:34 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Tony Romo :: 3/29/2013: Signed a seven-year, $119.5 million contract. The deal contains $55 million guaranteed, including a $25 million signing bonus and Romo’s base salaries in years one and two.
    2013: $1.5 million, 2014: $13.5 million,
    2015: $17 million, 2016: $8.5 million,
    2017: $14 million, 2018: $19.5 million,
    2019: $20.5 million, 2020: Free Agent

  195. 195 GEAGLE said at 8:59 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    They just paid Scandrick and he got torched

  196. 196 Andy124 said at 9:59 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    I’d rather they didn’t. Romo is a unique player. Very good, but I’ve never seen anyone with such an obvious December kryptonite. Still, Jerry is a much bigger detriment to that team than Romo is, so hooray for that too.

  197. 197 Michael Jorden said at 8:13 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    So we had SD, MIA, MIN, GB and STL win.. Oh, it was upset week! Well, there you go then.

  198. 198 Stephen Stempo said at 8:18 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    I hadn’t thought of that but yeah.. Odd week.

  199. 199 Michael Jorden said at 8:25 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    I am kind of joking, but it does help put this loss in perspective. Even other very good teams drop what should be a winnable game. And a bunch of them did this week, just like our Birds.

  200. 200 BobSmith77 said at 8:14 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=gLSdxMv0hnZR8M&tbnid=rFt3P_u2j2CusM:&ved=0CAYQjhw&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftexasfishingforum.com%2Fforums%2Fubbthreads.php%2Ftopics%2F6598967%2Fall%2FTony_Romo_haters&ei=vFOuUuvgHfLKsAS534GoCw&psig=AFQjCNEM7N7X0g2Qf0E-s_FApVPTOum9RA&ust=1387242812533878

  201. 201 ACViking said at 8:18 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Nick Foles — whatever his faults — is a very careful QB with the football. Sometimes misses open receivers. Occasional bad read (like today).

    But, after watching Romo this year — a guy more mobile and more talented — I’ll take Foles. And he’s still short of a season’s worth of starts.

  202. 202 OregonDucker said at 8:20 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Completely agree.

  203. 203 ACViking said at 8:21 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    OD . . .

    This was a painful afternoon. Bad karma, indeed.

    And the Dallas loss doesn’t change the fundamentals of this team’s defense: a lagging pass rush and bad D-backfield.

    But the offense? And Foles? Only going to get better.

  204. 204 Mitchell said at 8:21 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    He will continue to get better, that’s for sure.

  205. 205 xeynon said at 8:22 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    I think the expectations of Foles have rocketed up rather too quickly. He wasn’t great today by any means, but at the end of the day, he threw for more than 400 yards, put up 30 points, had only one turnover, and compiled a QB rating over 100 against a pass rush that was in his face all day. It wasn’t a bad performance either – just not on the level of the best he’s had this season.

  206. 206 ACViking said at 8:23 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    X —

    A great point that applies to too many young players in every sport.

    And to too much of every-day life.

    We expect everything and everyone to be great today . . . and certainly no later than tomorrow.

  207. 207 BobSmith77 said at 8:23 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    I was more impressed how he kept responding and moving the team down the field especially late in the 3rd quarter & 4th quarter. Kept his composure, generally didn’t force bad throws, and was even-keeled. It wasn’t the Dallas game where he did become mentally unhinged once they got behind.

    Sieve of a defense just couldn’t get a stop when they needed to including in the red zone.

  208. 208 ACViking said at 8:24 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    That opening 3rd Q drive hurt.

    As for the 2nd-down sack, though, I’d like to put a timer to it. It happened so damn quick — and on the field, it’s happening in the blink of an eye.

  209. 209 iceberg584 said at 8:44 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Yeah, if the Birds’ defense was able to just get a few stops in the second half, then we’d be talking about the huge second half comeback for Foles.

  210. 210 BobSmith77 said at 8:22 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Romo’s 4th QB comebacks/winning drives often get overlooked but man it is hard to after some of his 4th quarter/OT career INTs.

  211. 211 ACViking said at 8:25 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    His Decembers overshadow his 4th Qs.

  212. 212 Mitchell said at 8:23 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    That Ertz TD doe

  213. 213 deshawnbentley said at 8:24 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    :datass:

  214. 214 ACViking said at 8:28 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    The whole season’s gravy at this point — playoffs or not.

    Foles is pretty darn good, especially for a 2nd year QB with less than a season of starts and in his 2nd offensive system in 2 years.

    The Eagles’ defense . . . needs lots of work.

  215. 215 BobSmith77 said at 8:31 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Disagree on the playoffs. If they lose their final 3 and are home in Jan., it will have been a disappointing season to finish up at 8-8 especially after what happened today in the Dallas game.

  216. 216 TheRogerPodacter said at 8:38 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    yea i want to see the team reach 9 wins, personally.

  217. 217 Mitchell said at 11:26 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    I think they will for sure. We are facing some terrible defenses down the stretch. I don’t see anyway how we lose to the cowboys now, although we weren’t supposed to lose today.

