Context
Posted: September 29th, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 160 Comments »The Eagles lost and that sucks. I hate losses. They make life less enjoyable. The sun isn’t as bright. The PBR isn’t as cold. The Funyuns aren’t as Funyunny. Megan Fox isn’t quite as Funyunny. And so on.
But…
I don’t get some of the rage that some Eagles fans are showing today. I get venting a bit after a crappy day. We’re all human and you just hate to see the Birds lose. But where is the over-the-top anger coming from?
A year ago the Eagles were 1-3. Right now they are 3-1.
The Saints are now 1-3 and got dominated by Dallas. Rob Ryan’s magical defense from a year ago looks completely gone. That team has some major issues.
The Panthers are 2-2, but their defense is struggling in a big way. They have been blown out the last 2 weeks and their defense has allowed just 8 fewer points than the Eagles.
Atlanta is 2-2 and has bad losses to MIN and CIN.
The Packers and Bears are both 2-2 and have looked highly erratic.
The Niners needed today’s ugly win to get to 2-2 and they still have a ton of issues.
Even the Seahawks are less than a juggernaut right now. They’re 2-1 and last week’s game went to OT.
It is simply too early in the season to know much about any team. Last year the Lions were 3-1 after 4 games, but finished only 7-9. The Panthers started 1-3 and finished the year 12-4. Teams are done with a quarter of the season. We have some clues about who they will be, but no definitive answers.
It is absolutely fair to be frustrated with the Eagles, 3-1 record or not. The team has played sloppy football all year long. I guess it boils down to how you look at things. Are the Eagles a sloppy football team that got lucky for 3 weeks and will now be exposed? Or is this a team that is good enough to win ugly and will be a real force if they ever put all the pieces together?
I trust Chip Kelly. I still see a lot of talent on the Eagles roster. I believe this team will play better in the coming weeks. I still have high hopes for them.
That doesn’t mean it will happen. You can feel just the opposite and that’s fine. I just don’t get the rage. This team was never going to go undefeated. There is no shame in losing at SF. Sure the Eagles were sloppy in the other games, but look at some of the other teams and the awful losses they had. The Eagles played a stinker today and lost on the road by 5 points. This is hardly the end of the world.
The biggest issue right now is the O-line. Their struggles are affecting Nick Foles, LeSean McCoy and the rest of the skill players. Let’s hope Lane Johnson is in great shape and is ready to go. Putting him at RT and sliding Todd Herremans back to RG would help the line in a big way. Every week that goes by means the return of Evan Mathis and Jason Kelce should be closer. If the projected starting OL can be together for the stretch run, that will be huge.
I don’t think there is any need to panic. If you have learned any lesson in the Chip Kelly era, it should be to let things play out. Games aren’t over at the end of the 1st quarter and neither are seasons. You play for 60 minutes and 16 games a year. Kelly has proven to be a master at making adjustments and getting improved play. And it is always better to work on problems when you are 3-1 instead of 1-3.
I wish the Eagles were playing great football and looked like a juggernaut, but that’s not the case right now. I see plenty of reasons to question Kelly and the players, but I don’t see any reason to write them off and act as if this team is a lost cause.
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For me it’s frustrating b/c it seems like we haven’t been able to put together a complete game. The offensive potential looks great but seems limited by our ability to hit on plays. Why don’t Foles and Maclin have better rapport? Why can’t Foles connect with Celek? Why are we only generating 20 rushing yards a game? I think our inability to hit on plays downfield is killing our running game even more b/c the defense doesn’t feel like they need to honor it with extra guys in coverage. Frustrating that when we finally have a defense that plays decent and helps from ST we can’t shut out on offense. Frustrating b/c SF looked terrible the last couple of weeks and then we lay an egg.
All that said I think about BAL when they won the SB, Giants the last time they won, they were banged up during the season and finally put it together at the end of the season and went on a run. So part of me thinks potential is there, but can we put it together.
i’m with you on playing a complete game. difference between good and great teams is consistency. we have been all over the place this year.
I think alot of people are frustrated that today we lost a game we should have won and we could be 4-0. Compounding that frustration is the fact that the team was not even remotely fun to watch today.
There is still plenty of season but this team has got to put together a full game to make many fans feel like last year was not a fluke.
Well the first half was fun watching live. Blocked punt recovery in end zone, interception return for TD and a punt return TD. I think there’s no greater play to watch live than a special teams return for a score that really gets people amped.
We also won two games we arguably should’ve lost and could be 1-3. You’re not going to win every close game.
While I appreciate your glass optimism, we are not talking about a game that we were 30 yards away from tying the score….We has 1st and goal inside their 5 with less than 2 minutes to go with a chance to go up at least 2, probably 3 points there. 3rd and goal from the 1, 4th and goal from the 1-nada. We should have had this one. There is no moral victory obtained here. Indy was a game we got lucky on.
I didn’t call it a moral victory. It was a loss. But that’s all it was – one loss, early in the regular season, against a quality opponent on the road. Hardly the kind of thing that derails a season.
The 49ers defended those last two plays well. Sometimes defenses make good goal line stands, especially good defenses. That’s football.
I respect your opinion and I agree that the sky is not falling. This was a demoralizing loss any way you slice it though. My personal belief is that we should have run the ball at least one of the last 2 downs at the goal line with polk or Sproles.
Not end of world or season but seems like nobody wants to admit how bad foles has regressed. Over throwing receivers leaving pocket to soon just looks bad three bad games and 1 good game. He is biggest reason for slow start to every game. Chips playcalling isn’t that great either why have shurmur if can’t do his job nobody thinks chip should give shurmur a chance to call a game
sophmore slump?
I have to wonder if the change of QB coach is part of the problem.
maybe but it’s not like tannehill looks like a stud, except for when he plays the raiders
Lazor isn’t qb coach there he’s OC.
I been thinking the same. His mechanics are off from last year. Isn’t keeping his shoulders pointed or feet set, no urgency too timid. Something is off.
I am not sure he has regressed. Last year he had the best OL, running game, and potentially offensive schemes in the league. He looked better than he really is. This year, the OL disaster(s), Cooper looking like one of the worst starting WR in the NFL, make him look worse than he is. His true level is somewhere in the middle, and with the OL (hopefully) improving, so will he.
That’s all true but he also made his share of downfield throws. He hasn’t really connected on a single one so far this year.
