The Least

Posted: October 20th, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | Comments Off on The Least

After Sunday’s loss to the Ravens, I said on Twitter that people shouldn’t be mad at the outcome. More than a few fans disagreed, some rather strongly. I was told there are no moral victories in the NFL. I was mocked at for being happy with a participation trophy. To some, the team lost a winnable game and they were mad as heck about that.

I understand that point of view. Normally, that would be me. This year, I’m highly conflicted.

The Eagles are not a good team. Their record is 1-4-1. They have trailed by at least 10 in all four losses. The Eagles have trailed by at least 17 points in three games. Half the season.

Not good.

But the Eagles play in the worst division in football. The NFC East isn’t just weak. It isn’t just bad. It might be the worst division I’ve seen in 40 plus years of watching football. We need to see how the season plays out, but it sure looks like the division winner will have a .500 record at best.

DAL  2-4
PHI  1-4-1
NYG  1-5
WAS  1-5

That’s hard to believe.

Dallas lost last night 38-10. They have allowed the most points in all of football. The Cowboys have allowed 39.6 points per game over the last five weeks. You think Jim Schwartz is struggling? Dallas would kill for the Eagles defense.

Dallas does have two wins, but both came on last second field goals. And both came against teams that were winless at the time (1-5 for each of them now). That’s not a good resume.

The Cowboys have trailed by:

26-7
41-14
17-3
31-3

And Dallas wasn’t ruined by injuries for all those games. Now they are decimated on the OL, missing their star QB and dealing with a few other injuries. Things could get ugly in Big D.

Yikes.

So who is going to win the division?

That’s a compelling argument, but Eagles players keep getting hurt. It is crazy to think about how many guys have missed time. Just when  you think reinforcements might be on the way (Jeffery, DeSean, Goedert, Reagor, etc.), you lose Miles Sanders and Zach Ertz. What a season.

It is possible the Eagles will get on some kind of roll. They won 5 of 6 to close out 2018 and then won the final four games of 2019. Doug Pederson does seem to get the team to peak in the second half.

Would that be a good thing this year? That’s what I’m struggling with.

It would be fun to win the division at 6-9-1 or something like that. Everyone would be telling you about the bogus playoff berth (and home game!) and they would be right. But it would still count.

I’m still eager to see Carson Wentz get a real chance in a playoff game. I still believe there is real value in him getting playoff experience, even at the helm of a highly flawed team.

You can talk yourself into a “let’s go for it” mentality. And that might be dangerous.

It is Howie Roseman’s job to call other teams and ask about trades. He needs to know who is available and at what price. That doesn’t mean he’s close to pulling the trigger on a deal.

If there is a bargain that makes sense, fine. But this team needs to guard resources carefully. Anyone who looks at the roster and thinks the Eagles are just a player away from being a top team is not being realistic. There are holes. And they will need to be addressed with draft picks.

The worst thing that could happen would be for Roseman to look at the last two weeks and come away feeling good and thinking about winning now. That is part of why I wasn’t upset at the outcome on Sunday. A win might have really pushed Roseman to get aggressive.

A close loss showed some good things, but the team still lost and it is harder to gloss over the flaws when  you lose.

Jeffrey Lurie and Roseman need to focus on the big picture. They don’t need to be looking to see which middling veterans can be had for a fifth round pick so the Eagles can have the worst division title in recent memory.

This season would be so much easier if one of the othe NFC East teams was actually good. You would just know it was their year and you would focus on developing your young talent and then think about the draft. Because the division is so awful you can’t help but think about winning. We watch the games to see the Eagles win. You can’t cheer for a loss. That’s just not in a fan’s DNA.

The Eagles are in second place, but they sure look like the best team in the division right now. That’s depressing and scary and just plain weird. A win on Thursday gets them headed in the right direction and might build some confidence. A loss would be crushing. That might be the best thing long term, but it wouldn’t be any fun to experience.

No one really knows what to make of the Eagles right now. There is a real odd mixture of players, partially due to the expanded rosters and partially due to all the injuries. There are some good signs, but still some major flaws. I guess all we can do is sit back and watch how this thing plays out.

Usually you want your young players to learn from the veterans, but this might be a case where the vets can feed off the young guys. You see Jordan Mailata, Travis Fulgham, Josh Sweat, Alex Singleton and other young players bringing energy to the field. They’re competing like crazy. Maybe that will kickstart the veterans and get them going.

I called this team bloated recently. Veterans like Jason Peters, DeSean Jackson and Zach Ertz have all been major disappointments. Alshon Jeffery hasn’t even been able to get on the field. If these players can turn it around and start to contribute, maybe this team can get on a roll. Whether that is a good thing is still very much up for debate.

I guess what I’m saying is this…win on Thursday, trade for Urlakkkerz and start making Super Bowl plans!

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