Knee-Jerk Reactions: Eagles Leave Us With Bad Taste Heading Into Bye
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It's not even 7am and I've already heard seven people on 94WIP call for the firing of Chip Kelly.
Here's a live look at myself in my office this morning.
On the surface, a 27-16 loss at the Carolina Panthers---who are now 6-0---doesn't sound nearly as bad as it looked. The Eagles are now 3-4, heading into a much needed bye week.
Andrew Porter on his Pulse Of Philly podcast:
Let's react.
- The number one concern following this loss is the wide receiving corps. They're simply not talented enough.
- One time in that entire game, ONE, an Eagles pass catcher---Zach Ertz late in the third---went and made a play.
- Beautiful throw, beautiful catch. But that was it.
- The Eagles finished with SEVEN drops.
- Jordan Matthews had three catches on seven targets for 14 yards, including three drops---one of which was a big first down conversion on third and long, and another turned into an interception for the Panthers.
- What the heck happened to Matthews?
- The Eagles' leading wide receiver last night? Miles Austin.
- Riley Cooper: 0 targets
- Jason Peters goes down early in the game and is carted off. A sad scene and of course, Twitter began speculating it was an Achilles or ACL injury, ending Peters' season or possibly even career.
- Stunningly, it's just back spasms, and while Peters did not return, that's certainly good news.
- Matt Tobin came in and did a decent job at filling in for Peters at left-tackle.
- The o-line as a whole was decent, solid in the run game---30 carries for 177 yards---but did allow five sacks.
- So when your offensive line is allowing five sacks and your wide receivers tally seven drops and can't get open down the field, it's hard to blame the quarterback.
- Sam Bradford finished 26-46, 205 yards, 0 TDs, and 1 INT.
- The numbers look worse than his performance, however.
- Bradford wasn't great, but in a tough game on the road against a ferocious defense, he did not get any help. It was frustrating to watch.
- This is with 12:07 left in the game:
- Both DeMarco Murray (18-65) and Ryan Mathews (6-97-1) ran the ball well, but it's hard to deny the success Mathews is having.
- After Mathews' 63 yard TD run with 9:32 left in the 3rd quarter to make it 21-13, he touched the ball a grand total of ONE more time.
- Anddd, that's bring us to the head coach.
- Not one of Chip's better games.
- The 3rd-and-9 WR screen to Josh Huff on the CAR 31 with 12:07 in a 21-16 game, after a timeout, was brutal.
- Nevertheless, you would think Huff could get up field a little bit here and get at least a yard? Nope, no gain.
- And then Caleb Sturgis misses a 50-yard field goal (OF COURSE) after a 12-play, 58 yard, 4:32 drive. Face palm.
- Defensively, it's hard to criticize too much, maybe sans Byron Maxwell's tackling.
- While B-Max did come up with a nice diving pick, his horrendous effort to make a tackle on Mike Tolbert after Malcolm Jenkins blew up the play was embarrassing and potentially cost the Eagles seven key points.
- And the reliable Bennie Logan went offsides twice in a row, very uncharacteristic of Bennie.
- Speaking of Jenkins, I can't say enough about the dude. He continues to make plays and is reliable as it gets.
- Nolan Carroll had his second straight very nice game and is probably the most improved Eagle.
- Jordan Hicks, solid again.
- Mychal Kendricks was excellent in his return: 7 tackles, 2 QB hits, 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss
- The Eagles forced three interceptions and won the turnover battle 3-1, but still lost the game by 11 points.
- That's 10 forced turnovers over the last three games, 15 over the last five.
- The Eagles now lead the NFL in takeaways with 19.
- The defense did everything to keep the Eagles in the game, but when your offense runs 81 plays, totals 349 yards (177 on the ground), turns the ball over just once, goes 7-18 on third down, but scores just 16 points (one touchdown, 0-2 in red zone), there isn't much the defense can do.
- And lastly, I have to give Carolina credit.
- Cam Newton had three interceptions, but physically and athletically, the dude is a beast.
- Jonathan Stewart is one of the toughest players to tackle in the NFL.
- Josh Norman is a star. Wow.
- And those linebackers!
- Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis combined for 24 tackles and seemed to be everywhere.
- The Eagles (3-4) are just one game behind the Giants (4-3) in the abysmal NFC East, heading into their bye week.
- Next four for the Eagles after the bye: at Dal, MIA, TB, at Det. Need ALL four.
- The Cowboys (2-4) have to face the Seahawks next week, before hosting the Eagles on Sunday Night Football in Week 9. Hopefully, looking ahead, the Eagles will have a chance to bury them in two weeks.
- Trying to stay positive, hear me out.
- Overall? NFC East still gives us hope.
- Is this team good enough to really make noise? It honestly doesn't look like it, but the thing is, the NFL formula is still the same. Hang around, get hot in December and January, and play your best football when the games matter most. Then it's a one-and-done tournament, in a sport where margin of error is so thin, a bounce of a ball often decides the game.
- It's still early, and the Eagles have a favorable schedule to get hot here down the stretch, but they need to get a lot better. Quickly.