No, the makeshift offensive line is the biggest reason for the slow start. No running game + constant pressure/disrupted timing is going to make any quarterback look a lot worse.
I think the high level of hate comes from the fact that as good as we think this team is, the offense can have a game where they score 0 points. There are plenty of positives to the season so far, but the fact that we can have games like this is disheartening. I know that the injuries are really significant, but I still thought we were better even at our lowest. Plus, I now live in California and I am surrounded by NIners fans. Work is going to suck tomorrow.
I think the “rage” stems from the fact that had we played an average game on offense we would have walked out of the stadium 4-0. Instead, we took our first snaps inside of 49er territory with 6 minutes left in the game.
Shady looks awful. I’m not going to sugar coat it. You can talk about the OL all you want, but Sproles is averaging 6 YPC. Shady is not playing well and it’s not the OL’s fault.
This team is ranked worse than 20th in literally every yardage statistic except for passing.
That’s pathetic.
I agree with this. People keep saying stuff like “when we finally get it together we’ll be great!” and yet every week there’s one aspect of the team that just fails miserably. I think the rage comes from the slow realization that this team just might not be able to get it together this year…
Good teams peak in december
Shady’s banged up, has to be. He looks noticeably slower. With him struggling there’s more pressure on Foles and I am not a believer, Chip still needs to draft his guy at QB.
question: how the fuck are the cowboys 3-1? this doesn’t seem possible
someone forgot to tell them they were going to have the worst defense ever.
It’s crazy. I went from being worried about Washington on Thursday afternoon to thinking maybe we should be worried about the Giants on Thursday night, to actually worrying about the Cowboys on Sunday night.
If we could ever get everyone back healthy & play a complete game the way we’re capable of maybe I wouldn’t worry at all.
That offense is really good when healthy and sadly Garrett has figured out he has one of the best RBs in the NFL
It’s September. Romo and the boys have actually done pretty well in the early season. Their issue has been December/January.
Also the team is still healthy and their play caller is actually using Murray.
defense is way better than expected and murray is beasting. mccoy is killing my fantasy season.
Who cares…. Have you met December Romo? Lol
A lot of the rage comes from folks who were wrong and can’t stand to admit it. The rest comes from the folks who secretly think they could do it better than the pros.
The defense missed Kendricks today, I think he could’ve helped stop the outside runs. Corey Williams enabled the 49’rs their 3rd TD by his aggressive play and getting called for holding (or maybe that was a 49er call), but still it took the 49ers from failing to convert a 3rd and long and not an easy FG, to 1st down to where they marched close to the end zone and threw it in for a TD against the guy Williams was covering.
Of course Ertz gets a lot of blame for giving the ball up on our side of the field.
Its disappointing we didn’t win a game that sure seemed winnable, but we won some games that we probably didn’t “deserve” to win such as the Colts game. That was just a pure gift. The Redskin game wasn’t a cake walk either.
We could have easily been 1-3 at this point.
Hopefully the team pulls it together, and gets back some productive starters.
I think it’s real interesting how Jenkins and Sproles are two of our better players these days. Great pickups. I think Foles would’ve looked a lot better if his WR’s held on to the ball, or make the catches they should be making. He’s not perfect, but he didn’t get a lot of help today either.
“That’s my secret, I’m always angry.”
I was there. Drank way too much, acted like an obnoxious jerk, and almost cried in my seat at the end. Love seeing defense and STs playing well, but getting shut out on offense is humiliating. Where is the tempo? What happened to run blocking? Was Foles concussed?
Is Riley Cooper serviceable? I don’t have a PFF subscription but my money says he very well may be the worst graded WR in the league right now.
My 11 year old, petite little NIECE playing on the boys team is more reliable. And she’s just doing it for fun because she was bored cheer leading. But she is a niners fan, and I got to watch her experience a victory at her first NFL game. That’s the only reason I’m not still crying.
I’m frustrated with McCoy mostly. He’s bouncing outside too much again.
He would have like 3 more yards than he has now if he stopped bouncing runs outside…WTF do you expect him to do? There is no holes for him to run..
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How do you blame it on shady? When Sproles comes in, he has the same exact issue, no where to run.,,
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If shady were to run straight, there is still no where to go right now
Obviously the offensive line is an issue right now but I can’t help to think that there would be a lot more opportunity both in the passing game and in the running game if we had DeSean Jackson lining up with Jeremy Maclin right now. And I am thinking that not because DeSean Jackson is some elite irreplaceable receiver, but because Riley Cooper is just awful.
Say what you will about all the various issues this team has right now, but Riley Cooper let a win sail right through his hands in the end zone today.
At this point we’d be better off with Jeff Maehl or Brad Smith lining up as the #2 receiver.
3 of those incomplete passes on long balls are 100% passes Jackson would have run under and and made catches.
Completely agree. Disappointment and frustration are fine, but the level of overreaction in some places is just embarrassing.
The hardest part of that game for me is that we didn’t even need the offense to be good – one or two more plays would’ve been enough – and they couldn’t even manage that.
I still think 90% of the issues here are on the OL and as Tobin/Molk get more experience and/or Mathis and Kelce come back, we’ll get back to where we were last year.
i really like that 90% figure, and i’d add that 5-6% of it is foles is just generally “off”
I wonder a bit whether some of the rage is coming from younger fans who haven’t followed this team that long. I’m not that old (I just turned 35), but old enough to remember at least a dozen Eagles losses more frustrating than this one.
San Francisco has issues, but they were in the NFC Championship game last year, we were playing them in their barn, and they were desperate for a win and played their best game of the year so far. Our offense was horrendous and we still came with a yard and a half of beating them. I’m not happy with that result, but it doesn’t seem worth tearing hair out over either.
I’m in your age bracket, but a few years older, and remember many of those same losses I’m sure.
However, I’m not trying to hear about San Fran in recent years. Their 2014 D is diminished due to suspensions, injuries,and two years of free agent defections. The Cards and Bears spent the last two 2nd halves going up and down the field on that D. That poor level of blocking would be understandable if we’re talking 2012 Niners D, but not yesterday.
Guess what? Our 2014 offense is also diminished due to suspensions, injuries, and free agent defections.
The Bears played well against SF, but have looked bad in other games this year. The Cards will look bad at some point this year. That’s football.
“I don’t get some of the rage that some Eagles fans are showing today”
Had we lost to Indy, but one today. I wouldn’t have been in rage mode.