  218. 218 Insomniac said at 11:52 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Yea well..there can’t be as weak as a secondary in what we just played this week.

  219. 219 Mitchell said at 12:09 AM on December 16th, 2013:

    mmmm, well played sir

  220. 220 ztom6 said at 9:54 AM on December 16th, 2013:

    They most likely will, one way or another. An Eagles win next week plus Dallas loss clinches the division, making the last game meaningless for the Eagles. If Dallas wins the early game next week against WAS however, the Bears game is meaningless for the Eagles and they will likely rest their starters.

    They could still finish 8-8 if they lose to both Chicago and Dallas. But I still think most likely they finish 9-7 and win the division. I’d hate to see us robbed of what could have been a very entertaining game against Chicago, but no matter what I’m fairly confident they will beat Dallas in the finale.

  221. 221 Michael Jorden said at 7:46 AM on December 16th, 2013:

    Before the season I thought they’d be 8-8 best case and doubted they would be in it for the Div lead. I knew guys that thought I was dreaming – they were calling for 6 wins based on switching to the 3-4 and letting both Nnamdi and DRC walk.

    Personally I can take the improvements they’ve made and the 8 wins and call it a success. I really want them to take the Div over Dallas though, just never expected it would happen.

  222. 222 Andy124 said at 9:56 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    One minute, we’re all rejoicing that we’re playing with house money. One loss later and the sky is falling.

    We’re not as good as we look at our best, and we’re not as bad as we looked today, though I don’t deny that next week looks a good bit more daunting than it did 9 hours ago.

  223. 223 BlindChow said at 8:35 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bbkfae4CMAA2EmM.jpg

  224. 224 Michael Jorden said at 7:41 AM on December 16th, 2013:

    Hahahaa

  225. 225 Mike Roman said at 8:41 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Doomed In The Dome? Can’t you humor us and rename this article “Are You F*cking Kidding Me?”

    I think that more accurately reflects our sentiments.

  226. 226 GEAGLE said at 8:57 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Bree’s lost to rams
    Brady lost
    Peyton lost
    Romo choked against Flynn

    If that’s what bad games look like with FOles, I’ll be tickled pink..

    In other news I’m sweating trying to overcome facing jaamal Charles in fantasy. I’m up 10, I got Gio Bernard left, he has Torry smith….sweating this out

  227. 227 A_T_G said at 9:01 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    I’m down 5 ( which equals about 8 in normal scoring leagues) with Calvin left for me and Green for him.

  228. 228 Corry said at 9:10 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    9-4 Cinci looks awful against the 5-8 Steelers so far.

  229. 229 truehaynes said at 12:20 AM on December 16th, 2013:

    i scored a respectable 107 points with foles as my Qb. unfortunately my opponent had jamal charles and the seahawks D and scored 160.

  230. 230 ICDogg said at 9:23 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    http://dailysnark.com/wp-content/gallery/top-10-tony-romo-memes/tonyromo9.png

  231. 231 SteveH said at 9:32 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Holy. Fuck.

    I stopped watching the Cowboys game because I thought it was over, and I missed one of the greatest Romo implosions of all time?! How is this even possible!

  232. 232 jshort said at 9:42 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    It’s not over till It’s over.

  233. 233 jshort said at 9:44 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    NFC East…0-4 today

  234. 234 SteveH said at 9:47 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    How about Eli today huh? How that guy can even tie his shoes in the morning is a mystery sometimes.

  235. 235 Corry said at 9:55 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    He tried, but the Seahawks intercepted his left shoe.

  236. 236 A Big Butt and a Smile said at 9:55 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    lol

  237. 237 SteveH said at 9:47 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Russell Shepard sighting.

    http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/blooper-tampa-bay-botches-trick-kickoff-return-giving-223711961–nfl.html?vp=1

  238. 238 Michael Jorden said at 7:39 AM on December 16th, 2013:

    Dang, that sucks for him. I prefer the Russell Shepard sighting over the Shaun Prater sighting though.

  239. 239 ezgreene said at 9:56 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    To me, this loss really surfaces the main problem this team has. The lack of singular talents on Defense. Cox is close, but not quite there. And the 3-4 scheme works against him. Maybe in the coming draft the team can get a strong OLB or CB. That’s what the team really needs.

  240. 240 SteveH said at 9:58 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    I gotta admit, I was pretty aggravated about the loss today, but seeing the Cowboys lose, especially in spectacular meltdown fashion, well, its hard to stay mad when that happens.

  241. 241 P_P_K said at 11:14 PM on December 15th, 2013:

    Ah, the joy of hating the Cowboys.

  242. 242 Scott J said at 7:27 AM on December 16th, 2013:

    I feel like I was beaten with a reality stick.

  243. 243 BlindChow said at 7:47 AM on December 16th, 2013:

    Me too. I was completely knocked off the Billy Davis bandwagon. His defense was totally unprepared.