The Day After – Losing Sucks

You didn’t just have a bad dream. The Eagles actually did lose to Washington on Monday night. And yes, it was just as awful as you think. The offense, defense and special teams all did their part. This was a group effort.

Not only had the Eagles started 8-0, but they had played good football, mostly avoiding mistakes and then overcoming the ones they did make. All that went out the door on Monday night. That was easily the sloppiest performance of the year. So much bad football.

At the same time, it was just one game. People talked about all the celebrating coming out of the Washington locker room. You’d have thought they won the Super Bowl. They did beat an undefeated rival and got their record back to .500, but that was just one game. It will be interesting to see how both teams handle things going forward.

I’m guessing the loss will get the Eagles re-focused.

How will the #eagles respond to really their first adversity of this season? Here’s what a few players told me after the game. My report on NFL NOW on @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/7SpQcYPl4R

— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) November 15, 2022

Washington? No idea. That team is hard to read, which is probably why they are 5-5. Good teams are consistent. Washington has been streaky all year long.

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It really is hard to believe Washington ran 51 plays in the first half and the Eagles ran 47 in the entire game. The offense struggled to stay on the field. The defense struggled to get off it.

I’ve seen people talking about this being the formula for beating the Eagles. Run the ball. Have long sustained drives and keep the Eagles offense on the sideline. That seems logical, but sustaining drives is hard. That is not a formula for winning in the NFL.

Nick Sirianni talks about the importance of explosive plays for a reason. When you get chunks of yards in a single play, it greatly increases your chances of scoring. The more you score, the better your chances of winning. Grinding out long drives is hard in the NFL. I know, I know. Insert your Jonathan Gannon comment here.

The problem with sustaining drives is that you have to keep converting third downs. Converting 50 percent of them is considered good. Washington started off 12 for 14. That’s beyond insane. You can give them credit and also blame the Eagles. There is also randomness. No key penalties. No dropped passes. No errant throws. Jim Johnson always believed offenses would screw up drives if you made them drive the long field. Washington executed brilliantly for most of the game. That helped them win last night, but it isn’t sustainable as an offensive strategy.

Opponents will try to run the ball on the Eagles. They will try to play small ball as best they can. We’ll see how they do and how the Eagles adjust as well.

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How much did the Eagles miss Avonte Maddox?

I think he would have helped last night to be sure, but it is hard to say how much. In the first WAS game, Maddox had 5 tackles and a PD. Last night Josiah Scott had 2 tackles and a PD.

I haven’t had a chance to study the game yet. Maybe it will be more evident one way or the other when I watch that.

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#Eagles TE Dallas Goedert will miss extended time with a shoulder injury suffered in the win over the #Commanders last night, sources tell me and @TomPelissero. Not a season-ender though. Injury added to insult on the play with the missed facemask that put him in harm’s way. pic.twitter.com/ndOPCiwKD2

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) November 15, 2022

Ugh.

Goedert is a crucial part of the offense because he can block, catch and run at a high level.

Jack Stoll and Grant Calcaterra will now have to step up for a few weeks while DG is out. Stoll is an effective blocker, but isn’t as good as Goedert. Stoll has shown progress as a receiver. He’s got 4 catches for 49 yards this season. Calcaterra is still developing as a blocker. He is a talented receiver, but only has one catch so far. This will be a huge opportunity for them.

There is also Tyree Jackson, who could come off IR this week. Jackson has started 3 games and has 3 career catches. He has some experience, but is hardly a proven commodity. He’s also coming back from an injury so he would probably be rusty.

It will be interesting to see how the offense changes with Goedert out.

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CJ Gardner-Johnson grabbed his 6th INT of the season on Monday night. He still leads the league in that category.

Look back at some of the great safeties in Eagles history. Malcolm Jenkins never had more than 3 in a year. Brian Dawkins never had more than 4. Guys like Rodney McLeod, Quintin Mikell, Mike Zordich and Michael Lewis never came close to 6 in a season. Kurt Coleman and Nate Allen each had 4 in a season for the Eagles. I was surprised to see that.

Unless I’m missing someone, you have to go back to 1994 when Greg Jackson had 6 picks while playing FS for the Eagles. I always thought Jackson was an overlooked player. He came after Wes Hopkins/Andre Waters and before Dawk so you can understand how he gets lost in the shuffle.

CGJ has proven to be an outstanding ballhawk. This is no accident. If you watched him at Florida, you could see he had this type of skill set.

https://twitter.com/ESPNCFB/status/1079099960669413376

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After the loss, the Eagles slipped down to #2 in DVOA.

The offense is 4th and the defense is 5th. STs remains down at 24th.

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