Simply put, I HATE THE NINERS. I HATE KAEPERNICK. I HATE HARBAUGH.
Tommy’s conclusions about one loss not being the end of the world, especially under the circumstances, are apt; but I still hate the Niners.
One positive thing is, the special teams is playing at a high level. When was the last time we scored a punt and KO TD in the same year? Add a blocked punt and blocked FG, plenty touchbacks and good FG% and we have a dominating ST
According to FO, we had the worst special teams in the league last year! So that is indeed a good thing. Our D is playing well according to the metrics. It’s just the offense that needs to get it together, and guess what–they’re missing their OL. It’s possible this team could gel and get hot at the end of the year.
We was 25th in ST dvoa, Redskins had worst ST last year
I’m also in the mood to demand that every writer who spent time fluffing Tobin and Molk this pre-season write a full apology today.
Wouldn’t be surprised to see Tobin play better and better with each game that passes….Molk is a major question tho
It was certainly a painful reminder that, regardless of the Kelly factor, the team is a couple of solid draftees and FA acquisitions away from really having their act together, and that injuries can lay waste to any team’s best laid plans.
Foles was subpar- those overthrows were painful- but the man has been taking a beating. The run game and the screen game are clearly both big losers right now, too. Sure, there’s a bit of playcalling error there, and I think we’re all worried about Shady, but that Franken-line just can’t hang with decent defenses.
I wonder how much we’ve been relying on getting the opposing defenses gassed in order to stage those stunning second halves. I was already worried vs. the Skins when the O didn’t get on the field for almost the whole first quarter; this time around was just stone cold terrible in terms of offensive productivity and pushing the Niners’ D.
At least our defense is showing us something. To get that many sacks against Kaep was a surprise to say the least. Getting Kendricks back will be huge, but nothing’s going to make our CBs any more talented this year. God I miss some of the guys we used to have back there.
Hopefully these next two “easier” games, and the coming bye, will afford Kelly and the team some ability to regroup, be productive, and hopefully get healthy. Curious to see how the players and coaches react to this outing over the coming days.
Amen. Kill the Rams. End the Giants season! 5-1
A little piece of humble pie doesn’t do any harm..
Quite bitter.
For me, when it comes to my Eagles, I always overreact in the immediate aftermath of a loss…Give me a few hours when the anger subsides and I have much more clear, level-headed thoughts.
I’m not feeling rage today. I’m just disappointed that our offense couldn’t even manage to play a below-average game today. In the words of Charles Barkley, the offense was ‘terrible (damn autocorrect won’t let me spell it like Chuck would say it).’ I mean, how cool was it to see our ST’s generate 2 touch downs??? How awesome was it to see Jenkins return that int??? I had flashbacks of Eric Allen in ’93 (or was it 94 when he had all those great returns???). I expected a let down today, but not in that fashion.
It just bothers me that we got manhandled in that fashion (mainly on offense, but run D was putrid too). This almost looked just like Chip’s college days at Oregon. The team would rip through everyone, but would look completely lifeless against physical, smash-mouth teams like Stanford with Harbaugh.
But yeah, no need for rage. The team will get better – especially as their health improves (hopefully). I guess it also stings a bit bc it’s now looking like we might have legit competition with DalASS and NYG playing much better football this year.
I hate that the story is that this one is on the offensive line….they did not play that bad.
Mccoy not getting north and south, count the number of plays he went north and south…he was getting positive yards..every play he danced…he got stuffed…defenses know how to stop that now…he has to get north and south. sproles comes in and gets 5 yards and 4 yard carries. we needed to get 2 and short and third and short
Foles had time….he jus tmissed on so many throws….he had time….Yeah there was pressure, but he had time far more times than he didnt…in the redzone, why would he throw it high and to the back? and then say it in the press conference like that was the right thing…hes gotta throw it in the endzone at that point….even if the ball is picked…it was 4th down…..idk why that was the philosophy on that play.
the playcalling was terrible…why was there nothing called over the middle of the field seemingly….all of your best recievers targets are at the sideline….it was predictable…put sproles in the game, and you throw it to him….didnt see that coming….(I saw it coming)….the 49ers saw it to…why not run a draw? why not go back to the post fade, which they were open…but foles missed everyone of those attempts….and on the one…..that was terrible….i dont care how bad they thought the running game was..you get that close…you run the ball at least once….how about having mccoy take a jump over the line of scrimmage?
This game, was beyond frustrating…if kapernick doesnt make so many mental mistakes…that defense we have doesnt hold and we get blown out…..it seems to me that we get postive plays on mistakes of our oppenent. not because of anything those players do particularly…with exceptions….i mean boldin catches a 3 yard pass and picks up a first down….over the middle…riley cooper….catches a 3 yard pass and gets demolished….
this team needs alot of improvement…this week proved to me what this team is…below average.
we needed a win vs an elite team..and san fran has been been playing well below their talent level…and we still struggled.
pitiful…
Gotta disagree with you here. The offensive line was awful in this game. Shady had to dance and reverse field because half the time there were already two or three 49ers defenders in the backfield by the time he took the handoff. Ian Williams and Justin Smith just destroyed the Eagles’ interior trio. As for pass blocking, Foles may not have been sacked, but that was mostly down to his getting rid of the ball quickly. He did miss a few throws on which he got good protection, but for the most part he was constantly being forced to get rid of the ball early or throw without setting his feet and the result was the scattershot performance we all saw. That interception on the deep ball, for example, was underthrown because he got hit as he was releasing the ball. As I said, awful offensive line work.
I have no clue how anyone is excusing the OL..
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Offenses only go as far as your OL takes you… Our puppies got handled up front yesterday
You make a great point. But shady only reversed field twice in 17 carries. and how many negative carries has sproles had? not nearly as many. the offensive line hasnt been great…but shady is not getting north and south. because the offensive line is make shift…he has to alter his style knowing he wont get the opportunity to dance in the backfield.
