Is There Hope?

The first half of the 2020 season was bad. Frustrating and bad. Depressing and bad. Boring and bad. Are you picking up on a theme?

The Eagles limped into the bye week with a 3-4-1 record, which included ugly wins over the Giants and Cowboys. It feels like the Eagles will stumble into an ugly division title and then a quick exit from the postseason. Based on what we’ve seen, you can’t expect much more than that.

I do wonder if we’ll get something more from this team. They have struggled with injuries in a major way. Coming off the bye week, the team is starting to heal. The OL is coming together. The return of Isaac Seumalo would help in a major way. Then you add a playmaker like Miles Sanders. Alshon Jeffery will play at some point. It is a mystery how good he’ll actually be, but even if he’s a role player, Jeffery is a major upgrade on JJAW.

Jalen Reagor and Dallas Goedert are healthier and the rust should be gone. Both guys can be key players for the offense.

Travis Fulgham will continue his ascension to Greatest WR of All Time. We will get to see more of Jalen Hurts and he could become an important playmaker for the Eagles.

There is also hope for the defense. T.J. Edwards and Will Parks are coming off their best games of the year. They could help the back seven to play better in the second half of the season. There is now some depth in the secondary so Jim Schwartz can choose who to play rather than looking for whoever is healthy enough to take the field.

The Eagles have yet to play a good game this year. They have looked good for quarter or even a half (or sometimes not at all). At some point, things will come together and the team will play well. Almost every team does this for a week or two.

I don’t have any confidence in this team, but I am fascinated by the potential, if they can stay healthy. If the revolving door continues, the miserable season will continue.

Carson Wentz has been a trainwreck this year, but that could change. If he has improved protection, a legit ground game and good receivers to throw to, Wentz could suddenly look like…Carson Wentz. You know, the guy who has played like a franchise QB at times. The guy who has carried the team on his back at times. If Wentz starts to fly right, this season gets interesting quickly.

The Giants defense is middle of the pack. The Browns are in the bottom third of the league. Seattle has the worst pass defense in the league. That three-week stretch could help the Eagles offense to wake up and get going.

What about the Eagles defense?

They are playing their best football of the season. That’s still flawed to be sure, but there is reason to be encouraged. The DL continues to be outstanding. The LBs have shown promise over the past few weeks. The secondary is getting healthy and starting to make plays.

Even if this team does come together and starts playing better, there is a limited ceiling. There are too many holes on the roster for this team to do much. But they can take a major step forward from the way they played in the first half of the season.

There is value in having this team playing well down the stretch. We still need to see Wentz play significant time in a playoff game. The young players and rookies would all benefit from playing in a playoff game. I believe the playoff run of 2013 helped the team in the 2017 postseason. Players had some idea of what to expect, in terms of the speed of the game and the pressure of the situation.

Just because this team is flawed doesn’t mean they can’t do some good things that will help in the future.

There are no guarantees, of course. The injuries could continue. Wentz could keep turning the ball over at a Daniel Jonesian rate. And this team could continue to find new ways to lose.

No matter what happens, at least entertain us. Bad and boring isn’t fair in a year when we need every good distraction we can get.

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