Foles missed more than a few throws. He missed many throws. Evident from his completion percentage and attempts vs comp..and he had time. he got hit a few times, but so was kapernick…..
my point is….regardless of what they came in this game with, they needed to make adjustements…and what I saw was…the same plays from last week…the double fake screen they keep running…foles inaccuracy which has been going on since preseason….shady not getting north and south..
basically the offensive had a makeshift line, but being makeshift…they played their best…it wasnt like foles didnt have the opportunity to make plays…
where was the quick slant? where was the in routes? Foles was ignoring those routes…or perhaps they werent in the game plan…idk..but the offensive line should not take the lionshare of the blame for how that offense performed…IMO..Foles and shady need to make adjustments, and soon
Foles and Shady deserve some blame. Neither played well. But when your offensive line is playing like crap (and the Eagles’ was), it screws up everything else on the offense. They deserve 75% of the blame for this performance. Football is a game of timing and coordination. An offensive line getting dominated completely disrupts both.
I hear ya. But if thats the best we are gonna get from a banged up line. 2nd and 7 is a hellova lot better than 2nd and 14.
We gotta take what the defense is giving us. If we could have drove the field and kicked a couple of field goals. then we win that game.
The first drive, foles had well over three seconds to throw the ball. the average is like 2.5 seconds….looking at the statistics on time after this game, he has been getting time and had time in this game…yeah he had pressure some times and we all remember the molk hold and the justin smith pressure that caused the interception….but the oline, if it was crap…sacks would have happened…..ask the jaguars.
With that being said….Foles missed so many passes….so many….and many of them…he had a normal amount of pressure…it seemed he was off…not the recievers not the oline.
but I get it…the coach says the oline was terrible…thats the narrative. perhaps im just seeing it the wrong way..
but if shady gets us to 3rd and 6….thats a heck of alot better for our conversion chances and better for the playaction game…if we just commit to running the ball between the tackles to sure up these defenses…the offense is just predictable right now..
its gonna be a screen, outside sweep, outside curl, or the post….thats not gonna get it done vs elite defenses..
Well, the rage concerns the fact that this is a game that we should have won. If the defense and ST give you 21 points you simply cannot lose that game. When the defense covers for the pathetic offense for all but 4 minutes of the game, and if not for dubious officiating on the drive after the Ertz fumble, this is an absolute disgrace, it is inexcusable. It is deemed inexcusable for a team like Jacksonville, and it is for a team like the Eagles.
We GAVE the 49ers this game. The offense is just pathetic, and has been pretty much for the first half (or even longer) for every single game this season.
And to blame it on the O-line in many ways is an absolute cop-out. Foles was pressured some, but often had forever. His deep balls were absolutely pathetic today. His decision-making on occasion extremely dubious and hesitant. McCoy needs to follow his blocks, rather than dance around. Mathews, Maclin and Sproles were the only offensive skill-players that showed up today.
This is the type of loss that WILL come back to haunt you big time, either in the division (now tied with Dallas!), or within the conference (HFA race).
And the Colts game is one we should have lost.
It is a long season. Every team ends up losing a game or two like this at some point. Relax.
As for the playoff seedings – it is way, WAY too early to start worrying about that. At this time last year the team was 1-3 and we were wondering who they’d take with their top 5 draft pick. Meanwhile Detroit looked to be right up there with Seattle and San Francisco as one of the best teams in the NFC, and they ended up 7-9. Again, relax.
U ever play football? OL effects EVERYTHING on offense,,
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How many times have you seen a OL play like shit yet the offense still looked great? Ever see Brady or Manning behind an OL that isn’t holding up?
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OL ties into everything
Yes, I have played (in fact played O-line, and decided to quit since I was unable to put in the time that I thought it needed, and was getting others killed). Yes, O-line affects a lot, but when talking about Brady and Manning, they have made their O-line probably look (much) better than they are…
As far as the running game goes, the O-line is much more culpable than in the passing games. Foles had quite a bit of time on more than a few occasions, and still managed to make a mess of it. His deep balls were atrocious, for instance.
This was much more than the O-line being not good…
It’s only year 2 of the Chip Kelly regime, people…settle down a bit.
Clock struck twelve our Cinderella OL.
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What hurts about this loss is wasting such a great effort by the defense and special teams,,,
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We have been having major OL trouble since the season started. It’s really a testament to these coaches and players that we managed to win 3 games without paying the price for our OL woes…last night it caught up to us, and we finally had to pay the “bad o line tax”…
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You know your coach and your team are on the right track when you can go on the road, with 3 inexperienced backup interior lineman, face some elite DL like Justin Smith, and still expect to win the game to the point where a loss infuriates you…
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Don’t think we will ever see too many cases, where the offensive line has a rough day, but the offense still manages to operate well
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It also hurts to see such a rough day on offense, yet your QBs is able to muster up a late game drive…March us up field all the way to the goaline, and not be able to punch it in…. Talk about a kick in the nuts,,,
was feeling bad about this game then saw saints get pummeled. even sea has lost a game this year its whatever. sucks to see the offense get manhandled – i really thought kelly would have had a solution for the o-line, but when you’re just not as talented it’s hard.
Molk is going to be the Key!
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We get Lane back. Tobin is going to be better and better every week…..Molk is the question… Need to get him coached up to a servicable level..
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I can’t take all the praise the Niners defense is getting for shutting us down… Congrats, Justin smith was able to beat Molk, Tobin and a kelly….congrats idiots
we have the best ol in the league — hard to replace best center. think i’ll feel worse when other people lose o line
Seeing the Saints get pummeled made it so much worse for me. Watching Dallas win after an Eagles loss makes me want to punch myself in the head.
The first quarter of the season is in the books…
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3-1 as opposed to last years 1-3 even tho we are playing a tough schedule this year, and aren’t enjoying the great health we had last year…
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If we can go 3-1 in each quarter, that’s a 12-4 season….I’d take that all day
…l
After every 4 games, Chip will self scout us, and I’m sure we will add some new wrinkles for these next 4 games…
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I had us going 4-0 and then losing a trap game to the Rams,,,. Since we lost yesterday, this team HAS to beat the rams.. They should be striving to never lose two games in a row… Fortunately, we should be better this week, with Lane returning to Novacare today, Herremans moving back to guard, Tobin should be better next week having gotten some experience yesterday…. The question mark that remains, is Molk,,
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A kid like Molk is going to improve every week as he gains more experience and gets more reps with the ones,,,but how much will he improve? Will he improve enough to reach an acceptable level?… The return of Lane is HUGE. Couldn’t happen at a better time….but we still need to get this center position up to soeed…
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Offensive line was so poor, we could never get into a Rythem, move the chains, so we can wear them down with our tempo… Guess that’s what it looks like when you can’t get our offense rolling and you take our tempo out of the equation…
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Didn’t want to lose yesteday, but I’m not pissed about it….
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The only part that really hurts is that Niners team was a joke. They do NOT deserve to win a game after how they player yesterday.l..
today the putting was on fire but not one drive on the fairway and plenty of ob. short game also was a mess. if this was golf we’d have gone through a few sleeves of balls.
The rage comes from the frustration of losing a game we should have won. For me, it’s mostly irrational.
The injuries on the offensive line are obviously hurting the team. You can’t get manhandled in the trenches and expect to win. Yesterday had other problems though. Between the flag happy officiating crew and our own players stupid mistakes feeding into the flag happy crew, with our offensive line woes, it made it damn near impossible to win. Each drive yesterday, with the exception of one, we had a penalty forcing us behind the chains. You can’t get any rhythm when you’re constantly in 1st and 15, 2nd and 20, etc especially when your offensive line couldn’t stop a girl scout troop. Our team needs to be a lot smarter about penalties to have any hope of winning.
In addition to the penalties, Shady has to get North-South. He can’t keep dancing around. I know he has virtually no room to run, but 2nd and 10 is better than 2nd and 13-14. I’m pretty surprised Kelly hasn’t tried Polk. I understand letting your players play their way out of a slump, but we need something out of our run game. Sproles (when it isn’t called back by a penalty) is able to at least pick up a little positive yardage by getting up field as fast as possible.
Also, I’ve put pictures Riley Cooper’s hands on milk cartons. Hopefully someone finds and returns them to him.
I think Freddie Mitchell may have stolen Cooper’s hands. And pawned them.
Agree with your perspective.
BUT
knowing the OL was full of holes and Foles’ mobility is limited, offensive genius coaching should have a goal line package that uses the 4 TE on the roster, that uses the run/pass threat posed by the more mobile Brad Smith. And what about Chris Polk?? It seems they talk about versatility when assembling the roster but forgot about it when preparing this week.
Granted, the reason they were in a position to win were unpredictable, but it was possible all week that they might need a goal line package that was adapted to the adverse circumstances and they didn ‘t have one.
I put this one on the coach.
I’m not even mad about the game…surprised how well I’m taking it…
..
I’m more mad about this being one of those weeks where I have to avoid reading eagles article and peoples comments…I’m sure the absurdness and stupidity will be at an all time high this week
yeah everyone loses. sucks to get shut out on offense, hopefully we can win next week though we’re going against another stout front 7
Important to win this week,,
,,,
Originally I expect to go 4-0 and lose to the rams… But now that we lost to Niners, we have to set a precedent that we will never lose two games in a row…so spanking the rams will be important
Yep. No ESPN for a week.
I gotta sit here and listen to dopes praise the Niners defense for shutting down an offense 3/5 of the line inexperienced players that no one ever heard of..
…
We lost yesterday, but does anyone actually think the Niners are the better team? The annoying part is that team sucked. They didn’t even deserve to win… But you are going to have bad weeks in the NFL…I’d rather us lose cuz we can’t overcome backups, than to have a healthy team that just had a bad day…
…
A lot of good came from yesterday. ST and defense took major steps forward.. We lost because of our offense and that brings me comfort because we all know chips offense isn’t going to struggle very often…
…
No big deal. Welcome back Lane Johnson!!!!
the ol wasn’t responsible for those 200 rushing yards the d allowed. the d still isn’t that great. nick had time in the pocket but if you get pressure with 3/4 guys it’s going to be hard to find open guys to pass to.
I was thrilled with how our defense played yesterday
yeah they played a lot.
Me too, if they play like that weekly we will win many more games this season. Lots of self-inflicted wounds this week. They’ll get it right. We’ll be 5-1 at the bye and getting ready for the late season run.
The defense was great yesterday. A couple of missed plays but that will happen when you are on the field for over 42 minutes.
Yes, everyone is stupid but you.
No just the blow whore poor excuse for a man groupie like you who consistently swings from my nuts… Don’t get mad at me that no one pays attention to you.. Lol want a hug bitch boy?
Keep it up. One day you’ll grow up and realize that only complete losers spend as much time on football as you do.
OMG that was brutal. It’s like you know you’re not going to go undefeated but that doesn’t make it any easier. After that physical game against Washington, I didn’t expect the team to go to the west coast against a desperate 49ers team and win, but the way in which we lost just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. When you get 3 TDs from defense and special teams, you should be able to win the game. I just couldn’t believe how inept the offense was. After the first 3 games, I was just waiting for them to snap out of it and they never did. I’m really not a religious man, but I do thank God for alcohol.
Is there a chance that mcCoy’s wheels have fallen off and he isn’t who he was? realize the OL is hurt and not playing well, but McCoy is not addign anything out there,
I don’t think the wheels have fallen off. I think he’s so desperate to break a big run that he’s in his head. Like a baseball player in a hitting slump. You get on yourself so much that you end up hurting the situation more than you help.
I think it’s unlik for a relatively low mileage player with no real injury history to lose his athleticism completely at 26yr old…even at RB. You can expect those guys to last until 28-29 no problem. After 29 a lot fall apart but some keep going. 26 would be shocking.
I think its a combination of a few things. One the lines run blocking is atrocious right now, two Shadys trying to compensate for their shitty blocking by trying to do the miraculous rather than just plow ahead for 4 yards. Finally, I think Shady lost too much weight this offseason. Someone who was already skinny like him can’t really lose 10-15 pounds of fat because there simply isn’t that much fat to lose so they end up losing muscle. Shady lost weight and somehow looks slower and less quick…he also looks weak and not strong enough to pass block effectively or break even weak arm tackles. If the run blocking improves with the return of our starters he should still be effective. But I’m worried about how weak he looks. He got destroyed in pass protection yesterday!
Yeah, Shady was really, really bad in blitz pick-up yesterday. That concerned me more than his failure to hit the (not always there and never big) holes with authority.
Foot still not 100%? Foles has different QB coach? 3 linemen who have played for 5 minutes? Kelly’s unwillingness to give the ball to a different RB? I was unable to watch the whole game, but I still saw Foles with plenty of time, completely unable to see open receivers or unwilling to make a decision! Then finally seeing if he could throw the ball into the stands a couple of times. Yes the understudy linemen were bad at times, but they were not bad ALL of the time. I don’t like Kelly blaming them publicly for the loss. They were not the whole problem, they were doing the best they could, and HE chose them.
Tommy, when you watch the film can you pay extra attention to the running game? I see it’s clogged up badly, no big opportunities, but I’m seeing enough to get skinny, make some contact at the line of scrimmage and fall forward for 3 yards or so. I think Shady is amazing but this O-line does not suit him. I don’t want him running into a wall over and over again for meager gains. That said I do think a different style of running can get us a few yards here and there and help make our drives more sustainable. It was so frustrating watching us flounder on first down over and over. on first down it seemed like it was always a penalty or a run bouncing to the outside (sometimes by design, other times not) for 1 to negative 2 yards or chucking the ball way down field but Nick erring on the side of caution by throwing it a bit too far rather than risk throwing it too short into coverage. I’ll give the 9ers credit, when we ran it seemed like they had 9 people in the box by the time Shady had the ball, when we threw it seemed like they had plenty of guys in coverage. Not to mention the flags seemed to come out every time we got something positive going, and that was on both sides of the ball.
Not mad at the Eagles, that O-line just is missing most of it’s talent. We can’t run, we can’t get a rhythm, we can’t sustain drives- put plainly- offense can’t work like that. Very very frustrating to watch.
should have put in the chris polk package.
What’s frustrating me is the play of Cooper. How many TD’s is he going to drop? He’s been very unimpressive on deep passes and in the red zone. And since we have no run game, his blocking is irrelevant.
Nick Foles has been making some bad decisions and has been off with his throws. Theres no consistency. I blame this loss on him.
I’m not going to complain too much about the run game with all the backups playing, but you would think Shady would accidentally get a big run. Frustrating.
You blame the whole loss on Foles? Wow…..
People r nuts .. I see talking to eagkes fans will be unbearable today,,, peace boys
Absolutely. He over threw Maclin on the 4th and goal, and didn’t even give him a chance to make a catch. When a receiver has to make a one handed grab, it’s usually because the throw was bad. He overthrew countless receivers. Foles had plenty of time to throw the ball, but made bad decisions and wasn’t accurate. This was not his best game.
The play calling or missed block by McCoy had nothing to do with the 4th and 1 not working…..
Theres plenty of blame to go around. But Foles had a bad game. He made bad decisions and bad throws when he wasn’t pressured. Here are the stats from Bleeding Green Nation where Foles wasn’t pressured: 17/30 (56.7%), 153 yards, 5.1 y/a, 0 TD, 1 INT, 56.7 rating. Those stats are first-year-rookie bad.
Foles currently ranks 35th out of 36 eligible quarterback in PFF’s “Accuracy Percentage” stat.
Foles was pressured, BUT, he has to throw the ball in a spot to give his receiver a chance to catch it. He overthrew everybody. He didn’t give the receiver a chance to make a play. That’s not McCoy’s fault.
The 4th and 1 was one play.
Yes, and?
Foles did not play well, but blaming him on either the 4th and goal or the Maclin catch on the sidelines is ridiculous. The first play the defense had completely blanketed, and the second was a very good throw into a tight window, where only Maclin could catch it.
Several of the overthrows, on the other hand, were on him. He missed a few guys deep even when he had time, there is no question about that.
On the 4th and 1, who’s fault it is that the slow-footed Foles was being chased down and threw the ball too high? How is it not his fault?
If Maclin doesn’t make that incredible one handed catch and stays in bounds, we have to punt. That was a bad throw. You can’t rely on receivers to make catches like that. Maclin bailed out Foles on that catch.
“you would think Shady would accidentally get a big run. Frustrating” agree though think it just led to him getting his bryce brown own and pressing. sad we don’t have a goal line power package. was lots easier last year when people didn’t have any tape on the crossing routes play we ran over and over.
Don’t know how you can be frustrated by the play of Cooper. He hasn’t ever been any good. He had 3 games last year that accounted for 75% of his TD’s and almost half of his yards for the season. Somehow he and his agent turned that into $5MM/year.
Smh @ some of the things people are blaming the loss on,, people are nuts
To be completely honest, except for a small few, I don’t care what the fans have to say. I might have to stop reading until the film review articles start coming out.
desperate for some all 22
It’s easy to figure out the number one reason the Eagles lost this game: Offensive line. After that it’s, Foles, McCoy and Cooper in a tie. Sproles had ONE fucking run and he went straight for 4 yards. Straight is the way to go when east and west aren’t getting it. As bad as Foles was he threw the game winner and Cooper dropped the ball. This offense was built to run, run run and the QB is part of that equation, my grandmother could beat Foles in a race on her walker. If we had a QB that could run, like this offense is supposed to, we open up a ton more possibilities down there at the 1 and a half yard line at the end of the game. Having said that 3-1 isn’t so bad, but let’s see how things play out by the bye. We could by 5-1 and everything will be beautiful.
Okay now that I’ve recovered from last night, I’m not worried. The defense showed up and played well without their playmaker in the middle. We definitely want to see pressure on the QB and we got it. Special teams were great. If the defense plays like that the rest of the season we will win more games than we lose.
The offense struggled and I think its more on the oline than anything else, but everybody was bad. I can’t lay this on Foles, though he did make some bad decisions. Cooper can’t catch. But I think this week I learned Mac is a #1 in this offense. Matthews should be the #2 at some point, because Cooper just doesn’t seem to have it right now (though it’s still early for him to turn it around). We killed ourselves with penalties and turnovers.
They’ll get it right and fix the issues. Don’t worry folks, we will be 5-1 going into the bye. I also hope Lane Johnson is ready to roll.
My hope is to be link to this post repeatedly. People have unrealistic expectations of players and teams. Even the best teams and players have bad games, let alone bad halves and quarters. And many good teams and players have bad *stretches* of games and pull it together at the right time.
Eagles are not a juggernaut (yet), so don’t expect the ’94 Cowboys (who weren’t undefeated, BTW) and you’ll keep a more realistic view of the season.
The positives from this game? TL mentioned that there’s no shame in losing to a desperate Niners’ team in SF by 5. The D, despite its obvious issues, is consistent in creating turnovers. The special teams are now a weapon that other teams have to prepare for; absent Kelly’s practice pace, that’s going to take away from practicing other aspects. The officiating played into the Niners’ favor in some respects, as the offensive PI calls affected both teams’ passing, and amazingly, Hochuli’s crew let a lot of downfield contact go uncalled (not saying that the refs favored the Niners, just that it’s clear the Niners are a better running team at this point).
Hopefully they clean up the problems so that the positives can really shine going forward.
“People have unrealistic expectations of players and teams.” Fact.
I think the strong reaction is to how we lost. I was ok beforehand
thinking we might lose. If the offense had put up 21 we might be like,
well, ok.
But the offense put up zero. Our superstar RB looks
really off, injuries to the OL notwithstanding. The SF D was missing a
couple of really good players, so you might think our injuries would not
be so noticeable, but they were. Then watching stretch run after
stretch run fail, our RB not run N-S, so much so that on 3 and 1 from
the goal – we get cute two times in row instead of diving twice. If that
means Polk needs to be in, then do that. Ertz wasn’t in either. Why not call time out? Cooper looks like a waste of a WR2 again.
And our QB, yes while under pressure, was not good.
And watching Kaep run around you think, Foles has to be more accurate
than he is to make up for his total lack of mobility.
There were just a lot of really frustrating things yesterday, some of which hit on sore spots from prior years. SF with their injuries/suspensions should
not shut us out.
Cooper can’t catch balls anymore because his hands are full with new contract money!!
Tommy I believe we have been lucky for our 1st 3 wins. I am not being negative I’m just being honest. This team is so sloppy I love to listen to Davis speak, however I do not enjoy watching his defense its garbage. Bradley fletcher is dust in the wind, Marcus smith should have been picked in the 3rd round. Kelvin Benjamin should have been our first pick and then matthews and then possibly Smith. I am just frustrated about the loss yesterday because SF has major probs too and we should not have lost. So if I were to put things in context we have not looked like a 3-1 team once this season. Love ya keep up the great writing.
Yep, this team could easily be 1-3 instead of 3-1
From Shiel Kapadia:
5. Some stray notes from a weekend in San Francisco. …I haven’t smelled that much pot since my college days. …They take “hipster” to another level out there. I saw one guy cram a PBR into his shirt pocket as he was walking down the street, acting like his actions were totally normal. …The WiFi in the airport there is great, which is a huge bonus to nerds like me. …I need McManus to catch up on HBO’s Silicon Valley so that my jokes make more sense next time we visit. …Speaking of Silicon Valley, some of the companies near the stadium sound made up, like Flextronics. Sounds like somewhere that would employ George Jetson
Read more at http://www.phillymag.com/birds247/2014/09/29/zone-read-eagles-49ers-day/3/#zSEREGcPvEM2cIuc.99
Mr Lawlor, care to explain?
and maybe the team shouldn’t send out a picture of the hotel and then be surprised when the fire alarm gets pulled all night.
Please blame all frustrations on Cooper. He is the real reason we lost.
Context for me after a night’s sleep:
1. At the beginning of the year I would have been happy to be 3-1 at the quarter pole. Splitting the road games at Indy and SF while winning both home games would have made me happy.
2. Still, felt like they let one get away yesterday. The offense was horrible and yet it seemed like that was a game they were going to win right up until they didn’t. So I feel like the Eagles should be 4-0.
3. On the other hand, they have not played well yet this year and could easily be 1-3, or, if Sproles get stuffed on 4th and 1 in week 1, maybe worse.
So maybe that’s it – we still don’t know what we have even after 25% of the season is in the books. The team is 3-1 but hasn’t played well. Key members of the team are either out or playing poorly and it’s getting past the point where you can just say “everybody has a bad game now and then”.
Expectations are a bitch sometimes.
yup. be different if we were progressing each week but feels more up and down than that.
Oh yeah WAH WAH WAH with the injuries! Cooper drops balls he should catch, Foles misses passes that should be hit, Chip screwed the last 2 plays, but shit the game plan was there, make the throws, make the fucking catches! This is on everyone, I blame the line the least because they are a bunch of 2nd string nobodies. Hell, one coach has already won 2 games with his back-up, Belichick won a Super Bowl against us with a fucking receiver in the secondary. Injuries are all over the place, this team is not fundamentally sound. Blame the refs, injuries or whatnot, but Chip put these guys in position, I know Andy Reid sounding, but he did, a few long passes were missed, a game winning td was dropped. Screw the injuries, everyone has them. Spread the blame everyone deserves it, a pro bowl caliber QB would’ve eaten the defense alive. So protect him all you want, nobody is buying it.
That Cooper drop in the endzone was bad. Good tight window throw by Nick.
Weird, pretty sure Nick was pro bowl MVP last year…
Nick was disappointing because up to this point he’s gotten better every week. Major regression this week. Didn’t look confident, wasn’t accurate.
Nearly saved the day on that last drive, though I think he has to share some of the blame for not executing those last two plays as well as you could (not that I think they were good play calls either).
I think this was one of Chip’s worst games. He seemed stubborn. Felt like this was the week he should have just shelved the running game entirely, or at least given Sproles more touches (since he actually gets North-South).
I wonder if Matthews is going to start eating into Riley’s snaps outside. I still haven’t forgiven him for that drop against the Saints last playoffs, and now he drops another one at a big moment.
If the Eagles won, game ball would have gone to Howie: (1) Braman & Burton singed from FA / UDFA, (2) Malcolm Jenkins, (3) Darren Sproles.
Paragraph 4: God we can only hope.
huff will maybe be back. cooper has regressed majorly like back to his 2012 self
I do think the plan long-term is Huff is in the slot, Matthews is on the outside.
Second, Burton of course great job blocking the punt. But diving on the ball going sideways at the 2 with your momentum going forward, was bad.
not that bad it was only a touchback.
sure it’s relatively not bad compared to some other players’ play, but the difference between the 2 or 3 yard line or the 20 = a bad play.
The Eagles ran the ball 12 times and threw it 40+. I’d pretty much call that “shelving the running game entirely”.
Here’s some more uplifting context: our offense played abysmally yesterday and we lost, but I’d rather that than if we’d lost after the whole team playing well. At least we know that a fairly small improvement in one part of the team (the part that is usually strongest, too) and we’d likely have won.
My god, is if a possibility we lose Thanksgiving day? I thought the Cowboys were supposed to be putrid, That Thursday night I will throw all my Xmas decorations and start a bonfire on my front lawn if we lose that game.
Everyone blasted me for saying that Foles was wildly inconsistent last week because we won… Now everyone’s saying the same thing because we lost.
While I’d love to blame our Oline for our issues (and to some extent that’s legit), Nick has not look settled at all this year. Even in the Jags game, he never looked like 2013 Nick Foles. I’m NOT expecting 29-2, but right now he looks like Eli Manning throwing to his all-time leading receiver, Asante Samuel.
Also, when is the last time we’ve had a penalty-free, challenge-free drive? With no fumbles, no picks and no injuries?
I feel like our offense hasn’t gotten to line up and just play football together. I know, you could point to many 3-and-out drives or even scoring drives that would indicate the opposite, but my point is that our STs has been so good (rare, for us) and D has been on the field so much that I feel we haven’t even had a true *opportunity* to gel as a unit and get the offense going together.
The 3-0 start helps, and time will be our best friend this season. We’ll get healthy on the Oline, we’ll get Kendicks back, and right now we’re winning 3/4 of games with mediocre performances. The good thing is that we’re not peaking, we’re under performing. The sky is the limit. Chip will get this fixed.
1. “Megan Fox isn’t quite as Funyunny.” Wrong.
2. We have a pass rush.
3. Foles connects one even one of those long passes to an open receiver and we win.
3. Riley Cooper catches… ah, forget it.
4. What a great 4th quarter drive that coulda’ shoulda’.
5. Maclin is a legit receiver. Mattews is showing potential.
6. SF is a top teir football team. Losing a tough game in their house isn’t a disgrace. I hope we play them again in the playoffs.
7. Chip made some mistakes but Harbaugh must be a graduate of the Andy Reid school of clock management and challenges.
8. The D was on the field for over 42 minutes. I’ll bet Cary Williams is tired.
It’s not so much the loss that has everyone’s underwear all knotted up. It’s largely the fact that the offense, and particularly the QB, couldn’t score. Of course, all the folks who were loudly proclaiming the Eagles invincibility have been proven wrong, and that REALLY bites.
did anyone notice Smith II out there? how did he do?
nope and not on stat line either.
I was looking for him out there. Nothing to be seen. I did notice one play where he dropped back into zone coverage and he got to where he was supposed to be.
On Geno Smith responding to fans yelling at him to be benched for Vick… If you walked up to any worker in this country with a group of people and started yelling that you think they should be fired, I think you should be surprised if they *don’t* tell you to fuck off. Anyone who takes their fandom so seriously that they pretend to be offended by Geno’s response needs a good therapist and a new hobby.
You’re so right, that’s how professionals who are in the spotlight act all the time. It’s not like he’s making tons of money and he should take any criticism from anyone. I don’t know fans watching me while I work, it’s a boss who acts like an asshole. i don’t tell him to fuck off though.
What I’m talking about is the sociopathic way in which fans decide that their love of a team entitles them to be awful humans to people who had a rough day on the job. It’s the thought that you pay them (You don’t.), so you have the right to mistreat them (You don’t).
The fact that you have an asshole boss doesn’t mean that it’s therefore reasonable to treat, say, Riley Cooper, like shit today. Both are pretty inexcusable.
How bout this I heard this morning? Richie Incognito…he can beat their guys up, our guys up, be nasty…do all that stupid shit. Why not? .Then cut the moron when we don’t need him anymore
He’s not as good as he once was, and wouldn’t have been a scheme fit even during his pro bowl days.
Yeah just throwing out a bad joke, I just wanted to see people get beat up
There would be an unnecessary roughness 15-yard penalty on every play.
In response to Nicky Flash carrying the whole team: What the hell do you want from a 3rd year player? I mean you want a guy, who’s offense had no rhythm because they had NO time on the field, with the middle of O-line in shambles, and no running game, to carry the whole team? That’s asking a bit much granted he did miss Maclin deep a couple times but Cooper also dropped ANOTHER td pass……
Mitchell, how do you really feel about Cooper? Let the hate flow thru you!!
That guy man, first we have to deal with his racial slur deal and the team supported him and worked through it. Then we pay this guy some coin to come in a be a serviceable #2. Ok I can deal with that. What I can’t deal with is Nicky Flash laying the damn ball in his hands and he keeps dropping the shit. Everyone wants to blame Nick (which is fair) but jesus, look at this douche dropping TD passes! He has to literally be the worst graded WR right now. As someone mentioned elsewhere: His run blocking attributes don’t even matter because WE CAN”T RUN THE DAMN BALL!!!!!!!!!!!
I hear you. I just hope he can turn it around b/c we need him this year.
Not sure we understand why you are taking it so personally? It’s just a game we watch and hope our team wins. No one person or any one play loses or wins a games.
Nick reminds me of Spock from Star Trek,he’s so emotionless.
new post up
I think so much of the frustration is the fact that every single thing had to go wrong on offense for us to lose a game where we only needed to hold on to the ball and kick a single field goal to win. If any one of the things that went wrong went our way we would be 4-0. Just think how different the narrative would be if after struggling behind a make shift line all day, if our young battered QB drove the team 91 yards as time was expiring, willing them to victory and threading a perfectly placed laser of a pass to Riley Cooper in the back of the end zone between three defenders and a tenacious pass rush baring down on him for the win. That could be the story today if Riley Cooper was capable of catching the ball instead of letting it go directly through his arms. Everything that concerns us would still be there but that one play could have really changed the narrative for sure!
PS Riley had great hands last year. What happened. He hasn’t caught a ball cleanly since that drop against New Orleans in last years wild card.
I appreciate your point. I would disagree about your characterization of the game as ugly, because the SF defensive scheme and execution was solid and enviable. Any fan of the Eagles knows in their bird-lovin bones that the Eagles are several players away from being an elite team. But if I could put your point in different words: Instead of obsessing over the score, appreciate how far the Birds have come in a relatively short time. The 2012 Eagles (comprised of many players on the current roster) would probably have been blown out by the Niners yesterday. They are weathering a rough patch respectably , but it is clear that they have yet to learn how not to beat themselves. The best thing about Kelly is that he is up to the challenge. Whatever the roster looks like next season, some back-ups are proving their worth, and some will be gone. This is a great journey.
Right now, the frustration is some passive aggressive confusion; when we were 3-0, we dubbed it as the team “finding ways to win” under the injury bug on the OLine and Kendricks.
Now, the loss column egg’s broken, and the “finding ways to win” bag is empty; so now comes the flaws, blame, and “what’s wrong with the team” that was actually coming to a head.
I don’t blame McNabb. I blame the Sixers, Phillies, and Flyers because this team’s the lone bright spot on the 4-for-4 town.